After watching 2 Million Minutes, what are your thoughts about how American education differs from other parts of the world? In your opinion, how does education in other parts of the world compare and contrast to education in America? Do you think American education should be more like education in China and/or India? Why or why not?
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I think that education in the United States is more than likely, curricula wise, just as challenging. I believe the reason that Indian and Chinese children excel so much is more than likely because it appears that most of their parents demand and expect a lot from them academically, and do so at an early age. Not that Americans don't; however, they not only attend school more and longer, but their parents seem to instill in them at an early age that getting an education is top priority and should come first.
ReplyDeleteI agree that children should be children though, because you will be old a long time. Studying however, no matter what country you're from, is really the important thing. If you study hard and often, even if you have summers off, holidays between, and get out of class earlier, you can still excel academically, in my opinion, if you work hard regardless.
watching that made me feel stupid..I understand China and India spend all their time studing and thats good and all but I don't think its healthy for anyone to spend all their time studing. Yes we should make some things harder for students in America and they should put more effort into their learning and school work. I think the reason students in China and India put forth so much effort and study so hard is because they r so poor and don't have the money to go to college so they have to earn it by scholarships.
ReplyDeletetrue that, true that. I admit I did feel a bit like an underachiever after watching the video. I know I'm not the smartest person, but I do agree that studying all the time isn't good for everyone because then you miss out on some of the more important things in life that are outside of future socio-economic status. You miss out on interacting with friends/people your own age, and basically doing things you have interest in, which is important in living a happy life.
ReplyDeleteto be a teenager in the 21st century theres more to life than school work. we have to worry about who were hanging with on the weekends or who your boyfriend is. its more about popularity than grades because noone wants to be classified as a nerd. we care way too much about these things and need to channel some of that energy twards school work.
ReplyDeleteWhile watching two million minutes, I began to think about the past twelve years of when I was in school. I moved to Missouri when I was in 7th grade from Virginia. In Virginia, we were learning the fundamentals of calculus ALREADY in grade 7. Moving out here and reverting back to division made it hard to deal with. I think America is on several different levels. Different areas, such as Virginia compared to Missouri, teach their students in different ways. I think it's necessary to keep the teaching levels similar, but not the same. In India and China, the students are masters at subjects such as calculus, physics, and chemistry by the time they even graduate high school! I think that's awesome that the students can complete high levels of education in high school, however the fact that students are poor and have to work so hard to get into college is unsettling. I go to Lindenwood for free. All four years. I have a full ride, and I feel bad for the students in those countries.
ReplyDeleteAll in all, I think that America SHOULD be more like those countries in preparing their students for higher levels of schooling like college, medical school, law school, and engineering.
After watching 2 million minutes I feel like kids in the U.S. are just as smart as kids in India and China, they just don't work as hard in school because there are so many other things to worry about. Kids in America would rather spend more time on Facebook or playing XBox than doing their homework.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching the movie, I can greatly see the importance education has in other countries as compared to ours. In china and India, students study much more and put more emphasis on having a good education than we do. Also, going to school is somewhat of a privlege to students, where as it is a hassle for american youth. Also, Schools in other countries sometimes run yer-round, or have longer days. All in All I believe American education is almost more lazy than other countries. Although we are lazy, I do not necessarily believe having more school is better, meaning I do not believe that having a longer day is better, or going 6 days a week is better than 5. I believe it is up to the teachers parents and students to improve the quality of education in America because the indian student interviewed could be doing other things, but is very focused on his studies, as in the chinese student.
ReplyDeleteSarah Prather: Yes I agree it is different in Missouri than other states. I moved from Tennessee my sophomore year of high school , as was considerably behind in the skills needed. I think the education system should definately work on making sure that everyone in the same grade be taught the same fundamentals, so all people can at least be on the same page.
ReplyDeleteIn America we are not just focusing on education like we should be. Lets face it Americans are lazy compared to other countires around the world, we do want to do our homework as students 90 percent of the time. We end up procrastinating, which is not good in the first place.
ReplyDeleteWe are not a high tech as China or Japan is, but we are getting there. We could end up like the other countires if we really tired hard enough.
Julia de Lasho i totally agree with what you are saying about the students in India and China having more emphasis on Education. America needs to do the same thing. Instead of watching tv, playing on the computer and going to the mall, we as americans need to focus on our school work and quit tryinto do too much at once.
ReplyDeleteAmerican education is great,but could be lacking in some areas like discipline. The American education is one that used to be top notch, but now that India and China are involved, we seem to be missing something.
ReplyDeleteChinese and Indian families semm to push and almost demand a constant state of studying. Yes, they do get a little time to theselves,but not much. Whereas in America children do a lot of what they want.
While America needs to step up it's education and become more focused, I don't believe that sending a child to school from 6AM-6PM is a good idea.I believe the families need to push their children to their greatest potential.
Maybe we should have longer school days or go more during the summer. Or maybe we just need to make sure that we are maximizing the time we have with the students. I am glad to see that many of you learned something new about the two other cultures and how seriously they take their education. We will begin class on Tuesday with a discussion about the movie. I can't wait to hear more of your thoughts.
ReplyDeleteLet's discuss having national standards next week. Right now education is basically in the hands of each state. Should we have a set of national standards so that when a student moves from one state to another the students will be learning the same thing at the same time?
Mrs. Bishop
ReplyDeleteI think that a national standard is a good idea,but an educator must also remember that no two students learn at the same speed. Students are individuals and they each contain different life experiences. For instance, my sister is a 4.0 student,but I am not. We can take the same class with the same teacher and she will always excell more than I will. I can't help,but think that maybe there is another way to educate children and push them to their full potential.
I have a roommate from Japan, and we talked about her school experiences at home compared to those she has had in America.
ReplyDeleteIn high school, she typically went from 9-5 with 1-5 hours of studying each night. Some private schools in Japan even had to go to school on Saturdays. There also was a huge exam she had to study for just to get in to high school.
Schools are year round. Instead of students traveling to classes, they stayed in their own classroom, and the teachers rotated (except for music, art, and science classes where certain labs/immovable materials were needed). Students in high schools had to buy their own textbooks. Baseball, soccer, and basketball were the most popular sports to be played.
Senior year of high school all students had to prepare for a exam taken in two parts (one in Jan. and one in March). If students did not pass, they could not go to college in Japan (*this test seems similar to the ACT or the SAT).
My roommate said kids did skip, and kids got held back. A student could decide that school wasn't for them after completing junior high. However, most kids did go because it is a big deal to get a high school diploma. Students can't enter a university without a diploma, and it is hard to find work when companies want employees with proof of graduation.
My roommate says that the education she is receiving right now is not as tough compared to school back home. Back in Japan there was more memorization, more writing (hardly any multiple choice), and no calculators in math (even in calculus!).
Overall, I'm trying to point out that international students are not so different from American students. They study the arts, participate in sports, and hang out with friends.
Yet, somehow they seem to be excelling beyond our own students. I think that more is expected of students in countries like Japan, but they have risen to the standards that have been set. Maybe America's standards are too low, and our education system "babies" its students. This will create problems for our future by making our workforce not as competent, or as competitive in the international economy.
Mica and Mrs. Bishop,
ReplyDeleteWhile a national standard seems to be a good idea, it is not constitutional at this moment thanks to the tenth amendment (powers not granted to the national government nor prohibited to the states are reserved to the states.)
Hypothetically speaking, if there was a national standard, where will the bar be set? Will it be low or high? If it is too high, more students might not meet the standards, creating problems with graduation/drop out rates, etc. If the bar is too low, students might not strive to achieve more than the minimum.
What about gifted students or those with special needs? How are they expected to keep up with or be held back by a national standard? How about those who speak a primary language other than English?
Also, how would all schools be expected to provide the same education or meet a national standard without the same monetary resources? Equal funding from a federal tax?
There is a lot to consider before recommending a national standard be set for America.
Liz,
ReplyDeleteBy no means was I saying that we should have a national standard.I said it was a good idea. If you go down my comment you will find that I wish there was a different way. I believe that everyone should be developed to their full potential , whatever that may be. I also know that it is VERY unconstitutional.
Sara, I am right there with you! I have found that even here in St.Louis, the standards vary, especially if we are talking public and private schools. I would like to see the United States push the children of the future harder. When we talk about “standards” it doesn’t necessarily have to be across the charts. In every school there needs to be accommodations for students with special needs and learning disabilities. This movie emphasized my thoughts on the United States as a whole truly being “lazy” and we take a lot for granted. I wish I was smarter and knew more than I do. Especially in Math, if I would have been given the opportunity in High School I would have taken more Mathematics classes.
ReplyDeleteafter watching the 2 million minutes it amazes me how we differ so much from other countries. im not sure if i think that we should drastically change the way we are educated in america, we seem to be doing just fine. i feel like the future will be altered if these other countries do however keep up the way they do education. we are given so much freedom here in the united states, and kids and teens are free as well.
ReplyDeleteafter watching 2 million minutes, it made me feel stupid. i feel like other countries look down on americas education programs. Just because we dont spend as much time as china or india in school does not mean that we arent as smart as them. We take our education seriously still, we just arent as demanding as the other countries are. we still have time to do other things besides school, which i think is important. being in other things like sports or other groups is just as important as education because it works on your social and communication skills. your going to school to get an education for a job, but it will be hard to get a job if you dont have good communication skills. So i think its important to have a life outside of school.
ReplyDeleteHannah,
ReplyDeleteOh man. I agree. I felt so stupid watching that. I wish that I could be that disciplined in my studies, but that was not the way I was brought up.
I think that there are pros as well as cons to the education systems in India and China. I feel like they probably have a much higher intelligence, but also have a one-way life. I feel like American students are much more well-rounded in their lives. I think that Americans should study more and push their natural intelligence to the limit, and maybe this longer school day proposal would be good for the students here.
ReplyDeletesarah i agree with you. i think that all of the grades across the united states should all be at the same level. i dont think that its right that other states are "ahead" of other states. It will only make it easier for when everyone gets to college and everyone all knows most of the same things.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Sarah! I am from Canada and I found it very interesting that the schools around here were completely different from the schools at home. I had friends from all over Canada and I think that for the most part we did the exact same things in the same classes. Down here talking to my boyfriend and other friends of mine it seems like they were doing completely different things at different levels.
ReplyDeleteI believe that children in America don't dedicate the time that they should to school work. I also think that they take for granted the opportunity of the type of education that they have available to them. In countries like India and China there is more importance for education and the children I feel are more interested in attending school because they know that getting an education will give them a better quality of life. THere are hundreds and even thousands of children around the world that don't get an opportunity to get the kind of education that they deserve. And I feel that if they were handed the opportunity with an education like children in America are, they would have a better success rate.
ReplyDeleteafter watching 2 million minutes it made me realize how different priorities are in different countries. in china and india education is much more important and is instilled as an important aspect of life from very early on. in america finding a ride to the next football game is just as if not more important than studying for an upcoming test. america does need to address the issue of the importance of education before no one cares or looks forward to excelling in life.
ReplyDeletebailey,
ReplyDeletei totally agree that american children take for granted the opportunities that are here for them. kids need to realize what opportunities are here and use them!!
I always knew that China and India were among the smartest sountries in the world. After watching that movie its amazing to see how how their students work compared to Americas. It kind of makes America look like we dont care about our education. On the other hand i think that students in American school get a more well rounded education. Of course there are countries out there that can score higher than us acedemically but that doesnt say anything about their common sence. I believe that high school students might not spend as much time studying but they are getting more chancs to learn about the outside world instead of being confined to the inside of a classroom and your bed room all day long.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Mrs. Bishops blog: I dont think that extending the school day would help America. We already have enough people dropping out becuase they are not interested in school and find it hard. I think as teachers we need to be able to maximize the learning that children get out of a lecture and make learning fun.
ReplyDeleteAmerican education is many years behind several other countries such as China and India. The study habits of those countries differ so much from the American way of education. We Americans dont study half the amount of time they do and their grades and test scores show it. As American student we dont study the amount of time we should due to friends, facebook, etc. and i think we should study more along the lines of India andn Asia. Eventually raising our act and sat scores and improving each individual student
ReplyDeleteLiz,
ReplyDeleteGreat questions! I love it that you have posed some questions to make us all think.
I agree with you that a national standard could be a problem. What state gets to set the standard? Let's have a good debate about this on Tuesday...
My opinion... I believe that we need to take school more serious. I am kind of hypocrite for saying that because I have always taking advantage of the laid back teachers. My high school was relatively easy and I never had to study. Now I sit here at Lindenwood and I had already failed my first test. If we took education as serious as those other countries, i believe that the world would be different. In China/India, their first priority is education. Here in the U.S. we focus on athletics, after school activities, etc. Now I am not saying that is America as a whole, I just believe that, that is the majority. I believe that our education system should be like those other countried because soon they will be smarter than all of us and they will be in control.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching 2 million minutes I think the biggest difference is the family interaction. One of the mean reasons why American students do not take the education as seriously is because if you are not a school person, then there are so many other ways to make a living and still have a good life. In the other countries if they do not study hard and get a good job, then they could strive to death. Some students in America take school for granted. It is some thing they have to do. Parents focus on getting their children in to college though sport and not academics. Pop culture focuses on football players and movie stars that make million and it does not matter if they graduated high school or went to college.
ReplyDeleteIn other countries the parents invest in their children’s education. They invest their time and money. They try to send them to the best schools and pay for tutors. Also, the students want to go to school and are motivated to do their best. Another thing that I think makes a difference is that every night the family still sits down for dinner. Another way that Americans differ is that most students have after school jobs and do not have the time to study as much.
It would be nice if are education was more like other countries, but I do not think that it would happen any time soon. If none of the high or college students carried jobs while going to school then I think the college towns and America would be hurting. I would love to be able to focus on just school and not have to work, but that is not reality in America.
I definitely agree with Amy... Great perspective!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Malach Radigan. We do need to take education more seriously. But the country and are priorities need to change first.
ReplyDeleteI think here in America, we view high school as a time to have fun, play sports, and then try to mix school in somewhere. But in other countries like china and india they view high school as a way out of there situation to a better life. So they work extra hard to get what they dont have while we coast though because we already have alot given to us.
ReplyDeleteI think it would be hard to change our education system to one like chin's or india's because there students that are exceling in academics dont really have extra activites they do. They wake up and study, go to school, come home and study till bed. Americans i think are alot more involved with stuff so dumping 6 hours of homework a night wouldnt help.
I agree with jordan, we dont study at all. It would really help to study more but to also actually learn material not just long enough for the test but for future use
ReplyDeleteand that is where we all go wrong as students. we just want to cram and study last minute in order to pass the test or quiz at hand. in actuality, that information that we just learned for the heck of it will be necessary down the line depending on what profession one chooses, but we wont be able to put it to use because we didnt care to soak it all up
ReplyDeleteas students we are almost prewired to hate school. everybody always even as kids hear and say ugh school sucks and it refects school in a negative light but i feel like thats partly our teachers fault becasue they give us busy work or dont engage us so mabie as teachers we should teach relevant topics and stop giving students work just becasue we have nothing else for them to do!
ReplyDeleteWow. Great Comments all around. I know this is late, but here we go..
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's necessarily true that students in China and India get a better education than we do here. I do think, however, that their societies are in flux at the moment and, as such, there is a huge push for their populations to excell.
Here in America, things are more stagnant. Most Americans are happy with where America is in the world (#1). The Chinese and Indians are trying to improve their lot in life and, therefore, are placing a bigger emphasis on education that we do.
It must be noted however that Americans place a bigger emphasis on sports than other countries do, at least at the high school level. Be honest now, when you were in HS what was the most promoted activity? It was football/cheerleading. Probably baseball/basketball afterwards. If you weren't involved in those actvities you were left out. I'm not just talking the students, it's the falculty too. How many school are there that receive a huge donation use it to improve their sports complex? I doubt China and India would!
Hey Liz,
ReplyDeleteLike your comments, very political! However, I think I'm going to have to agree that a national standard is a good idea.
Mrs Bishop,
ReplyDeleteLonger days are a good idea, but I wonder how practical they would in America. However, I do think that going year round is a valid option. Also, maybe lengthening the day by an hour, not several hours, would help. Trying selling the idea to the public though...