The United States of America has proven that capitalism creates higher levels of productivity than any other form of government and today the United States gross national product is 10 times that of any other nation and it is twice the other top-five countries directly below us combined.
This should tell us the United States of America is the greatest single nation ever created in the history of mankind. And certainly we know that is true from following the 10,000 years of recorded written history available. Do you believe the school systems in the United States and the no Child left behind act are a good idea?
Many people have asked this question and it is a question that we must ask. If we are teaching kids to hit certain check-points at every grade level to ensure they can read and write by the time they finished high school then we are doing a disservice to those kids who have rapid growths in intelligence phases. If we are always teaching to the middle and no child is allowed to be left behind, then in fact we are not allowing children to advance.
Well we know the issues with education in the United States of America but what is going on in China? What sort of structure and standards does China have in their schools? We know there are more kids in the classrooms in China than in the United States per teacher and yet we know the kids behave a lot better as there is much better discipline both in the culture and in the schools. If the schools in the United States of America have turned into a babysitting facility then how can they teach?
Worse off how will we be able to determine who the geniuses are in those classrooms? In China it would be readily apparent and easy to find out who the geniuses were in each classroom right away because the kids are better mannered. Finding kids early who excel in school is important, as it is easier to allow them to advance quicker. We need to consider this when comparing education in China and the United States and determining who will have the future scientific advantage in innovation and discovery.
We know that if the schools are better in China and there is a greater population base with more people to draw from and we also know that if China leans more towards a capitalistic and free society that they will have all the advantages over the United States, which we currently enjoy. I want to think about this in the implications it means for the future.
By: Lance Winslow
Posts Tagged ‘Left Behind’
Comparing Education in China and the United States on Future Scientific Discovery
April 9th, 2010Major Issue in Education
February 17th, 2010
The major public-education issue today is money. How much money do we spend on education? Do we need to spend more? What do we need to spend it on? There have been studies that have proven that the number of dollars that we have spent on public education has not had a positive impact on student achievement. So what is the problem? The problem is that we continue to spend the money on programs that are directed toward the wrong philosophy. The latest initiative was President Bush’s “No student left behind.” In theory that sounds great. Obviously we do not want to leave any child behind. Politically speaking it is a great slogan and did a great deal to get President Bush elected. That within itself is one of the major issues. (problems) Education is a major issue in every political campaign. Politicians continue to come up with programs every four years that promise to solve pubic educations problems. While they may sound good they are designed more to get a politician elected than they are to actually helping public education.
The “NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND” initiative for example, sounded real good. Not only did it take care of all students but it put accountability on schools that were not successful. Citizens today want to put the blame for the lack of success in American schools directly on the schools. The accountability sounded great to the American people. The problem is, what to do when you find out that you still do not have success. You can not close down every school that was not successful according to the No school left behind guidelines. While the program called for greater expectations of students, it does not give students any alternatives in case they are not successful. It also puts other school systems in a compromising and overcrowded state if you close down schools that are not successful on the standardized test.
So what do I resolve? I believe that we need to have alternatives for the individual students. I do not believe that we can continue to use the cookie cutter approach to public education. We can not continue to attempt to teach all students in the same manner in hopes that we will get the same results. We have great examples in Europe, China, and Japan. We compare our brightest to their brightest and come up short in math and science. We need to concentrate on individual students who have exhibited ability in math and science, and continue with their efforts, while providing other meaningful careers and professions to others.
More importantly we need to start teaching our students how to think, and solve problems. The key lies in teaching students how to think, not just to memorize a set of facts. The students who gain a love for life long learning and knows how to solve problems will go much further.
When it comes to the issue of health care, politicians have a plan that is directed by doctors, hospitals, and hospital administration. These are the real professionals who can make a difference in health care. The issue of education needs to be left up to the real professionals, teachers and administration, not politicians. The number of dollars spent on public education would then be worthy of the education they would get.
By: Bob Roach
