Mickey Mouse schooling? Disney teaches English in China

Disney has entered the Chinese market by establishing English schools for kids. Already operating 11 schools in Shanghai and Beijing, Disney plans to have 148 schools teaching 150,000 Chinese students across the country by 2015.

The classes are open to kids aged one to 11 and cost about $2,000 a year. The curriculum has been developed by teaching professionals and uses the Disney cast of characters as aids. There are no teachers, only “cast members”.

The Chinese market has been notoriously hard to penetrate for Disney, owing to government controls on foreign media being shown on TV and in cinemas.

“It is a very sizeable opportunity, something that can deliver operating earnings of well over $100m in the next five years,” Russell Hampton, president of Disney Publishing Worldwide, told the Financial Times.

“We wouldn’t enter this business just to use it as a marketing tool to get Disney in front of people,” he said. “But there’s no doubt that a side benefit is broader exposure to Chinese consumers and to build familiarity with the rich heritage of Disney storytelling.”

So, it is Mickey Mouse schooling – blatant marketing to vulnerable children parading as language lessons? Or is it innovative schooling filling a gap in the market to provide young Chinese with English skills in a fun and engaging way?

What do you think?

Read more:

Disney to expand language schools in China, The Financial Times, 6 July 2010 

English as spoken by Mickey Mouse, The Financial Times, 6 July 2010

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