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As a teacher in an exchange program, I went to Red Wing, Minnesota in 2008 and taught three months in Red Wing Public Schools (a district where a few schools cluster). What I experienced there opened my eyes to different educational ideas and practices in American schools.

In Red Wing, schools start around 8 am and end at 2.30 pm. Situated at a relatively high latitude, the city enjoys night descending around 9 pm in May and June. So people have a lot of time in their hands after school. Sports are the most favorite extra-curricular activities. Some teachers double as coaches. Students regularly take a two-hour-long training session two or three times a week. Some training courses take place in the evening. Weekend outdoor events are more colorful. Camping, mountain climbing and rowing are most popular. Students favor sports partly because sports are fun and partly because some universities offer scholarships to students who excel in sports.

Unlike what I see in Chinese classrooms in my hometown Quzhou, classes in Red Wing Public Schools are more or less casual. More often than not, about 30 minutes in a 50-minute session is actually used for serious teaching. Students can walk around freely, chatting, taking their time to warm up before they sit down and listen to the teacher. Teachers allow them. And teachers seek ingenious ideas to inspire students. Once a teacher dresses himself up as a bee and dances like a bee to a tune played from a music player before he explains in detail how a bee dances.

The dress code is also different. Teachers and students prefer a casual style. I seldom see a teacher dressed in business suit and a tie. Girls can come to school with their faces heavily made up, and boys can sport a Mohican haircut. In that season, teachers usually wear a T-shirt and jeans. They sometimes sit on the teachers desk or even on the floor while teaching in a classroom.

The schools allow high school students to select subjects. From the first year of high school, students are allowed to select subjects. Students, however, choose their favorite teachers rather than subjects. Students from different grades often find themselves in the same room studying the same subject. Each teacher has a homeroom where they spend their workday. Students come and go. The busiest time is the 4-minute recess between classes. Students can be seen trooping through the great hall of the building, on their way from one classroom to another.

Teachers enjoy the freedom of how to teach and what to teach.A teacher does not have to use textbooks. A teacher in junior high school does not adopt the history book approved by the state education authorities. What he presents in his classes include contents from books, newspapers, magazines, and internet resources, the result of his extensive research and extensive reading. And he does not forget to introduce students to what schools in other countries teach on same topics if available. He says he teaches what actually happened in history, not a history seen from a white-peoples perspective as favored by the United States Government. By teaching this way, he expects students to learn how to think and judge independently.

Teachers never divide students into good students and bad students. Every school in Red Wing has some mentally or physically challenged students. Teachers dont discriminate against them; nor do their classmates make fun of them. Instead, these special students receive special help from specially appointed teachers. Classmates take initiative to help.

Schools do not resort to punishment or disciplinary actions against students. If students make serious mistakes, schools go to law. I attend a hearing with a high school principal. The school sues a few students for their excessive absenteeism. The students and their parents do not appear at the hearing. The principal asks the court to take the said students driving licenses in the hope that they will have no way to leave school once they arrive at school. The judge approves the principals request. But as far as I can see, such restraints are not very successful.

Education ideas and practices in China and America differ and each has its advantages, and each reflects deep-rooted ideology and education philosophy. We need to absorb American advantages and see its defects. □