Michael F. Shaughnessy
Eastern New Mexico University
Portales, New Mexico
 

Tom Watkins is a frequent contributor to Ed News on topics raging from global education, school reform, e-learning, charter schools, community colleges and a range of social policy issues. His eclectic career spans decades in K-12 education (State Superintendent of Michigan schools), higher education, business and health and human services, and serving in Michigan’s state mental health system.

With a life-long interest in China, Tom has written over 60 articles on various subjects and has crisscrossed that county over the past two decades. Watkins can be reached at tdwatkins@aol.com

1)Tom, in a recent posting, it became official. China is now the second largest economy in the world. What you have been saying for many years has come to pass. Your immediate thoughts?

Ouch!

The world is changing at warp speed. Individuals, states and our nation must adapt to these new realities, stop sticking our heads in the sand, and work harder and smarter to create our new future.

You can’t put the genie back in the bottle. China had the world’s largest economy for most of  history and has been roaring back since the 80′s when Deng Xiaoping replaced Mao, casting off the old Communist anchor and opening China’s door to the world.

Historically viewing itself as the “Middle Kingdom”, China is now a country that lesser powers revolve around.

I have been and will continue to be a latter day Paul Revere, warning, “China is coming, China is coming.” What we now see is a reminder that we must find ways to assure that China’s economic rise does not come at American workers’ expense. Investment in education and skill development is our only salvation.

On many other issues, China is progressing while we are stuck. Consider these:

* The Chinese economy, the fastest growing large economy of the world, has been growing at double digits for more than 2 decades

* China invests hundreds of billions in modern infrastructure — everything from high speed rail to roads, dams, sea and airports, utilities and power plants

* They are investing heavily in green energy technology — solar, wind and battery and seem intent on winning the “green race”

* China is not content to be “factory of the world” and is investing in higher education and knowledge workers to become the “innovation nation”

* The Chinese are underwriting the huge U.S. national debt our leaders have been ringing up for the past decade, an economy once on steroids.

As a nation we need to do more to invest in our people from the cradle to the grave. The nation that invests in education, talent, creativity and innovation will prosper in the 21st century. Our goal should be to assure America remains intellectually competitive as we move forward.

2) Now we need to be preparing our students to be global business men and women. What are the schools doing to implement this?
 
China is investing in their future but we are not doing enough to invest in our own. We need more than a national policy of whining about China. As a nation we cannot continue to disinvest in our people.

Clearly, the nation that invests in education, talent, innovation, creativity and research and development is the nation that thrives in our hyper-competitive, unpredictable, technology-driven, global knowledge economy. A place where ideas and jobs can and do move around the world effortlessly.

America is dangerously uninformed about other country’s history, language and cultures. This must change. In a fast-paced global economy–we are no longer isolated.

3) What do we need to do to change?
 
First, accept reality. Just because we HAVE been great is no guarantee that we will remain so. While we may have little chance or desire to stop China’s rise (imagine the chaos if 1/5th of the world’s population stumbles), we should be focused on preventing our downfall. It is widely believed that a “rising tide lifts all boats” — there is no need for our American boat to sink because of China’s rising fortunes.

Through the multiple trips I have taken there over the past two decades (particularly the past two years) and meeting with top government, business and academic officials, I have never heard Chinese Officials suggest they would slow down the pace of change in their countries because of troubles in America.

As a nation we must stop behaving like the frog sitting in a pan of water even as the temperatures rise and the frog boils to death. We should instead be doing all we can to remain number one in education, creativity and innovation.

Our goal should be to assure that America stays the “Brain Bank of the World,” where everyone comes for deposits and withdrawals. Yet we are falling behind, and worse yet, we are in denial about this fact.

If interested in additional thoughts on China, see the September 2009 issue of Dome Magazine www.domemagazine.com, “China Bridge” or Google: Tom Watkins China.

4) Tom, I went from Hong Kong over to China a few years back and the one word I would use was ‘construction’ – they seemed to be building everywhere! What does this say to the American economy?
 
There is a joke in China– “What is the national bird?” The Building Crane!

China is investing billions in their infrastructure. From dams, roads, rail, air and sea ports as well as their military.

Twenty years ago I was in Shanghai looking across the river to Pudong. It was then farmland, a few buildings. Today, Pudong has three times the number of skyscrapers as Manhattan. It was the site of the recent World Expo, the World Fair.

Not to sound like a broken record, but China is investing we are not keeping up.

5) Let’s talk language- should our schools be teaching Chinese, or Mandarin, in the schools?

Absolutely! Yes, yes!

Mandarin Chinese is the most used language on the planet in the fastest growing world economy. Yet many schools across America do not even offer Chinese as part of their curriculum even as more and Chinese speak English. This must change.

Every educator, business leader and parent needs to be supporting a new Language Bill Introduced in Congress: H.R. 6036, or the Excellence and Innovation in Language Learning Act. The need is clear. The bill cites a pervasive lack of foreign language capacity (particularly Chinese and Arabic) that threatens the security and economic well-being of the United States.

See:http://asiasociety.org/education-learning/policy-initiatives/national-initiatives/new-language-bill-introduced-congress

The bill’s goal is to prepare every young American to become proficient in a second language in addition to English, within a generation.

There are many resources out there to help with language skills:

     * Asia Society www.asiasociety.org
     * College Board www.collegeboard.com
     * Mandy Pandy, a Chinese-English children’s book and audio series @ www.mandypandy.com
     * The Confucius Institutes @www.confucius.umich.edu/chinaUM.php
www.clas.wayne.edu/ci/
www.confucius.msu.edu/people.htm

The Confucius Institute are affiliated with U.S. universities. With the support of the Chinese Ministry of Education, their goal is to help spread the Chinese language, history and culture around the world. There are many Confucius Institutes throughout America and the world.

There is so much more we need to be doing to prepare our children for the future. A college student in Mianyang, China told me this joke that should hit home to everyone: Tom, he asked, “What do you call someone who speaks three languages?” “Tri-lingual,” I respond.

“What do you call someone who speaks two languages? Bilingual”, I respond.

“Then Tom,” he continued, “What do you call someone who speaks one language?”

Feeling good about answering the first two right thus far, I respond confidently, “mono-lingual, of course.”

“Wrong!” he says, laughing, “American.”

But this “joke” is no laughing matter. Here is a 20- year- old college student from a rural background with peasant parents. His English was perfect.

6) Any word from the White House about this? Any educational position?
 
President Obama, who purportedly grew up around different languages and cultures, understands and supports these efforts.
Arnne Duncan, the U.S. Education Secretary has been a strong supporter of teaching Chinese. Chicago Public Schools has one of, if not the, best Mandarin Chinese K-12 program in the country. 
 
7) Tom you have some insights into the Chinese mind-set: What are the cultural factors that contribute to this rise?

Chinese value education and are willing to work hard to obtain it! While we complain, Chinese parents send their children to after-school programs to practice the English they learn that day in class.

America is great for many reasons, but especially because we have always worked hard to invest in the human potential of our people. But there exists no divine right that America stay on top.

Everyone – from students, parents, teachers, superintendents to school boards — need to kick it up several notches!

Where are WE as a country going wrong?

Bill Clinton in his first inaugural speech said, “There is nothing so wrong with America that it cannot be fixed by what is right about America.” He was so right!

I hope no one takes my concerns as though I am predicting the demise of America. We CAN thrive with the right leadership and hard and smart work.

The best predictor of a state’s wealth is the proportion of adults with a four-year degree. Of the top 10 states in college educational attainment, nine are in the top 12 in per capita income.

It sometimes seems we are an island of excellence surrounded by a sea of despair in our public schools all across America. What is transpiring in Detroit and most other urban districts should be considered educational genocide. If the dropout rate were considered a public health issue, it would be branded an epidemic.  

Detroit’s test scores are the worst in the nation, a national disgrace. We know what needs to be done, what is lacking is the political will to do it. Let’s stop pretending all is okay because it isn’t.

9) What have I neglected to ask?
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These are huge topics — China and education! The China wave will continue to wash up on our shores economically and in other ways. We need to remember the Chinese saying: “Water can float your boat — it can also sink it.”

It is up to America about how we respond to the wave. We can do nothing and get swamped, or learn to surf and ride the wave.

I’ll be returning to China in a few weeks and always feel I learn a great deal from my travels there and my Chinese friends and colleagues. I welcome hearing from others on the topics we have covered today. Email me at: tdwatkins@aol.com

Thanks as always to Ed News for the great service you provide.