Ok, so I’m the Head of Science where I work. I wish I could say that makes me important in some way, but it doesn’t. I suspect more that it’s more a matter of being a cheerleader for the subject, supporting staff, doing the paperwork, and knowing that the buck’s going to stop somewhere near me if anything “blows up.”
Anyhow, the firm’s training me up to get some further “management responsibilities” (hopefully I’ll be climbing the greasy pole of management sometime soon), and asked me to research something at my school, which I did. It wasn’t anything serious, I wasn’t plotting villainous world domination, just trying to find out how students are assessed before they arrive at the school.
The Chinese response seems to be mistrust and unwillingness to relinquish any data, fearing it’ll result in a loss of control. I asked one person about the data, and was told one thing. When, in about 30 minutes, I disproved what he’s said, he told me something else.
That is something I’ll never understand about this place. I’m not dangerous, I’m no threat. If you speak to anyone, you’ll find out I’ve got the kids best interests at heart. They might find the students more boisterous than is usual in a Chinese classroom, but my results are good, and when I’m observed, I’m described as “highly effective.” So why keep menial pieces of data from me?
I’m told it’s the “Chinese Way,” that that’s what the Chinese do, that they view data as “means of control,” but it’s actions like that that are almost bound to make me come over all “dog with a bone” if the data seems innocuous.
Tags: Centralisation, China, life, Management Styles
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