Ed School Faculty Group back From Visiting Chinese Schools

After a 12-day tour of Chinese universities, nine members of the Graduate School of education faculty observed first-hand that Chinese education is still suffering from the effects of the Cultural Revolution.

"As we expected, we found that Chinese education suffered terribly during the Cultural Revolution and through most of the '70s, but there is now a major political and academic commitment to make up for that gap," Francis Keppel, a senior lecturer at the Ed School said yesterday.

While in china the delegation of nine professors and one doctoral candidate visited universities in several large cities including Jinan and Beijing, giving lectures to educators and students.

Keppel stressed that the Chinese are eager to learn American methods of higher education, adding that "There is a lot for them to catch up on."

The former Ed School dean also said that politics underscores their enthusiasm toward American educators: "It is quite obvious that the Soviets are no longer the models. They (the Chinese) teach English everywhere, but very few are learning Russian,"

Phyllis A. Weaver, an assistant professor of Education, said yesterday that Chinese students who approached her were particularly curious about Harvard. "Their questions ranged from the very technical--about my research--to asking if "Love Story" was a true story that really happened in Cambridge."

"They are very conscientious about education now, if for no other reason than to understand the (political) ideology," Weaver said. She added that the current Chinese literacy campaign is aimed at adults, as well as children.

Keppel observed that his hosts are intent on maintaining and broadening contacts with the West. About 1000 Chinese citizens now study in the United States, he said, adding he is sure that China would like to increase that number in the future.