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Local control of the schools
All
schools have different curricular focus. American schools embrace curricula,
instructional plans, and extracurricular programs that are particular to a
given community, area, or town. The lack of a national education ministry
means that the decisions, activities, and polices of every school are
determined by the state Department of Education (Schrier 230).
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Centralized
ministry of education. The program, curriculum and systems of operations are
all formulated by a central body.
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Open access to education
American
educational system tries to accommodate nearly all students without
discrimination based on their performance. The education system strives to
ensure that as many learners as possible are enrolled in different schools
and colleges within the country (Schrier 228).
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Access
to education is based on performance and availability of finances. Different
kinds of schools charge different fees that impact their accessibility
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Universal literacy
The
goal of the American educational system is to have a society that is
completely literate. Every state in the country have laws that compel young
persons to attend school.
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Education
is encouraged in any given population. However, there are no stringent
measures put in place to ensure every young person is in school. This
circumstance explains the many cases of school-drop outs in Chinese
communities
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The ideology of the involvement of parents in the
education of the child
The
American system of education requires parents to be involved in the education
of the child. The child’s caretakers are expected to build relationships with
the teachers and work with them to ensure that any potential challenges are
addressed
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The
education and learning of the child is mostly left for the teachers. Even
though parents may sometime visit the school, they rarely build relationships
with the teachers or work with them to support the attainment of the child’s
learning goals (Wang 71)
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Learning is viewed as a productive activity
Americans
believe that acquisition of knowledge is a continuous process. There are a
number of things that are unknown and have not been invented. In this sense, the
educational system focuses on teaching the learners experimentation,
analysis, and synthesis skills so that they will be able to discover and
acquire knowledge continuously and independently.
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Learning
is viewed as a receptive system that entails the memorization of information
conveyed by the teacher. Students in this setting are not taught the skills
for experimentation or exploration to warrant their independent in the
knowledge discovery process. This approach explains why the issues of
questioning the teacher are unlikely to arise.
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Developing well-rounded people
The
American system of education focuses on developing individuals who are
familiar with different disciplines. Even though one may be more qualified in
a specific discipline, knowledge of other disciplines is also encouraged.
Specialization is a specific area of knowledge that comes at later stages of
life
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Students
are given a chance to have basic knowledge in different disciplines. However,
specialization comes at the high school level preventing learners from having
adequate information on all the disciplines
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What types of students does American
education create? (in general)
The
American system of education creates highly independent and innovative
students. The students are focused and familiar with their strengths and
weakness. Thus, they know their area of specialization
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What types of students does Chinese
education create? (in general)
The
Chinese system of education releases dependent and uncreative students who
are majorly focused on mastering information instead of discovering new ideas
and knowledge. Chinese students do not understand their strengths and are thus
willing to specialize in any field. Their specialization is driven by the
perceived benefits of the discipline as opposed to their skills.
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What strategies may work with American
students?
Promoting
research and development in the education system enhances the creativity of
the student.
Brainstorming
in classrooms can be employed to promote sharing of ideas and is essential in
any innovation
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Do you agree with this assessment of
Chinese & American schooling?
Yes,
the assessment portrays the differences in the two educational settings
accurately. It is observed that most American students are involved in
research or inventions focused on discovery of new products and ideas.
Moreover, most innovations and technologies arise from the region, justifying
the ability of the educational system to release creative persons.
On
the other hand, the Chinese are mostly focused on mass production of what is
already known, portraying their educational system as receptive.
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