Chinese teachers in British classrooms spark global debate on education styles

Columnist Simon Jenkins writes in defense of the British education system. [A screenshot from the Guardian website]

Though Zou's words were recognized by several education experts in China and Britain, there are several voices in defense of the British education system. Kathryn James, deputy general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers in Britain, defended the British school system and said it had advantages over China's.

"Student autonomy, questioning and the development of skills to allow students to think for themselves are the key elements in British pedagogical approaches - and do not appear to be part of the Chinese approach. As teachers involved in the program take lessons from the experiment, no doubt the Chinese teachers featured will also learn from the UK's approach to teaching," she said.

Simon Jenkins, a British columnist, wrote "China's schools are testing factories. Why is Britain so keen to copy them?" for The Guardian, and taunted the traditional Chinese education style.

"Chinese parents crave the British private schools being set up across China. Chinese students cram into U.S. and British universities. They can see that a dragooned, mechanically competitive schooling is no path to creativity, challenge or happiness in the long run in a dynamic economy and a critical open society," he wrote in the article.

Roo Stenning, a Twitter user, commented, "We don't need Chinese teachers to improve British schools – and it patronizes my colleagues to say so."