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April 20, 2009
What a for profit education system look like this?
In Chinese Learn English the Disney Way, the WSJ reports that Disney is operating English language schools in China.
The company plans to have four Shanghai centers by June, from the current two, and to launch in Beijing within a year. Disney declined to say how many students it has.
They make heavy use of technology, rewarding children, and singing:
Classroom names recall Disney movies, such as "Andy's Bedroom," the setting of the "Toy Story" films. To hold the attention of children as young as two years old, there is the Disney Magic Theater, which combines functions of a computer, television and chalkboard and is the main teaching tool.
...
In class, a strong singing voice earns students "magic tokens" that are exchangeable into "reward gifts" like Disney pens and hats on display in the lobby. Students can also get Mickey Mouse book bags as well as bilingual books, flashcards and CDs that feature Disney characters, much of them otherwise unavailable in China.
It is unclear if the school is inexpensive or cheap, it costs about a $1,000 per child per year. That's very cheap for first class child service in the West, but expensive compared with average income in China. Plus, labor costs are lower there.
That said, this picture shows Caucasian employees with the caption "A Disney English class celebrates Christmas last year in Shanghai", so maybe their labor costs are not cheap.
Maybe this is what a private education revolution would look like. Integration with brands we know children like, learning a bit less at the price of enjoying school much more (and perhaps therefore trading off the intensive and extensive margin on education demand), making heavy use of standardized curricula and multimedia, with less skilled teachers, and greater focus on behavioral modification.
Posted by OneEyedMan at April 20, 2009 6:59 AM
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