Coerced creativity
Mara Hvistendahl was in an AP Comparative Government class I taught some years ago. She is now a Shanghai-based writer who writes regularly for Seed Magazine. I'm not taking any credit for her talent or hard work. (Her dad, who lives just 10 blocks away from me can do some of that.) I only mention the connection because it is fun to stay in touch with (or at least follow the careers of) former students.Seed Magazine's subtitle is "Science is Culture." Hvistendahl's latest article in Seed is not yet online, but it has political implications. What implications could your students identify?
The title is "Cultural Innovation, How China is trying to change 2,000 years of Confucian thinking."
"In 2005, President Hu Hintao unveiled China's 15-year plan for science and technology... China would join global innovators to achieve 'science and technological breakthroughs of world influence.'...
"Now [China] is shifting resources away from massive, state-directed research projects and funneling them into initiatives designed to stimulate zizhu chuangxin, or 'indigenous innovation.'...
"The Chinese government realizes that it needs to 'foster an innovative spirit and culture,' says Gang Zhang, administrator of the OECD's science and technology directorate, which... was approached by China's Ministry of Science and Technology to evaluate the country's potential for innovation. Several of the conclusions of that survey... are expected to target institutional and cultural baggage left over from China's planned economy...
"And therein lies the challenge: To achieve zizhu chuangxin, the government has to bread with the past, engineering noting short of a cultural sea change. And it's not just socialist planning that is to blame. Cultural barriers extend back to Confucianism, which has shaped China's eduational and intellectual environments for more than a millennium.
"From an early age, Chinese students are discouraged from challenging authority or asking critical questions. Both within academia and outside it, plagiarism is widespread... And China's research culture deters risk-taking... Denis Simon, vice president of the State University of New York's Levin Institute... [says] 'In China, a tolerance for failure is still not embedded in the system.'...
"...[N]euroscientist Mu-ming Poo... voiced a common opinion... 'The most urgent task in building research institutions in China... is the creation of an intellectual atmosphere that is conducive to creative work.'...
"To combat institutional rigidity and plagiarism, China is overhauling its evaluation system for scientists, tightening intellectual property protection, and offering financial incentives for start-up companies...
"Creativity is, of course, difficult to mandate..."
Labels: China, concepts, politics
posted by Ken Wedding @ 10:22 PM
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