Reflective Journal 5: Reflect on education. You may choose reflect on the necessary priorities of education, how far the ideals and realities of education converge, how the problems discussed about education in US and China can be resolved. You should explicitly explain how class discussion on education in US and China have influenced/shaped your views.
Personally, I doubt the existence of an ideal education system, be it the Chinese or American education system, as any education system must have its problems. My version of an ideal education system encompasses the use of practical assessment for authentic learning, holistic development for students to be all-round achievers and lessons which allows for students to specialize in the subjects they enjoy, such that their true potential can be brought out allowing them to contribute their most to society. After all, it is quite useless if students are forced to take up subjects which they are weak in or do not like, a situation common in most schools around the world.
Generally, the purpose of education in any system is to equip the students with necessary skills and prepare them to enter the workforce to contribute to the development of the country and meet the needs of society. The more prominent skills required in the 21st century workforce include flexibility, creativity and innovation, which aids in critical thinking in order to analyze information and apply it to real-world problems. Having said this, the Chinese and American education systems definitely are different, as the needs of the Chinese and American societies are different, thus resulting in varying priorities of both education systems.
The Chinese education aims to nurture a large pool of engineers, computer experts and accountants, jobs mainly required in the manufacturing and export industry, which drives a large portion of China’s economy. The Chinese education system has been associated with numerous stereotypes, which include the Chinese education system emphasizes too much on examinations like the “高考”, the mathematics and sciences grades are dominating other countries and that the Chinese education system has been incapable of producing the next Steve Jobs or Bill Gates, who are experts in the innovation-based industry. “An education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you know and what you don't.” The above quote highlights the main flaws of the Chinese education system. Too much emphasis is placed on examinations such that whatever the students are studying is only aimed at achieving one sole purpose: to ace the college entrance examinations. Yet as a result of this, the students are given minimal opportunities to explore and develop their interests in subjects, and do not give them any real-world knowledge. Even though they are highly proficient in mathematics and science, as seen from the top rankings in PISA tests, most Chinese students are unable to apply this knowledge to real problems. Hence, their lack of innovation causes them to remain as average students.
The American education system aims to nurture leaders in the creative industry. The American system provides more room for students to think on their own as well as voice out their own opinions. It also gives students opportunities to explore and develop their own interests. This freedom has allowed American students to become much more creative thinkers than Chinese students and many praise the American education system for its ability to nurture talents like Mark Zuckerburg. However, American students have a weaker foundation than Chinese students in mathematics and sciences subjects. Also, with the American education system beginning to integrate standardized testing into the curriculum, I hope that it can help improve the grades of American students’ grades but not stifle the creativity and innovation they used to possess.
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I used to think that the American education system was much better in the sense that the students are given more freedom and autonomy in their own learning. However, through the class discussions, I realized that though it may seem better, the American education has its flaws and is not as perfect as I had thought it was. For example, the PISA tests revealed that American students are much less-prepared for standardized testing as compared to Chinese students. Also, I previously thought that the American education system was more superior and should not model on the Chinese education, which I felt was very monotonous. However, the readings have influenced me to believe and understand that education systems should learn from one another in order to improve. As such, the American education system has implemented standardized testing in its curriculum as well. The Chinese education system has also been learning from the American education system to allow its students to have more holistic learning rather than just spending all the time preparing the students for tests and examinations.
To end off, though no education has managed to become an ideal education system, I believe the Chinese and American education systems are slowly undergoing reforms to improve. I am optimistic that soon there would be the presence of an ideal education system.
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