http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20101209/wl_csm/348667 I think you can draw all sorts of conclusions from this, the main one for me is this: if you pump tax money into schools as the Chinese do you will get good results. Using it for wars and to give back to the rich will eventually lead to decline.
To be fair, it would seem a lot of that education goes to waste, as a large portion of the population works in factories at inhumane wages doing mindless repetitive work to support our capitalist system demands. With that said, I guess that really makes it all the more embarrassing that we can learn from a country like that.
One could argue that poorly done socialism is a main reason American schooling sucks. In some states, the unions just have way too much control, and it's too hard to fire teachers.
However socialist America is, China is tenfold moreso - they tax the crap out of their citizens. If socialism is the problem in America, why don't Chinese schools have this problem?
Well it could be argued that because the introduction of capitalism into communist china is driving their economy, it is also driving their students and providing them with incentive and motivaton to do well in school. I dont think socialism is the problem. American schools have been socialized since, what, the 1800s? It probably has more to do with a combination of our allocation of funds and our national mentality, amongst other things. The American Dream used to be something to strive for when this country was made up of immigrants who put everything on the line to come here and have a better life. Now, a few generations later, I think many Americans have a sense of entitlement. That sense of entitlement extends to education, a privilege that many young people take completely for granted. Couple that sense of entitlement with low paid teachers and unfunded educational programs and I think its pretty self explanatory why America's education system is slipping. Whereas in China, you have both good funding for education and kids coming of age now who probably have a very good understanding of the fact that life in China is drastically different for their generation than it was for the generation before them. They probably view education as a gift that allows them to live a completely different life than their parents were afforded. There is a lot of incentive there to achieve. plus, everyone knows asians are better at math than everyone else. just kidding on that last one.
There's huge cultural differences in education to take into account, for example the school year in Japan, China and South Korea is something like 250 days. Parents are also expected to make sure they show up at the school and receive any missed work if a student is out that day. Not to mention this is just Shanghai, and the east coast of China as a whole is not reflective of the whole country. China is still overall per capita a poor country, and hundreds of millions live in the countryside where I assume the technology available to students in big cities in the east is not the same.
Walsh, you can't just pump money into the school systems, that is not necessarily the problem. Some states spend enormous amounts on education and get little to no better results than other states that spent much less. When you just throw money at a problem, a lot of bureaucrats will show up with their hands out. Government wastes huge amounts of money, and that includes the school system. Like Duck said, I believe that the unions have become way too powerful & it's almost impossible to fire bad teachers. Also pay raises are based on seniority, not merit, and teachers are forced to teach to the test, which diminishes there ability to actually educate the children. What we need is school choice, like a voucher program. That way if you live in the district of a crappy school, then you can go elsewhere. Of course, that means you may have to travel a little bit, but that is a fact of life. Many people travel for ages to get to work. I went to a magnet high school in the Dade County Public School system and friends of mine were getting up at 5 am to take the bus and train to be at school by 8 am. I think they would say it was worth it for the education they got compared to what they would get at their home school. And I agree with Meliai about the culture of entitlement that we have nowadays. People think they are entitled to whatever they want, because some rich guy can pay for it. Also, let me tell you, a lot of kids don't seem to care. I think over there in China and Japan most of the kids get it. Here in America, if people can get their kids into a good school, they do. And most of those kids get it. Most of those kids understand the value of education. But if you go to one of the schools in a bad neighborhood, the kids really don't seem to care. They don't seem to understand the value of an education. They are only there in school because they understand the law says they have to be. But many of them think they are going to grow up to be a sports star, or a singer. Or they already have a job at McDonald's or Marshall's, so they think they don't need an education. They are going to make enough money without all that stuff they learn in school. They don't see how algebra or biology applies to the work force. And that is what scares me. I know all this because I have worked as a substitute teacher.
did you just realise that the asians are smarter than us. havent you seen te family guy episode where the asian guy walks into his 12 year old sons room and says "you doctor yet?" no, "talk to me when you doctor!!"
Family Guy is a pretty terrible show though. Also I hate to agree with Fawkes but he's right, you can't just pump money into the education system, America does spend a lot on education, there are structural issues at hand. For one thing schools are mainly funded by local property taxes which causes huge discrepancies between districts in the standards of their classrooms even in the same areas of a state if a town's tax base is poor.
Well, after living there for two years, dating (and now engaged) to a Chinese and making many good friends, not everyone would agree with the OP. Trust me, there are plenty of flaws in the Chinese EDU system.
China doesn't have a "feel good, you're so special" system of education like the US does. In China if a kids not gonna cut it they learn to empty garbage cans.
