Episode 3 - Education in the East and West

In this third episode, William recounts his experiences of teaching, living and bringing up his family in China and Vietnam over more than half of his life.Tony also recalls experiences from the early 2000s in southern China as a teacher and Western expat. They compare thoughts on the education system in the East with that in the West, and bring it forward to the modern day. As a current and future economic powerhouse, China in the modern day is clearly much different to William's first experiences in the 80s, Tony's in the 2000s. The reference points are both state education and private education in China and cross-cultural comparisons are made!Timestamps(0:00) Introduction to today's topic. Background (life and teaching) for Tony and then William from first experiences in China onwards.(07:00) William's thoughts on general differences between East and West education systems.(10:54) Tony's experience of state education in 2002.(12:35) William's contrasting experience in an international school setting.(15:39) Stereotypes of East v West education and William's take on this.(19:27) The "extreme" timetable of a state school v cosmopolitan international school comparison; differing perspectives from first hand experience of Tony v William.(27:15) Bringing our experiences up to date with the modern day reality of life in China.(35:30) The gaokao and end of school exams in East and West.(38:15) Percentages of population going to university.(41:40) Advancement of China infrastructure, technology.(48:20) Cross-border movement of students for education.(53:35) Unusual outro in mostly Mandarin Chinese.