"The United States should deepen what it does best, rather then trying to catch up to developing nations" -Yong Zhao
The very first line in this article really got me interested in the interview. First, when I thought of education in China, I thought it was wonderful. The perception I had on Chinese education was it produced students who scored high on tests, and appear to be very smart. I think most initial reactions to this idea, and perception is...YES! Let's do what they do!. But after reading this interview, it seems to be the way students are taught in Chinese schools is what we call teaching to the test, isn't that what we are trying to get away from? Yes, we want students to read well, and be able to memorize. But, from what I've learned about teaching, that is not the most important thing. Some of the things teachers are teaching students in class can't be measured on a standardized test. I don't think we should discount that fact that teachers allowing students to be creative and to think for themselves is a very important part of student development. We need to embrace what we do well, not just compare.
I had the same reaction to this article. I even read parts of it to my girls because it wasn't what I had envisioned it to be, and it surprised them too. In my research for week 4's assignment I have been researching the Japanese education system and found some surprises, including how they were trying to do things more like we do to help individualize education for their students. You are right that we shouldn't discount what we do well and embrace it, but be willing to listen and try new ideas.
ReplyDeleteI felt the same as well. Why should we, as a developed nation, stop what we are doing to mimic the system of a developing nation that is just trying to catch up to us? I think this speaks volumes about our county's current priorities. I understand that the idea is for our students to be able to compete on a global scale. But testing is really subjective, and "teaching to the test" only serves to water down our own curriculum and create a nation full of students who only know facts, but are unable to be the problem solvers that we need.
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