I’m back on the road again. Brenda drove me up to Richmond, Virginia yesterday so that I can work at the Magie Walker Governor’s School today. I’ll be presenting to some really smart teachers who teach really smart students, and will be talking about literacy and learning in the 21st century — and a little Web 2.0. Then it’s off to the airport for a four leg flight to New Zealand, where I’ll be keynoting the Learning@School conference in Rotorua, and then down to Dunedin for a day of workshops with educators in the South Island.
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| It was a spooky night with the mist blocking all but the first third of many of the buildings around the Bund. |
But I’d like to spend a few minutes of your time back in China, which seems like weeks ago — because it seemed like it took weeks to fly back from there.
Several of the presentations that I do owe at least minor elements to ideas from The World is Flat, by Thomas Friedman. As I say in my presentations, I don’t agree with everything that Friedman says, but he tells some good stories, and I include and attribute some of these stories in my presentations, especially several revealing statistics about China.
For instance, I share numbers that imply that there are more honor students in China than there are students in the U.S., that if you exported all of the jobs in the United States to China, they would still have a labor surplus. The true implications of these facts did not really dawn on me until I saw Shanghai. This ancient city has been made-over almost entirely in just the last few years. The buildings are huge and many, and no single image could possible convey the vastness and wealth. The skyline, according to the teachers who work there, changes almost daily — and it is a state of affairs that is not only possible, but probable in a country with practically unlimited human resources, effective (and totalitarian) leadership, and an ambitious vision for the future.
We (the U.S.) could not possible keep up on their terms. We must find our niche of influence, our avenues to continued prosperity and value, and we must do it imaginatively and together. We must be willing to invest and to break out of the paralyzing policies of the past six years, and seek out visionary and inspiring leadership.
Thanks for the reality check, David. The pics you share are fascinating. Besides improving “Chinglish” (that is English translations of Chinese signage), what major obstacles stand in the way of China’s continued trajectory towards a successful and powerful future?
From native soil–
Joe
I know I wasn’t asked this question… but I have a little insight from the time I spent in China during 2004. I was in the country for about 7 weeks and traveled for about two weeks… Beijing, Xi’an, Shanghai, Sizhou, Nanjing… before I settled in for a month at a teaching assignment. My knowledge of China was cursory at best. The minute I arrived you could just sense the difference; the difference in pace, in energy, in mentality. You can actually watch the entire country change. I refer to it as the industrial revolution on speed. While my experience with the people of China was nothing short of amazing, there was always the lingering weight of living without personal freedoms. This still hangs with me in the classroom as I try to explain to my students what it must be like to live without the luxury of personal choice.
When I arrived back in the states, I started to process everything and was in awe. I did, however, note two things that I feel as though will slow their juggernaut of a country. The first thing that will be a factor is the burgeoning AIDS problem. The blood selling fiasco from the late years of the 20th century will cause a societal problem as the country tries to get moving in the upward direction. The second thing that I think will be a problem is the imbalance of men to women in the country coupled with the one child policy. I think the latest estimate is that there will shortly be 30 million more men than women in the country… roughly 10% of the US total population. The weight of the one child policy seems to be causing societal problems that can’t be fixed by just a government mandate or proclamation.
All in all, the speed and intensity of the country takes one’s breath away. But, I think the future of China will be slowed not by economy or government, but by society and culture.
I visit an exotic city nearly a dozen times each year. Just the other day I recognized a partially constructed skyscraper where there had been an old building just weeks ago. New and gigantic towers are placed between existing buildings with surgical precision.
That city is New York.
YAY!!! Flying to NZ … Tom and I can’t wait!!! We leave (by car) in about 20 minutes to head off to the Learning @ school conference where we get to meet you for real … in person … very cool! And it is sunny, beautiful summer weather as I type this so hopefully it will last.
Hey hey! Welcome to New Zealand!