中國非傳統教育的興起

When five-year-old Xiao Ge starts primary school in Guangzhou next year, she won't endure strict discipline and mountains of homework. Unlike the school life of most children in China, her days will be filled with art, music and creative learning at a private Waldorf school.

Xiao is part of a fast-growing number of Chinese children whose parents are turning their backs on the state-run education system, which is based on rote learning and limited critical thinking. Instead, they are choosing independently-run schools that use the Waldorf, Montessori, or Reggio Emilia pedagogies.

Despite a lack of regulation over these schools, parents prefer the humanistic approach of these classrooms and the perceived softer learning environment.

"Compared with studying under the public system, my daughter will get a healthier education and life here," says Xiao's mother, Lu Dan, when we met at the Hairong Waldorf School Xiao is attending in the southeastern city of Guangzhou.

As we tour the school, headmaster Wei Yueling, casually dressed in a tweed jacket and sneakers, playfully grabs one of the students by the waist and spins her in the air, making other kids scream with laughter. At a state-run school, a similar scene of student-teacher bonding would be next to unthinkable.

Global attention

China has undeniably gained the world's attention for outstanding academic performance. Shanghai's 15-year olds lead in mathematics, science and reading, as seen in the 2013 Pisa survey by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, rating the performance of children across 65 regions.

Urban Chinese families are particularly invested in their children's education. Don Starr, a lecturer at Britain's Durham University, points out in a research paper that these families spend more than 30% of their household income on their children's education, compared to 2% in the UK.

But the "tiger mom, wolf dad" approach to education is not without consequence. Chinese youth suffer higher levels of depression and lower self-esteem than their peers elsewhere. Last autumn, a 10-year-old boy in the city of Chengdu reportedly jumped 30 floors to his death after failing to write a 1,000-word letter of self-criticism demanded by his teacher.

Perhaps in reaction to this phenomenon, China has seen a major expansion of alternative teaching establishments. These schools emphasize a holistic approach to education and use qualitative assessment methods, especially for kindergarten and primary school students.

While there are no official figures for the current number of alternative schools in China, headmaster Wei estimates that some 40 schools and as many as 500 kindergartens operate across the country. His own primary school and three kindergartens in Guangzhou have about 300 students, each paying CNY40,000 (US$6,500) a year, with 300 more queuing to get in.

Education for the whole family

For Lu Dan and her husband, their choice of school is about much more than their daughter's education. The Waldorf philosophy can be embraced by the whole family. With a focus on developing free-thinking and morally responsible individuals, the humanistic Waldorf concepts offer a sense of relief from the purely materialistic lifestyle that many of the country's new middle class have been caught up in.

Two years ago, Lu attended a Waldorf workshop where she met Wei. She recalls becoming immediately captivated by the philosophy.

"It was like a calling, like realizing your destiny," Lu says. "Waldorf became the start of a more relaxed and happier life."

One of the first things the family did was to get rid of their television and computer games, which immediately opened up plenty of time for "real life and real play," says Lu.

They are far from alone. Some 40 families have moved to the area where the school is, creating a community for like-minded people. Many parents volunteer for the school, which regularly hosts workshops on Waldorf education and related topics, often featuring experts from abroad.

Headmaster Wei studied the Waldorf pedagogy in 2007, after which he left his nine-year career as a photographer to open his first kindergarten. He observes that many parents come to his school with a desire to change their lives, but not knowing how. Many parents think that you should not let the child lose at the starting line. Lu Ziwen

"I speak to parents who don't know how to play with their children anymore. They just put them in front of the television screen," he says. "Often the father is working so much and comes home so late at night that the child hardly knows they live in the same apartment. After coming to our school they learn good ways to be with their children. They get more quality out of life. Waldorf is a therapeutic form of education that can help the whole family."

Doubts over authenticity

Some say, however, that alternative schools are proliferating out of control. There are few regulations around the growth of these private schools. The U.S.-based Montessori Foundation and the Association of Waldorf Schools both offer online courses for those interested in starting a school. Teacher education programs are also available involving at least one year of study.

However, as the demand for these schools go up in China, some are hastily opened without a full understanding of the philosophy behind the brands.

Gina Lofquist, the director of the Montessori education program at Xavier University in the U.S., sees the number of Montessori schools explode in China, but doubts that there are enough qualified teachers to fill the new classrooms.

"I've been to so-called Montessori preschools where there was not a trace of Montessori material," says Lofquist. "Instead, they had a big flat screen television in the middle of the room, something that goes totally against our beliefs. There's no way to train enough teachers for all those new schools. A lot of money is being made from these franchises but the parents are not getting what they pay for."

The same situation can be seen at other private schools, including Waldorfs, according to several teachers and parents in Guangzhou and Hong Kong that we spoke with.

Despite the growing interest in alternative education forms, most Chinese parents are still reluctant to hop on the bandwagon. The biggest fear is that opting out of the state-run system will lower their child's chances at passing the notorious "gaokao," the national college entrance exam that determines which Chinese university a student will enter.

Lu Ziwen, professor of English language at Central China Normal University and a member of the state English curriculum standard team, is far from convinced by alternative education.

Less homework, he argues, is not the path to future success. "Many parents think that you should not let the child lose at the starting line," he says, referring to a popular proverb.

All this seems far removed from Xiao Ge who is happily playing on the swings in the school playground, unconcerned about future exams and career prospects. Instead, she is putting all her energy into being just a child.明年五歲的肖格（音）就要在廣州開始上小學了，她不需要受嚴格的紀律管制，做堆積如山的作業。和中國大多數孩子相比，她的日常生活主要是在一家華德福學校畫畫、音樂以及進行創意學習。

中國的公立教育系統以機械學習爲基礎，批判性思維教育不足，越來越多的家長開始對此不滿了，肖格的父母就是其中之一。這些家長開始選擇那些採用華德福、蒙特梭利或者意大利雷焦艾米利亞這些私立學校的教育理念的私立學校。

雖然國家在這些學校方面管理還不完善，但家長還是更喜歡這些學校的人文教育方法，以及更爲輕鬆的學習環境。

我們在位於廣州東南市區的海容華德福學校碰到肖格的母親盧丹（音）。她說，“跟在公立學校學習比，我女兒在這裏接受教育和生活會更健康。”

我們在學校參觀時，校長衛躍嶺穿着花呢夾克和運動鞋，他開玩笑抱起一個學生讓她在空中打轉，其他學生都大笑。在公立學校，類似的師生親密的場面幾乎難以想象。

全球矚目

中國取得的傑出的學術成績無疑受到全世界矚目。2013年，經濟合作與發展組織舉辦的Pisa調查對65個地區的孩子進行了測評，結果顯示上海15歲大的孩子們在數學、科學和閱讀方面獨佔鰲頭。

中國的城市家庭尤其重視孩子的教育投資。英國杜漢姆大學講師東·斯達爾在一項研究報告中指出，中國城市家庭將30%的中國收入用於孩子的教育投資，而相比之下，應該只有2%。

但這種“虎媽狼爸”的教育方式未必就沒有不良影響。和世界其他地區的同齡人相比，中國的青少年更加憂鬱，自信心不夠。據報道，去年秋天，成都一名10歲的孩子沒有完成老師要求寫的1000字檢討，便從30層的樓上跳下摔死。

或許是由於這些現象的緣故，中國新式教育機構在不斷地增加。這些學校推崇全面教育理念，尤其是針對幼兒園和小學生，採用質化測評方法。

中國還沒有對新式學校的數目的官方統計，衛校長估計全國大概有40家學校以及500來家幼兒園。他自己在廣州辦的一家小學和三家幼兒園有大約300名學生，每人每年40000元人民幣，還有300名學生等着進他的學校。

全家式教育

對盧丹和她丈夫來說，他們選擇學校不只是給女兒選擇接受怎樣的教育。華德福教育理念值得全家接納。華德福注重培育能自由思考有道德擔當的個人，這種人文主義的教育理念給人一種擺脫了純粹物質生活方式的感覺，這正是中國許多新興的中產階級所追求的。

兩年前，盧丹蔘加了華德福教育研討會，認識了衛校長。她回想說自己立即被這種教育理念所吸引。

“就像是一種召喚，像是實現了自己的使命，”盧丹說，“華德福開啓了我們更加輕鬆幸福的生活。”

他們家首先做的就是不要電視，不玩電腦遊戲，立即便給他們“真正地去生活去玩耍”騰出很多時間，盧丹說。

跟他們一樣的人還有很多。大約40個家庭搬到學校所在的地區，建立了一個志趣相投的社區。學校定期辦華德福教育及相關話題研討會，研討會主要由國外專家主持，許多家長給學校當志願者。

衛校長於2007年學習了華德福教育理念，之後他丟掉做了9年的攝影師工作去開辦自己的第一家幼兒園。他發現許多家長來他學校，都懷着想改變生活的願望，但他們求變無門。

“我跟一些不知道該如何與孩子玩耍的家長談話。那些家長只知道把孩子往電視機前一放。”他說。“通常，爸爸工作忙，晚上很晚回家，以至孩子都感覺不到他和爸爸同住一個屋檐下。來到我們學校後，他們學習好好地與孩子們相處。他們的生活質量提高了。華德福教育具有治癒功能，對整個家庭都有幫助。”

可靠性的質疑

然而，有人說，這些新式學校數目激增得有點過頭。在私立學校建立方面，國家還沒有多少管理法規。在美國的蒙特梭利基金會和華德福教育聯合會都在網上給那些有小孩要開始上學的家長開辦了課程。他們也提供了教師培訓項目，參加者需要學習一年。

然而，中國對這些學校需求的提高，使得一些人未完全領會這些教育品牌之後的理念便倉促開辦學校。

吉娜·羅奎斯特是美國薩維爾大學蒙特梭利教育中心負責人。她看到了中國蒙特梭利學校在猛增的情況，但她覺得這些新開辦的學校合格的老師會不夠。

“我去過所謂的蒙特梭利學前班，那裏根本沒有蒙特梭利教育的痕跡。”羅奎斯特說。”相反，教室正中央還有一臺大屏平面電視，這與我們的理念是完全相悖的。這些機構掙了很多錢，但家長並未得到他們想要的結果。”

我們採訪了廣州和香港的幾位老師和家長，據他們說，其他私立學校也存在類似情況，包括華德福。

儘管時下有這種新式教育熱，大多數中國家長不願意跟風。他們最大的擔心便是退出公立教育體系，孩子通過“高考”機會就降低了，這個全國性入學考試決定孩子進哪所大學。

陸子文是華中師範大學英語教授及全國英語課標組組員。他不是很信任新式教育。

他說，作業更少並非是未來成功的途徑。“許多家長都覺得不能讓孩子輸在起跑線上。”這是中國一句流行語。

正在新式學校操場上快樂地盪鞦韆的肖格似乎和這些毫無關係，她不用擔心考試和未來的職業選擇。她只是全身心地享受她的童年。