We constantly compare our schools to those in other countries in the subjects of math, science, and reading when the latter do so with us in regards to the incorporation of social skills into classrooms. This made me wonder: does the government want today’s American youth to think like or more than Chinese ones do, or study as hard as or harder than the youth do in India or Singapore? Do they aspire to have an education system that’s within the top five systems in the world? Are trying to be another Great Britain or Australia? It's really difficult to compare two national education systems because each one is based on its country’s cultural ideologies. China's and Japan's schools, a case in point, value groups and collectivity because their cultures do. Therefore, our schools can't measure up to them because we value individuality and constitutional rights.
Now, I'm not saying that there's no chance of improvement in our education system because there's always room for it (it's necessary that it happens!). I'm just saying that we should strive to be better for our families and country, not to be better than China, India, Japan, Britain, Australia, or any other world rival.
Now, I'm not saying that there's no chance of improvement in our education system because there's always room for it (it's necessary that it happens!). I'm just saying that we should strive to be better for our families and country, not to be better than China, India, Japan, Britain, Australia, or any other world rival.
- Gabrielle C.
3 comments:
I agree. I think that the competetive nature of American society blinds us to the issues that we, ourselves, have as a nation. Thus, we constantly put emphasis on achievement based on a wordly standard while promoting ourselves as exemplars of success (which other countries seemingly strive to become). I feel as though the impetus to construct a plan for improving the education system is a farce, considering the NCLB presents statistical data that is not representative of the actual results they have accumulated (as mentioned in several other postings). Because of this very factor, I wonder, what are we trying to achieve and where do our priorities lie? The 'image' of national success on a worldy level, or actual improvement in a schooling system with serious problems? Perhaps this is removed from the original intent of Gabrielle's post, but I think there is some merit in attributing the source of comparison to issues such as this.
Nicole Rimmer
Cultural relativity is vital for critical analysis. It is stressed so often how integral it is to be sensitive of one's culture. When conducting research one attempts to control all variables in order to asses what a true causal relationship is. How can valid and reliable results be produced when comparing multiple cultures that each enact there own educational standards and systems. In Bracey's report on The Condition of Public Education he noted how American schools teach using "active participation" while Asian schools use "passive memorization". Comparing the two would not appropriately measure the educational achievement of the students considering they are taught in differently styles each emphasizing varied material. You would think that with America being such an individualistic society we wouldn't attempt to change and compare ourselves with other nations. However, that is simply not the case. In many of the articles we have read for class, there are a number of statistics comparing test scores of American students to students around the globe. Why is America worried about how we stand up to others. I think to have a more successful approach to improve American educational systems, policy makers need to create standards set for individuals, but not American as a whole. We also need to recognize that Americans are not all the same. Once again, scores of the poor, black, and hispanic are compared to the rich, white, and Asian. Why not set realistic goals that challenge students to excel without the comparison?
One of the most pervasive parts of American culture is the need to be the absolute best at anything that can be measured and considered the best at everything else. We are, by nature, extremely competitive so it only follows that we like to compare education to that of other countries. I agree that due to a difference in cultures and desired traits of graduates that this comparison is silly. But that doesn't change the fact that our education system is in dire need of fixing. Our schools are not only performing worse than many other "modern" countries, they are producing a populous who does not value knowledge. This can be seen in any college classroom the class before a test. The majority of the class is asking what is going to be on the test so they can store those tidbits just long enough for the test. Our students don't want to learn as much as they want to be over with school. This is the biggest problem with our population. This leads to poor decision making (like voting on name recognition rather than researching candidates). Which brings me back to my point, America’s competitive nature is being utilized to change our education system. The average American isn’t going to bother researching the disparity between the US and other modern countries, so the powers that be have illuminated this difference in an attempt to vitalize Americans into changing our school system.
/end rant
David Comalli
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