CCTV “我们”

This Saturday I was invited to a the filming of a CCTV program on the Remin University Campus. The program was called “我们” or “us”. Here is a description of the program
“'US' is a brand new talk show that produced by CCTV, it is a weekly program that focus on the requirement and development of individual minds and culture, and the culture and improvement of the entire China, and newest developing tendency of the world and China. The shooting format is the open communication between the compeer who is Mrs. Wang Lifen, guests and the audience.”
The topic Saturday was described as “From the ‘Triple-A Outstanding Students’ see the ‘evaluation of primary and secondary education system’” which I thought meant they would be talking about the notoriously difficult Chinese school system. I was only partially right. While they did talk about the school system as a whole, the part that was lost in translation was that “Triple A Outstanding Student” is actually a title you can achieve as a student. In Chinese they are called 三好学生 (San Hao Xuesheng, translating literally to three goods student, most call it Three A Students), and because I don't have internet access as of writing this I will describe it as best I can from what I gleaned from the five hour filming session.

A 三好学生 is a student in primary, middle, or high school who displays proficiency in three areas; academics, athletics, and attitude (this one is more like ethics and being a good person, but alliteration ahead of accuracy). To become a 三好学生 you must be elected by your classmates, and I believe this happens every semester. Many compared it to being an Honors student in the United States, the main difference is that only 5% of students ever become 三好学生, so it is a fairly exclusive group. Along with bragging rights, being a 三好学生earns you extra points on the college admission exams (I’m not entirely sure how this works because you can be elected one semester and not another, but for now just know that some kids get extra points).
After taking a cab to Renmin University and miraculously finding the correct building on time I was given a ticket and told to wait in a classroom. I walked into the classroom wearing my school jacket and a man approached me saying that he went to the same high school and now he was teaching at the middle school counterpart (presumably called Beijing Normal University Middle School). We chatted for a while until a pack of American teachers from an international school in Beijing came in and I did the whole “Yes, I am 16 and I am living in Beijing with a Chinese family” thing. They were all kind and amiable, and it was nice to have some English speakers in the room.

After waiting for a bit we were escorted upstairs to the studio. The studio itself was filled with red and white decorations, and had this edgy, modern looking noodle-like statue in the middle of it. It was fun for me to see all the filming and behind the scenes stuff on a TV set, but we were soon taken to our woefully small seats. In our seats was a voting machine, a simultaneous translation device (they had someone translating to English in another room and they broadcasted so the non-Chinese speakers weren’t completely lost), and a paddle with a red and a grey side. We sat down and eventually the show started. The format of the show was a sort of debate with audience participation. There were four experts (aka principals) who wanted to abolish the 三好学生 system and four who wanted to just reform it (which was kind of stupid because both sides agreed that the system was flawed, but neither really provided a concrete alternative). There was also a team of three principals in Taiwan who were beamed in on big screen TVs. Each principal gave a speech, during which the audience could raise their paddles, red for agree and grey for disagree. They had also invited a class of elementary school, middle school, and high school kids to attend the filming and after the principals all spoke, the host invited the kids to come up and provide their opinions (not surprisingly, the kids were much more interesting and concise). After this the Taiwan people spoke for a bit and then they introduced two principals of international schools in Beijing, one of an American school and one from a traditional British style school. They provided their opinions on the topic as well as their teaching philosophies in general. The discussion evolved into a broader talk about education and how it should be more “student focus”.

During this while process they let us vote twice. The first time was about whether三好学生 should be awarded extra college entrance points, and the second time was about which teaching style and values the audience like more (each principal had talked about their school’s values and teaching style). The first vote turned out 99% against giving三好学生extra points, and the second vote turned out in favor of the current Chinese system as well as the American system of schooling (as opposed to the Taiwanese or the British system). Sometime along here the TV screens switched to three more principals, these from Shanghai. That gives us a total of 16 principals, all given the chance to speak at least twice. Let’s just say that most of them took their time and had a lot to say, so the filming went on…and on…and on. This was while I was sitting on what amounted to a plate with a cushion on it so about an hour and a half in I was bored and a bit uncomfortable. Good thing filming only lasted three and a half hours more. So after my wallet had dug a dent into the bottom of my thigh and I had heard more than I had ever wanted to know about the Chinese schooling system, we were set free and I nearly ran out of the building.

In all fairness filming anything always takes forever and the crew and host were very professional and tried to move the speakers along, but these people just kept on talking. On the other hand, it was interesting to see an issue, albeit not a very controversial one, discussed in an open forum with direct audience participation and feedback. We could voice our opinions by speaking or by waving a paddle. In a country that has been harassed over its policies on free speech, this was pretty cool. Of course they could still just censor or edit out any part of the show that they didn’t like, but it still seems like an important step forward. Overall I am glad I went, it was an interesting and informative experience for the first hour and if all goes well I should appear on Chinese TV in the near future, but I guess I wish I had brought a sleeping bag or at least a chair with a back on it.