A few weeks ago I picked up a tutoring gig. Every Monday after school I meet for an hour with a sixth grader to review his history work. As an English language learner, he struggles with vocabulary so that is the focus of our lessons.
During our last meeting, we were talking about the Russian Revolution. Eager to get into the juicer parts of the topic, I barely mentioned the fact that Russia had been a monarchy under Tsar Nicholas II. I immediately began talking about Bolsheviks and communist ideas. Quickly realizing my student needed a stronger foundation, I decided to back up.
“So, before the revolution, what kind of government did Russia have?”
…blank stare
“Who was the leader of Russia?”
“A king?”
“Okay, good. And what kind of government do we call that? A country ruled by a king…?”
“What is government?”
At that point I decided to spend the rest of the class talking about the three basic forms of government and two economic systems which must be understood to study the period: monarchy, republic, one-party state, communism, and capitalism. I was inspired by my student’s exceptional motivation and sharp mind (he is limited only by his language level). As understanding these topics would be a daunting task for anyone to achieve in one hour, I fell back on my ever-so trusty cartoon drawings to illustrate.
Monarchy, republic, and "Mao's idea" (communism)
As I was writing on the board and explaining these things, I had another “China moment.” I did not coin the term, many expats say it to describe a moment when something uniquely “Chinese” occurs, or when someone is frustrated about some aspect of life in China. However, I use this word to describe the out-of-body feeling I sometimes get while living here. Though they occur less than they did when I first arrived, it doesn’t matter how many months go by, I still get them. A China moment is when, for a variety of reasons, you become immediately aware that you are in China, and it is a foreign place. It is easy to get comfortable here, I was quick to adapt. The sound of people loudly slurping their noodles no longer bothers me, I am proficient with chopsticks, I don’t think twice when someone shoves me or when I see a father holding his baby girl over a trash can on the street so she can relieve herself. My Mandarin has improved, I understand the subtle way coworkers ask for favors, I have a more nuanced view of the different ethnic groups that make up the country, I ‘get’ Chinese politics…but I still have China moments.
This one struck me as I was writing on the board, explaining the basic elements of communist philosophy. Seeking to add more depth to my presentation, I pretended to be Lenin and Mao. I found myself speaking in their voice and lamenting about the terrible and corrupt nature of the monarchy and the pitfalls of capitalism…drawing pictures which illustrated the imbalance of wealth and power. I then went on to give, what I felt, was a rousing and inspired argument for how things could be better in a communist system (using 6th grade ESL vocabulary, of course).
“So, we see all the people at the bottom and how much money do they have?”
“One (one ¥ money symbol)”
“So, Lenin and Mao, they want to change this. How can they make it more fair?
“Give everyone the same money.”
“YES! Give everyone the same amount of money and property! …Property…property is like…your bag, your pencil, your books, your house. The things you own. Property.”
“But the guy in the middle (pointing to the middle rung of the socio-economic ladder) he is a boss. He has to work harder. He should get more money.”
“Ahhhhh! You just brought up the argument for capitalism! Why do some people think capitalism is better?”
“Because you can work more and get more money.”
…
Suddenly I was transported out of the room and was looking down on myself like a passing bird watching the strange actions of humans with mild curiosity: A middle-class Caucasian American, steeped in the democratic and participatory tradition, wearing clothes far too flamboyant for America’s rigid views on gender roles, standing in a classroom at an expensive international school in China, passionately explaining to a well-off, highly educated half Japanese half Chinese sixth grader the argument for communism, all for a…comfortable remuneration.
China moment.
Aside from this sudden out of body experience, these pedagogical techniques are all in a day’s work for any Social Studies teacher. Things got more complicated when I found I had to explain the difference between a communist state and the theory of communism. Using China as our example, we then talked about one-party states. I had to explain that the idea of communism has never come to fruition and communist states, like China, all see themselves on a “long march” toward socialist perfection.
Small warning light begins flashing in the back of my brain:
“Your getting into some heavy stuff here, Nick…
…Eh, he’s getting it. Press on!”
Satisfied I had given a balanced summary of these two concepts, I decided to close by offering an alternative to the one-party system of government. I briefly outlined a simple two-party system, the United States (overlooking the technicality that both states have numerous, though practically powerless, parties). After making another quick drawing on the board, I turned to my tutee and asked him if he could spot the difference.
“Well, in this government, there are two parties. They have different ideas. The leader can be from one party or the other.”
“Excellent! With two parties, a leader can be elected from either party.”
A wave of satisfaction washed over me, I had adequately explained the different systems and my student showed understanding.
Then, China moment.
“So, in a two party system, how do you know who is right?”
I smiled. “Well…”
I was tempted to say, liberals. Liberals are always right. But, I hesitated and thought about it for a bit.
“You don’t know. The two groups have different ideas and they come together to fight it out.”
Always hesitant to favor one idea, system, theory, or person over another, I sought a word that would highlight a shortcoming of a two-party system while simultaneously explain how it works. Not wanting to use the word debate, fearing it was too difficult, I said ‘fight’ and made a motion of bumping my fists together.
“Woah! The two parties have a real fight every four years?!”
“Well, no. They debate, do you know the word debate?”
…looks up the word on his computer dictionary
“Oh.” He sounds a little disappointed.
Looking into his impatient eyes, darting back and forth from his notes to the board, looking at his notes which were like a xerox of the words and drawings I had put on the board, I too had a sudden feeling of disappointment. I suddenly felt that, as soon as he left the room, this information would slip from his mind. He wanted the one sentence definition for communism that would fit neatly on one of the little note cards he keeps on a plastic ring. Instead, I assaulted his mind with a sweeping lesson on government and philosophy. On his test there will be one blank, long enough for a sentence, where he will need to define one-party state. Did I just confuse him? Am I just making his life, already crammed to the brim with work, more difficult?
After leaving the lesson, I starting thinking about the kinds of government I had just been talking about. A new feeling of disappointment came over me. Not because my student displayed misunderstanding or implied he disagreed with something. In fact, I always have a sense of relief when my students disagree with me. I have no desire to impart my personal views on students, whether it is regarding political systems or the role of women in history.
What disappoints me is that, when presented with the same set of information, two people come to different conclusions. It is a disappointment mixed with genuine disbelief, I wonder how they could have arrived at a different result. This, I imagine, is the same feeling that leaders of every state and empire since the beginning of civilization have felt. The feeling that, they are aware of the best path and must guide others along who do not fully understand. Emperor Qianlong with his closed door policy, Mao with his Cultural Revolution, Bush with his War on Terror, Obama with his medical plan.
There then lies a paradox for people as leaders and me, as a teacher. I believe my own conclusion to be true, but I want my students to arrive at their own conclusion. When they arrive at one different than mine, I cannot help but have strong mixed emotions. I am happy that they have taken a stand of their own, but I am saddened that they do not share my ‘logic.’
Last year, after a unit on World War One, I asked students to pretend they were textbook authors and write a journal entry explaining how much of the text they would devote to women in the war. About half the class argued they would add little to nothing to the paltry two paragraphs the book included on women. On one hand I was thrilled, it was exhilarating to see students successfully arguing their unique view and backing it up with logic and facts. On the other hand, I was greatly saddened that they did not view the world the same way as me. This year, I gave my current class the same prompt. For whatever reason they unanimously said they would add more information about women. Again, mixed feelings. I had a slight sense of relief that they share my mind, but I worried they do not feel comfortable sharing their ‘true’ feelings and I was disappointed because I felt many had just echoed some statements I made in class.
At times, when I see these malleable youth grappling with ideas such as gender roles, race, and political participation I just want to socialize the hell out of them: just tell them what I believe to be right. Play my small part in making the world a better place, in my eyes. Yet in the same moment, I believe I should follow a system of Socratic education. Where I sit back, in my toga, and watch as my students take a stand and debate an issue with one another, individual arguments unfolding on their own as I simply guide them along with questions like “why do you think that?”
“I know one thing, that I know nothing.” -Plato
Rule by divine right, ethnicity versus race, and one-party states...all in a day's work
