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FreakingTea · Joined: 09 Jan 2013 Posts: 167

I had an idea for an activity in which the students work in groups to make their ideal platform ("What would you do if you were the president of China?"), and then choose two different lists to write on the board and assign politician names. Then the class would vote for one of the two. I would not provide any suggestions; it would be entirely student-created content. But would the premise of the activity pose any sort of problem?

I understand that the PRC government doesn't work this way, and I'd be essentially imposing an idealized US-centric view of government. Maybe it would be better to tell my class that they are the CCP and must choose one of the lists? ie, "What would you do if you had control of China?"

To be honest, I don't really like the US system at all, and wouldn't mind changing the activity, but if the former is all right, it would be more fun to come up with politician names. The CCP does choose a president, right?

Or is politics no good in general? I'm not exactly pushing my views in the classroom, and actively avoid doing so. Many of the students are more right-wing than I am anyway.

teenoso · Joined: 18 Sep 2013 Posts: 365 Location: south china

Anything that smacks of political competition /voting etc , is not ideal - it could go anywwhere (the proposals: ' attack japan' etc, and discussion could get out of hand) , or it could just lapse into 'we trust our Chinese govt.' rubbish.
What you do in class gets back to the admin. , so be cautious , esp. as you are a new teacher.
Also the theme is too big and the students might just scratch their heads - why not limit it to competing ideas about education, or health, or food safety or other safer but relevant topics ?

fat_chris · Joined: 10 Sep 2003 Posts: 3198 Location: Beijing

WLamar · Joined: 19 Oct 2013 Posts: 58

It breaks down simply - it's in violation of your SAFEA contract and your visa rules and regulations. While I discuss any and all topics without hesitation, it's my fault should negative consequences result. So long as you are willing to turn your head and cough when word gets out and you're screwed, then go for it.

Non Sequitur · Joined: 23 May 2010 Posts: 4724 Location: China

Stay away from that line of teaching.
I have a bad vibe about the motivation for this idea.
Why launch into an area where students will be reluctant and/or embarrassed to speak?

roadwalker · Joined: 24 Aug 2005 Posts: 1750 Location: Ch

If you want to do something similar, just take it further away from real politics and make it about something innocuous like a Singer of the Year award, or about film or sports etc. Students can nominate a celebrity, state why they deserve the honor and then argue amongst competing claims.

fat_chris · Joined: 10 Sep 2003 Posts: 3198 Location: Beijing

NoBillyNO · Joined: 11 Jun 2012 Posts: 1762

twilothunder · Joined: 09 Dec 2011 Posts: 442

The school I work in participates in the Model United Nations. None of the Chinese bosses, faculty or students (nor presumably the provincial government) seem to have a problem with the activities associated with that.

Why not broaden the scope of the question - what would you do to change the world?

There is also a student union, where class representatives are voted for.

I think its possible to push the envelope on this one a little but be careful of going too far.

vikeologist · Joined: 07 Sep 2009 Posts: 600

I don't think it's a controversial idea as such. As long as it's the students doing the talking, it doesn't matter much what they're talking about.

The problem is as others have said, they won't talk. How would you build the context?

The thing is that although all the students, or at least most of them, will care about at least some political / social issues, they probably don't really care about politics as a whole, and a 2 party election holds no meaning for them. You might as well ask them to role play going to a fish and chip shop.

The things that I find interesting are not the things that my students find interesting. When I do a debate assignment, they choose the subjects I find least interesting. I've just marked a writing assignment where the students had a wide choice of topics, but nearly everybody did animal testing. In nearly 5 years of teaching in China I haven't once had to steer the students away from a controversial topic, because they never try to steer towards one, so I don't either.

Admittedly, every now and then a Christian student tries to steer classes towards the Lord Jesus, and I always give them the chance to explain their faith if the class is small enough, which they can never ever do. I don't exercise any restraint at all, because I don't need to. They can talk about whatever they like as long as they're talking in English and making the class interesting. Politics as a whole will sink your class very quickly.

Bud Powell · Joined: 11 Jul 2013 Posts: 1736

VERY bad idea. What's your agenda here, OP?

If you want to encourage critical thinking and class participation, have them vote on innocuous things such as the national food (which I have done to great enthusiasm).

In Universities, many students know what is explicitly forbidden in class and they won't talk politics beyond their indoctrination (which the thinkers don't believe but won't speak publicly about). While you may not find anything in any rule book forbidding this practice, by the time the message gets to the powers that be (via the class monitor), it'll be transformed into an indoctrination into western-style democracy and/or a mockery of the Chinese Democratic Republic's politics. I wouldn't try this myself in the U.S. unless I held a Ph.D in Political Science.

How long have you been teaching in China, OP?

muffintop · Joined: 07 Jan 2013 Posts: 803

I have a similar exercise I do. It's actually a pretty lengthy one. First we discuss the various political and economic systems then the students get to choose. They get to rule a hypothetical landlocked country any way they wish. They have to provide both long and short term goals and list their priorities. We discuss everything from how to keep the streets clean to immigration policy.

This thing can be a blast with a high level class. The students often think of things I never dreamed of.

But....I would never ever bring the word China anywhere into this lesson.

As Bud said...it's not only about what you do or say it's also about how it's reported to others.

JamesD · Posted: Tue Dec 03, 2013 2:05 am Post subject:

FreakingTea · Joined: 09 Jan 2013 Posts: 167

My goodness, people, I'm not trying to push any agenda in class. The reason I asked here was so I could avoid doing that. I do appreciate the input, though. I'll try to find another topic for debate. National food sounds like a nice one. I only had the idea because it was a sample activity in "Learning Teaching," and I was wondering if it would be applicable here, which it apparently isn't.

Non Sequitur · Joined: 23 May 2010 Posts: 4724 Location: China

I had a great debate on whether seatbelts should be compulsory.
This was an elective so the kids chose to be there.
The best contributor was a bright kid from the law school.
She said the China has no law and those it has are ignored or interpreted differently in different places (where have we heard that before).
The best option was education and I think even the belt up or die group agreed with her in the end.
The big thing was that the topic was accessible and one where everyone has an opinion.