Yong Zhao, “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Dragon?” (Jossey-Bass, 2014),

China has had an amazing developmental path over the past thirty years. Decade long double digit economic growth numbers along with more assertion on the international stage have led to some concern of a “Rising China”, one that may eventually threaten the status quo. But economic rise is not the only area in which China has dramatically developed, as education too has seen a major boost since opening up in the late 1970s. With international testing like PISA showing that China has some of the top students in the world, some policymakers in the West are looking to their system with envy. In Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Dragon? (Jossey-Bass, 2014), Dr. Yong Zhao, Presidential Chair and professor at the University of Oregon’s College of Education, provides true nuance to the Chinese educational system, which might not be worth replicating after all.

In Zhao’s book, he chronicles China’s long history of testing through the imperial exam system up to today’s gaokao, the Chinese university entrance exam. He further dives into China’s attempts to “catch up” to the West, often failing with ventures like the Chinese Educational Mission (1872-1881). Set on this historical narrative backdrop, Zhao weaves in contemporary educational issues from the Chinese system, such as rampant professorial research falsification and the test cramming lifestyle of the typical Chinese student. He concludes that the “authoritarian” type of education found in China should not be imported to the US, writing that it “stifles creativity, smothers curiosity, suppresses individuality, ruins children’s health, distresses students and parents, corrupts teachers and leaders, and perpetuates social injustice and inequity” (p. 187). Dr. Zhao joins New Books in Education to discuss this fascinating and pertinent topic.

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