I Tried to Change the Education System - Here's How It Went - Prof. Jiang Xueqin

What I'm going to do now is I'm going to tell you a story about myself. So the

year is 2008.

I went to Yale College, okay, in the United States and I was an English major. I did very well in school. So I

major. I did very well in school. So I

was hired in 2008 to go to Shinjzhen in South China and help the school Shin Middle School build an international program to send kids abroad. Okay, so

this 2008 which was a long time ago and back then not not that many students wanted to go abroad. There were really few international schools. So the first thing I did was I looked at the

situation at the school. Okay, this and this this this what I found.

Okay, I found that students even though they're going abroad maybe about 10% of the students were planning to go abroad. So so that's about 80

students uh each year. That's a lot. But

the way they were going about the process of studying abroad was problematic. Okay. So, first of all, all

problematic. Okay. So, first of all, all they were doing was taking regular Chinese classes and you know in Chinese classes all you do is you sit in a room of 50 kids and you just take notes and then you take

tests. You don't communicate, you don't

tests. You don't communicate, you don't ask questions, you don't debate. Okay?

So, that's one problem. Another problem

is that the students are spending all their time memorizing SAT word list.

Okay, they were not reading, they were not writing, they were just memorizing words.

And the other thing that they did to make their applications look good is model United Nations. Okay?

And that's fine. Maybe some of you are model United Nations and that's a great activity, but everyone was doing it.

There was absolutely no differentiation.

All right? So I looked at the situation I said no I mean you might be able to get into a good American university because you know these kids are very

smart but I wanted to them do well at the university and to do well in life.

Okay. So I made certain changes to the curriculum and to the school. Okay. So

first thing I did was I set up a seminar system.

So rather than Chinese classes, I invited these American teachers to come and teach seminars like we have at the school where 10 20 kids are in a room

and they discuss books that they read together. Okay. Um rather than SAT word

together. Okay. Um rather than SAT word memorization, I had them read books.

Students were required to read a lot of books. In fact, I established a 5,000

books. In fact, I established a 5,000 book English library at the school where students can just go and borrow books and read. I wanted to teach students the

and read. I wanted to teach students the joy of reading.

Um, and then in terms of activities, I didn't want students to do Modern United Nations anymore because I didn't want kids sitting around just talking. I

wanted to let them do things. Okay. So,

I set up two new new activities. The

first is called the coffee house.

And the coffee house is is the first coffee house in China in the Chinese high school. There are lots of coffee

high school. There are lots of coffee houses today, but I was the first person to set up a coffee house where students had to run a business. They had to work

as waiters and provide good service to customers. And it was it was a

customers. And it was it was a collaboration effort. As you can

collaboration effort. As you can imagine, this is great for the students to learn collaboration, to learn finance, to learn entrepreneurship.

Okay. So, that was a very successful activity.

Uh, do you have a question?

>> Yeah.

>> Okay.

>> I mean, was that like similar with our moon coffee like the coffee in the west south?

>> Okay. Um, 2008 I was the first person to do anything. Okay.

do anything. Okay.

>> Oh, okay.

>> Okay. Just I mean like like similar.

>> Yeah. All right. So the coffee house was an activity I set up which was very successful. It's still there today guys.

successful. It's still there today guys.

If you go to middle school you will see the coffee house still there a long long time after I I went away. The other

thing I did was something called the daily newspaper.

And this was the first daily newspaper in China in a high school and probably maybe even around the world where students every day had to report,

collect information, write articles, edit and publish it and they worked until like midnight. sometimes until 2 am and then at 7 a.m. they have to get up and um deliver the newspaper to all

the students and these are two very successful activities and um so I understand game the says okay if you want to make this transition

from the old system to new system you also have to establish a new culture to allow these activities to flourish

and so my three major principles were um transparency Okay.

Um innovation okay? Transparency,

okay? Transparency, um innovation openness.

And so my idea was this. Rather than sub a curriculum that was perfect, it would be a curriculum that would evolve over

time. We would learn mistakes together.

time. We would learn mistakes together.

We would admit these mistakes and then we would correct them together and that's what learning is. Okay? Right? So

the idea of transparency also I made changes all the time which created some chaos but it's a time for

us to reflect and to be resilient. Now I

was very open and honest about everything that I was doing and this in and so this system in a very short amount of time even though it there were a lot of problems in beginning it became

a very effective system after a semester or a year.

And not only that, the students who went for this program did very well in life.

They went to Yale. They went to they went to Wharton, Cornell.

And this program school became the most famous program in South China. And our

students have the best record of college admissions in South China. Okay. So, this sounds

great, right? Okay. The problem is this.

great, right? Okay. The problem is this.

The problem is what happened after I established the program. The first one that happened was okay I was fired.

They said get out of here. Okay. Second

of all the teachers, the parents, the students were all happy to see me go. They were

like get out of here. We never want to see you again.

The third thing that happened was I did come to Beijing and set up a new program that was very similar to this. Okay. But

after that, after four years of doing this and being very successful at this, I was never allowed to set up another program again. No one wanted me to work

program again. No one wanted me to work in management again.

Okay? So even though I was successful, even though I worked really hard, even though I was innovative, even though I set up really the best study abroad program in all of China, I was the

first, everyone else copied me afterwards. I was fired. No one wanted

afterwards. I was fired. No one wanted to me to stay and I was not allowed to do this ever again. Why? Okay. Well, the

reason is this.

When I was doing this, the word that everyone used to describe me was not reformer, not visionary, not

idealist, not dreamer, but dictator.

Okay?

Or another word that they used that was that was more common was this guy's an Okay? This guy's a complete

Okay? This guy's a complete Why? because I insisted on fairness.

Why? because I insisted on fairness.

Okay? I don't care who you are. I don't

care who your parents are. I want you to work hard and learn. And as you can imagine, that pissed off a lot of powerful people because that's not how

the game is played in China. Okay? It's

actually not the game how this game is played anywhere in the world. The game

is not fair. The game is established by stakeholders and they play the game according to their interests.

Okay. So, um let's go over what happened. All right.

happened. All right.

Okay. So, my I understand that there are stakeholders and the stakeholders in game theory are just the players.

Okay. the players. And who are the players? Well, you have the students,

players? Well, you have the students, you have the parents, you have the um teachers,

you have the administrators, okay? The school

leaders, you have the government, okay? And then you have the colleges.

okay? And then you have the colleges.

Okay, the colleges are the US colleges where I'm trying to send my students.

Okay, so these are the players in the game. And if you want to understand game

game. And if you want to understand game theory, you you need to understand the motivations and interests of all the different players that tells you why or

how they will behave the way they do.

Okay, so look, so here is my original understanding of the players, which was clearly wrong. Okay, cuz I got fired.

clearly wrong. Okay, cuz I got fired.

All right. So the students the students wanted to like love to learn get into Ivy League

and be the best. Okay. So I thought the students what their motivation was to be the best possible person to work hard to love learning to be famous to get an IV

league. Okay. Clearly this is wrong.

league. Okay. Clearly this is wrong.

Okay. But I'm saying back then what my thinking was the parents. Well, the

parents wanted successful kids who were independent.

Okay. Independent.

And they wanted phase, right? So they

want their kids to get into the Ivy League.

All right. Teachers. Well, teachers

wanted to do a good job, right?

They want to teach students. They love

teaching. They love students. They just

want to be given the space and the opportunity to teach what their passion is. Okay.

is. Okay.

Administrators. Administrators. I really

didn't like administrators. So, I just thought they were just they wanted good results. Okay. That's all. Good results.

results. Okay. That's all. Good results.

As long as as pro as long as I provide good results, they're happy. Okay. Okay,

the government they wanted innovation, they wanted good workers.

Um, they wanted, you know, they want technology. Okay, they want a strong

technology. Okay, they want a strong China.

Colleges wanted the best possible potential.

Okay, they wanted students will be the leaders of the future. Okay, so 2008 when I set up the program, this was my assumptions about who the players were

and what motivated them. Okay, clearly

clearly I was wrong about who they were.

Okay, so let's go over again. Let's now

do an anal an analysis of what they really really want. Okay. And the um easy answer is that in game theory all

the players what they're motivated in is by achieving the best possible results by doing the least amount of work

possible. Okay, just remember that.

possible. Okay, just remember that.

That's a principle here. Everyone wants

to achieve the best results by doing the least amount of work possible. People

are lazy and people are greedy. It's

that simple, guys. Okay, so students, they want to get in the Ivy League, but they didn't want to work hard to get in the Ivy League. They wanted to do as

little work as possible. And if it meant they had to uh work hard to get Ivy League, they they were like, I don't want to get in the Ivy League then. I'll

just get into another school because who cares? Okay, the best possible result,

cares? Okay, the best possible result, least possible work. Parents are like, "Yeah, I can have my kid work hard, but what's important is for me to control my

kid, right? For to make to because only

kid, right? For to make to because only I know how to ensure my kid succeeds.

So, I need to I don't want my kids to think critically or or be independent. I

want my kids to obey me." Now, teachers are like, "Listen, this is a job, man.

Okay, I have kids. I don't want to work hard. I just want to come to school, do

hard. I just want to come to school, do what I'm supposed to do, do what is minimally required of me to collect my salary and then go home. I don't want to teach my passion because I don't have any passion.

Okay, administrators are like, "Oh my god, what's important is for me to make sure the powerful parents are happy. I

don't care about everyone else. I don't

care about poor parents. I don't care about middle- class parents. As long as the parents who are powerful are happy, I keep my I can keep my job. Right? The

government is like, you know what? I

don't want innovation in this country.

Even though I say I want I want it because I don't want problems in life, okay? I just want things to just stay

okay? I just want things to just stay the way they are and everyone's happy.

Okay? So now we understand what happened. All right? All right. So now

happened. All right? All right. So now

what I will show you is this. I will

show you how a game is constructed. A

game is constructed when all the different players agree on the rules and incentives of the game.

All right. I was an outsider. I was not a player. I came in to construct a game

a player. I came in to construct a game in which I felt that students would thrive. And they did fry. But that's not

thrive. And they did fry. But that's not what they want. Okay? They want to have control over the game. And if they lose control, well, they call you an out they

call you the outsider an Okay. All right. So, let's

an Okay. All right. So, let's

do this again and objectively think about what the interests and motivations of each player are. And when their

interests converge, that's the game they play. All right? So you have students,

play. All right? So you have students, parents, uh teachers,

uh leaders, school administrators and then the colleges.

Okay.

Another thing that you have to do in game theory that's very important is you have to rank the power of uh power of each player. Uh you have a question.

each player. Uh you have a question.

government.

>> Excuse me.

>> The government. Yes. Sorry. Uh you're

you're right. I I I forgot about the government.

>> Okay. And the government.

Okay. Another thing that that you have to do in game theory is you have to rank the importance of the players. Okay. So,

not all players are equal. So, in this game theory, even though there are students and students are the majority, students actually don't matter. Okay.

what students actually think and want don't actually matter. What matters of course are the parents because the parents pay to play this game and parents can cause

a lot of problems if they don't get what they want. Okay, so the most important

they want. Okay, so the most important are the parents. Then you have the teachers. Why? Because the teachers are

teachers. Why? Because the teachers are the ones who are implementing the rules of the game. Okay, the way that teachers behave determines how this game is played.

And then these two are the most important. Okay. Then maybe you have

important. Okay. Then maybe you have administrators as well, but they're not as important as the parents and the teachers.

The government doesn't really matter because they don't really care, right?

It's one school among thousands. Who

cares what the school does as long as it doesn't cause me any problems? The

colleges don't care either. you. They

say they want really passionate students who are curious, who are imaginative from China. They don't care. Okay? For

from China. They don't care. Okay? For

them, it's just business. They just want students who are willing to pay money to get a crappy education in America.

All right? So, the cost don't really matter. They'll take anyone who is

matter. They'll take anyone who is willing to pay.

And the Ivy League, yeah, everyone's getting Ivy League, but but who do the Ivy League want? They want people who want to be successful in life, right?

And who are these people? Not the best students. These are people from powerful

students. These are people from powerful families. Okay, so this game is rigged,

families. Okay, so this game is rigged, right? They have all this talk about,

right? They have all this talk about, you know, we want the best motivated students, want PE students who are curious, who are passionate. It's all

nonsense. Okay, that's not how the game is played. So the cards don't really

is played. So the cards don't really matter either. Um, okay. So these are

matter either. Um, okay. So these are the three major players. The parents,

the teachers, administrators, students, government, colleges, they are in this game. They don't really matter. Okay. So

game. They don't really matter. Okay. So

now what we're going to do is we'll analyze the mentality, the worldview, the interests of each player. Okay? And

again once you do that, once we figure out where they converge, then we know how the game is constructed. All right?

So let's look at students. Students,

okay, I mean they want to be popular, right? So most students come to school

right? So most students come to school and actually the priority is not to learn. The priority is to make friends

learn. The priority is to make friends and to be popular among the friends.

Okay, that because that's just human nature. That's true, right? Um then you

nature. That's true, right? Um then you have uh please teachers and parents. Okay, this guy, this is

and parents. Okay, this guy, this is really important to understand. You're

not in school not to learn. You're in

school to please parents and teachers.

Why? Because parents are the ones who pay for your way in life, right? The

ones who give you food. Teachers are the one who gives you grades. You're not

here to learn. You're here to please them. There's a difference. Okay? And

them. There's a difference. Okay? And

grades are a way of showing how well you're pleasing the parents and the teachers.

Okay? Is that true? All right. Um and

then you're like, have fun.

Okay. And then get a good college.

Okay.

All right. So, am I missing any anything among the students?

All right. So, but okay, I'm sure there's more, but but let's just keep on going. Okay. Now, parents, well, the

going. Okay. Now, parents, well, the parents, what they want is, of course, successful kids.

But they want successful kids not because they believe that success will make their kid happy. What they really want, of course, is face,

right?

They want their kid to go to the Ivy League and they don't mean the kid the Ivy League provides a good education or their kid will be happy at the Ivy League. They just want to brag to their

League. They just want to brag to their relatives and their friends and their colleagues. My kid is at Brown or

colleagues. My kid is at Brown or Cornell or Darkmouth.

Okay. Um but face also means to treat education as a luxury product.

Why do parents send kids to national schools? Not because national schools

schools? Not because national schools provide a better education. It's because

international schools are more expensive and most importantly international schools have white faces, right? White

faces.

Okay, this is the main marketing tool of national schools, right?

They have all these white faces, white teachers like, "Oh my god, this is a real national school." Now, you don't care if the what if the teacher actually good at what they're doing. You don't

care if the kids are actually learning.

You don't care what the curriculum is.

You don't understand that sort of stuff.

You just understand, okay, 10 white faces, therefore this is a good school.

It's that simple. Okay? And then, of course, you want some good outcome.

Okay? You want you want a good outcome.

You don't care if your kid is actually learning in school. What you want is your kid to get good grades, to get in good college. Okay? These are not the

good college. Okay? These are not the same thing, right? So that's the parents. Then the teachers. Teachers are

parents. Then the teachers. Teachers are

really simple because teachers do this job and for them the priority is to do as little work as possible to get by.

Okay? I'm not saying all teachers. I'm

saying the majority of teachers in the school are just trying to get by because quite honestly they have families, they have other responsibilities. So you

don't have time to focus entirely in school, okay? So basically just get by,

school, okay? So basically just get by, okay? Or the minimum

okay? Or the minimum amount of work, okay? You may not believe this, but like

okay? You may not believe this, but like when you actually grow up and get a job, you'll do the same thing. Okay? Just get

the do a minimum amount of work in order to get by. Um administrators they want good outcomes but what their real priority is to

protect relationship with parents. Okay, just give parents

with parents. Okay, just give parents what they want.

Okay, their job is to sell the school.

So, so whatever parents want, you just give it to them. And administrators

also, by the way, have families. This is

a job for them. They also just want to get by, okay? They're not trying to build the

okay? They're not trying to build the best school possible. They're not trying to change the world. They're not trying to educate students. They're just trying to get by. Do the least amount of work in order to

uh get by. Government is okay. They say

they want innovation, creativity, technology, but really it's just like no problems guys.

Okay? As long as you don't care any problems for us, we're happy with you.

Just stay away from us. We're happy to not bother you. Please don't come bother us. Yeah, that's government. Also, what

us. Yeah, that's government. Also, what

they want is for students who will also be no problems in the future, right?

Right. So, compliance. So, as long as schools are teaching you how to obey authority, how to comply, how to do what you're told, they're

happy. You're a good school. Okay?

happy. You're a good school. Okay?

Colleges again just want the money.

Okay? That's all they care about. If

you're willing to go to American college and pay how much how much is it nowadays like 50,000 100,000 a year that's a lot of money guys okay if you're willing to pay that they'll take you I guarantee

you even if you don't speak English they'll take you all All right.