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» China-Business-Articles » Reading: "Becoming the Brain Bank of the World-- what is needed to compete!"
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| Becoming the Brain Bank of the World-- what is needed to compete! |
By:
Tom Watkins |
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An Interview with Tom Watkins: Back to China
Michael F. Shaughnessy
Senior Columnist EdNews.org
Eastern New Mexico University
Tom Watkins served as Michigan's State Superintendent of Schools from 2001-2005 and The President and CEO of the Economic Council of Palm Beach County, Florida from 1996-2001 He can be reached at tdwatkins@aol.com. Tom is interested in hearing from anyone interested in building economic, cultural and educational bridges with China.
In this interview, he discusses his recent trip to China and educational implications and concerns.
1) I understand that you have just returned from China. What was the purpose of this visit?
I am continuing to work with schools and business that are interested in developing connections in China. This particular trip was to find partners for collaborative work with K-12 and higher education as well as some proprietary work with business clients.
2) You have been to China about 15 times. What is your connection with China? How long has this connection been established?
I have been working on building economic, educational and cultural bridges with China with various jobs and now as a consultant for many years. I first became interested in China in the mid-1960's when a great fourth grade teacher opened my eyes to the ancient Chinese culture. I have traveled to China many times since my first two trips in 1989. However, this trip was extra special because I had the opportunity to travel by rail from Beijing to Lasha, Tibet. See my blog about this two week trip athttp://wwjtv.com/buildingbridges/watkins.2.629198.html.
I recently served as a China, education and business consultant for a two-hour special on CBS-Detroit TV: "Building Bridges: From the Great Lakes To The Great Wall" (http://wwjtv.com/buildingbridges/bridges.2.601233.html). Take the time to watch this special -- it will open your eyes to a country whose educational and economic systems are on steroids!
Shot in stunning high-definition media and hosted by Carol Cain, Community Affairs and Editorial Director of WWJTV, "Building Bridges" leads you on a journey through China and Michigan to see how the Chinese have built one of the most explosive economies on the planet. This series takes a look at how the economic growth in China could help position Michigan for future growth. While the focus is on Michigan, it offers lessons for everyone in America who is confronting the fast-paced, transformational, disruptive, global economy.
Ms. Cain interviewed an exhaustive roster of experts to offer the most comprehensive, eye-opening report to date on this issue. As part of preparing the show, w traveled extensively throughout China and Michigan to see firsthand how bold pioneers in business and education are laying the groundwork for future prosperity. "Building Bridges" features exclusive interviews with virtually every local business leader and decision-maker who will play a part in Michigan's economic expansion.
3) Educationally, what is their system of education like? How well are their teachers trained?
China has been attempting to improve its system of education since it was virtually dismantled during the debacle, or Cultural Revolution, in the 1960's. Today they have a compulsory education law from kindergarten through the ninth grade. However, it is doubtful this policy is enforced in the countryside where the bulk of the 1.3 billion people live.
They have had a focus on learning English for more than 20 years that is paying off. It is reported that there are more English speaking people (at some level of proficiency) in China than there are English speaking people in the United States with its population of 300 million.
Like here in America, the Chinese have a system of higher educational institutions that focus on preparing teachers for their K-12 school system. They, like us in America, are constantly working to improve the quality of classroom teachers.
Clearly, like many aspects of their redevelopment, China has a long way to go to develop an educational system that will adequately prepare their young people for the hyper-competitive, technologically driven, global knowledge economy. Yet, there is an intense focus to enhance educational excellence at all levels.
I am honored to have been given an honorary Professorship at Mianyang Normal University in Mianyang, China. Mianyang is located in Central China near Chengdu, home of the wonderful panda. Part of the "Building Bridges" program was filmed at the Wolong Panda Research Center (http://www.ahfan.com/wolong/). There is a joint research project with the Panda Center and Michigan State University.
4) In your opinion, how well prepared are we as Americans to trade and interact with what may be the largest country in the world?
China is home to 1.3 billion people or one-fifth of the people living on this planet. For years China closed its doors to the world. After the death of Chairman Mao, Deng Xiaoping opened China to the world. Their economy has been on steroids every since. While our economy has been growing in the low single digits, China's has been growing at a staggering rate of double digits for the past two decades. The Asian Financial Times reports that China had an economic growth rate of 11.4 percent for 2007. This rapid economic expansion was accomplished even with the Chinese Central government putting speed bumps in place to slow down the "red" hot Chinese economy!
China has been occupied by foreign forces, addicted to opium, closed itself off from the world and inflicted itself with starvation and the horrors of the Cultural Revolution. Yet, because of the determination of new leadership, it was able to throw off much of that old ideology that held the country back. China is springing forward, overcoming economic and political setbacks, while the country is sailing boldly into the future.
With 1.3 billion people and a rising middle class, tapping the Chinese market is the mother lode of the 21st century global commerce More than 300 million Chinese people have risen out of poverty in the last quarter of a century.
For America to be prepared, we must ask --
Can America break from its old economic and political ideology and forge a uniquely American model to compete in the 21st century?
Can our automotive industry break into China even more so than it has done to date? The Chinese auto market has mirrored the nation's double-digit economic growth for 20 years. There are great opportunities for American business in China.
There are countless business opportunities in China for Americans willing to be creative and innovative. Could America make "green" by helping China with their well documented pollution problems? America has a recent rich history of cleaning up our environmental messes -- can we cash in by helping China clean up the environmental mess it has created?
Can we shift into high gear when it comes to China? I believe we need a China (and India) roadmap that taps the best and brightest business, labor and academic and community minds to find ways to make Asia's rise work for us.
Many believe China and the US will be the two super powers of this new century. Knowledge is power! The Chinese are studying our language, history, political systems and other ways to enhance their standing in the world. Can we say we are aggressively doing the same? How much do you know about China? We need more of our students across the country learning Chinese, the most widely spoken language on the planet.
We have a choice -- shift into high gear -- or get run over! Regardless of your view of China or globalization -- neither is going away. How do we prepare our children, our state and our nation for this hyper-competitive, rapidly changing, disruptive, information and technologically driven world that defies predictability?
America will continue to be successful when we make our state and nation the "Brain Bank of the World," where everyone comes for intellectual deposits and withdrawals and we are exporting knowledge, creativity, innovation and talent onto the world stage. Yet, our current immigration policies are blocking some of the best minds from China and around the world from coming to our shores today.
The 21 century belongs to the globally connected -- are we wired (or better still, wireless) for change?
Perhaps John Chambers, President and CEO of Cisco Systems, summed it up best when he said, "If we move slower than our global peers, we will be left behind." Other nations are far ahead of us on this economic race. Can we shift gears quickly enough to catch up?
5) What challenges are we going to face interacting with China over the next 20 years?
This is a difficult question. Hopefully, we can see a peaceful rise by this emerging sleeping giant. Clearly there is going to be a continued acceleration of global competition as the 21st century unfolds.
Our greatest fear should not be the "outsourcing" of jobs to China or India, but rather the fact that, as with their economy, the Chinese are intent on improving their system of education in ways that will make them extremely competitive in the future.
For a good part of the 20th century we had the much of the economic field to ourselves with Russia, China, and India with closed economies. Today, we have 3 billion new "capitalists/consumers" that are seeking their equivalent of the "American Dream." We need to understand that this is a new world. It used to be that our children would have to compete for jobs with the kids in the school district or state next door. Today the competition is worldwide. With technology, ideas and work can and do move across political boarders. We must adapt to this new world.
We need a greater sense of urgency to help prepare our children for the rising global competition. Just because we have "been on top" for a good number of years does not mean we have a lifelong guarantee to stay there. If we hope to be ready for the hyper-competitive new world order, we better get very serious about investing in education from the cradle to the grave.
We do not have one child to waste if we wish to retain our economic position in the world. Yet, the dropout crisis in our urban schools is a national disgrace! If the dropout problem were labeled a public health issue it would be seen as an epidemic! Far too many of our states have laws on the books making it "legal" for a kid to drop out of school at the tender age of 16. Drop out to what? Gone are the days when you could "lift for a living" in this country. Everyone needs to be able to thrive in a technological knowledge/information age.
Making it easy for kids to leave school without the education they need and deserve is state sponsored stupidity at best and institutional racism at its very worst. If the dropout problem impacted white middle class kids like it does Native American, African American and Hispanic students there would be a national uproar!
The enemy is not China. As Pogo said, "We have met the enemy and it is us!" We must do a much better job of preparing our children and providing retraining opportunities for workers that are caught up in the disruptive, transformational economic changes that are taking place.
We can compete -- but only if we continue to invest in the education and training for our people. We are not doing an adequate job at this date.
6) Obviously most colleges and high schools teach French, Spanish and possibly German. How are we going to communicate with the Chinese in terms of trade and technology?
We need to stop and look at reality. China is on the rise. Chinese is the most spoken language in the world. Chinese/Mandarin is the most used language on the Internet. There are more people who can speak English in China than there are English speaking people in America. These facts do not bode well for our future. We must realize that the world is changing and we must race to catch up -- especially when it comes to being able to understand and communicate with other people in their language. Learning a language, any language, is beneficial. However, just look at the numbers, be it populations or any economic statistic, and the reality should be like a cold shower that wakes one up about the value of learning Mandarin Chinese.
At my urging, Brooks Patterson, Michigan's Oakland County Executive (of the second largest county in the state and the fourth wealthiest county in America), called for all Oakland County Schools to teach Chinese. Under the leadership of Vicki Markavitch, the Oakland County Schools Superintendent, and her great team, Oakland Schools are well on their way toward reaching this goal. They understand this initiative will help prepare the children of Oakland County for the future and make Oakland County an economic magnet for Chinese investment in the future.
Vision and leadership matter. We need more school districts in Michigan and across the country to get serious about teaching Chinese in our schools. We need a sense of urgency in this matter. We need to proceed as if our future depends on our efforts -- because it does.
7) What is China's view of the United States of America?
The Chinese people, in my opinion, genuinely like Americans. Clearly there are and will be problems between our governments. Currently, we have major differences over trade imbalances, unfair trade, currency manipulation, theft of intellectual property, human and religious rights, and the pollution China is pumping out, along with their booming economy. How we collectively solve our differences now and in the future will have an impact not only on our collective people -- but the people of the world.
While we will continue to have conflicts -- government to government -- it is important that we continue to build bridges on a human level. Better understanding and appreciation of and for our collective cultures will help maintain world peace and lift all boats. If I could do anything, I would invest in more people to people exchange between our two countries.
8) What is the single most important thing you learned on your most recent trip? If you were to address the Senate and House of Representatives, what would you tell them?
While we look different on the outside, we are all the same on the inside. The Chinese people are seeking the same things we want for ourselves and our children. We need to understand that building bridges with China will have two way benefits -- that we can learn from each other.
What I would tell our leaders is that we MUST:
1) Invest more resources to make America THE Brain Bank of the World. Talent is the 21st century commodity that will be most in demand. We must prepare now for this reality.
2) Invest in retraining for the workers that are being impacted by the new global technologically driven economy. Their world has been rocked and rocked hard. We owe it to the men and woman who have labored to make American great. We are doing a disservice to them and our country by allowing them to become collateral damage. We can, should and must do better. Education and training programs can make the difference.
3) We need Congress, the President and the World Trade Organization to address many of the unfair advantages the Chinese currently have in global trade such as currency manipulation, theft of intellectual property and trade imbalances.
4) Further, as I have stated above, we need Congress and the President to address the immigration policies that are preventing the best minds in the world from coming to America. We are a better country because we have historically opened our arms to the world. The best minds in China, being blocked in coming to America are going to Europe, Canada Australia and New Zealand This policy is shortsighted and hurting our national competitiveness.
9) Tell us about the Olympic preparation in China? One World -- One Dream!
On 8-8-08 the world's eyes will be on Beijing, China. The summer Olympics will be held in China for the first time ever. This event has sparked great nationalistic pride in the Chinese people. They have been hard at work preparing venues to hold this spectacular sporting event that brings the world together. Their theme is: One World -- One Dream. This Olympics is a national coming out party for the Chinese and it will be something that you will not want to miss. The stadium where the opening ceremonies will be held has been dubbed the "bird nest" and it a wonderful piece of architecture. The Olympics will give the Chinese the opportunity to showcase their progress as well as be a focal point for a number of groups that want bring attention to labor abuses, Tibet's Independence, religious freedom, freedom of the press, and China's engagement in Darfur to name a few.
China's 2008 Olympic coming out party will be followed by the World Expo to be held in Shanghai, China, in 2010. More than 70 million people are expected to attend. The theme is building and sustaining livable cities.
China wants to show the world the progress they have made and that they have reemerged as the "middle kingdom."
10) What question have I neglected to ask?
China is so big there is always more to cover. I encourage people interested in China from an economic, education and culture prospective to watch the CBS-Detroit TV special: "Building Bridges from the Great Lakes to the Great Wall" which can be found on line at: http://wwjtv.com/buildingbridges/bridges.2.601233.html and read my blog at: http://wwjtv.com/buildingbridges/watkins.2.629198.html.
Also, if you Google Tom Watkins China you will find a number of articles I have written about the country.
As always, thank you for the opportunity for me to share my thoughts with the readers of Education News.
Thank you and Jimmy Kilpatrick for the great job you do keeping people informed about education issues |
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