<p>lol, I found this article online today, dissing the American Education System. Read it here: A</a> Student's Lament <-- click it.</p>
<p>What do you think? Do you like our education system?</p>
<p>I don’t know a single person that actually likes our education system.</p>
<p>This article definitely represents ignorance at it’s best. The American Schooling System is not inadequate by ANY stretch of the imagination. Being from a pretty under-developed place myself, I can tell you that there are factors about american schooling that you would never see anywhere else.</p>
<p>In Pakistan, and the greater part of South Asia, you learn what your government wants you to learn. You don’t learn about the Holocaust or the two World Wars because the government deems that irrelevant. </p>
<p>America is uncensored. You learn whatever you want and you shape yourself in any which way possible. I don’t think that the writer of the article has compared education in the US to education anywhere else. </p>
<p>US Education allows for a student to become fully capable of assesing higher knowledge, a luxury that is definitely not available in the greater part of the world.</p>
<p>I think that the writer should have compared the standards of US education to the rest of the world before berating it. The luxuries that American students afford are things wholly unfamiliar to most of the world.</p>
<p>Think about it:)</p>
<p>Maybe it’s just my school, but 9/10 of the teachers I’ve had throughout high school were very very good teachers. For example, my APUSH teacher taught with a textbook that was written by Howard Zinn, not “by the winners or the losers.” My AP calc teacher always tells us “if you want to see the proof, just ask.” whenever we learn a new formula. He always makes us derive the formulas first. For example, when we learned area under a curve, the only thing he said was “We’re going to use a certain amount of strips and add them all up.” and let us go from there. My honors chemistry teacher constantly criticized the math department for just “giving us meaningless formulas”. Every lesson he had he applied to the real world and how it is useful. Every lab we did, we had to do a writeup which devoted one paragraph to real-world applications. My AP English Language teacher developed our writing skills. I just looked at an essay I wrote in the beginning of 11th grade, and then I looked at one I wrote at the end of the year, and the writing was vastly better.</p>
<p>I have had my share of crappy teachers though. My Math B (NYS course) teacher was TERRIBLE. It was all memorization and no application. My AP Lit class is just “memorize the book.” </p>
<p>I think the best class I’ve ever taken was AP Comp Gov. That class was the complete opposite of everything this article made out our classes to be… At the end of the semester, our teacher told us “I don’t care what your final average is in this class. I don’t care if you know how the Russian government works. I just hope you came out of this class with some knowledge about the world. It’s not all rainbows and ponies out there.”</p>
<p>That’s just my two cents, anyway.</p>
<p>@Thispakistanigir:</p>
<p>You are right: the writer does not compare education in the US to that in the rest of the world. But he does not need to. He deems American education inadequate with respect to the ideal (one which teaches critical thinking, true understanding, etc.). Applying this perspective, he would also find education “anywhere else” lacking. He restricted his scope to that which he has experience. There is nothing wrong with that.</p>
<p>In deeming education in the United States (beyond) adequate with respect to that in Pakistan and most of South Asia, you are not necessarily wrong, although I would like to hear more about the “higher knowledge” Americans are capable of assessing. However, were I to extend that logic, I could say I do not need to work to change my B+ in Spanish because people in the class are failing. Just because a B+ is better than an F does not mean that it’s desirable.</p>
<p>In generalizing the views of most students under the pretense of an inadequate sense of personal expression, the author doesn’t seem logical.</p>
<p>American school children are equipped with social skills, above average diplomatic behavior, and a sense of rational thinking. When comparing that with the rest of the world, there is a sense of superior ability to assess situations. I’d say that currently most of the world is under-developed, and those communities have a sense of dogmatic thought. There is a larger part of the world that is docile, inept, and unable to process world view topics such as Americans. </p>
<p>I think that the knowledge that Americans gain through their schooling allows them to grow up and choose what they want to study and how they want to use the skills that they gain from that studying. Many schools of thought see self expression as bettering society. I think that American schools allow for a great degree of curiosity, self-expression, and deviances from the normal way of thinking.</p>
<p>Having said that, my argument is flawed. Not every American goes to school with a Gung Ho attitude. And there are many countries that have, what might seem like, a better schooling system.</p>
<p>I just believe that American schools equip their student with the ability to think out of the box, if they so choose.</p>
<p>And I’d definitely agree with riku92mr, I’ve had excellent teachers throughout my life. And even those teachers that weren’t so great at least taught me stuff that I’d never known before. I learned something from every teacher I’ve ever had.</p>
<p>This is not even the biggest problem I have with education in US, but it is one. There are ways it limits creativity.</p>
<p>The NCLB Act is the stupidest thing ever.</p>
<p>Mostly, the disparities between inner-city schools and rich suburban schools (like mine, yes) are DISGUSTING.</p>
<p>There are many things that need to change; I am very intrigued by education in US.</p>
<p>I agree that American education is far better than the education offered elsewhere. That said, I believe that the American educational system is not even beginning to explore its potential.</p>
<p>I can’t speak from any exceptional educational system because my state is 49/50 in terms of funding per student so 
We are doing the best we can, I think. My teachers are horrible, but they certainly aren’t helpful. Haven’t had a kid go to an ivy in 3 years (and the last girl went to MIT…technically not an Ivy :rolleyes: ).</p>
<p>^Success should NOT NOT NOT be determined by how many people attend an Ivy League school serious.</p>
<p>Look more at the graduation rate, on-grade levels, and college- and/or career-readiness.</p>
<p>I think the American Education system is among the best in the world but it could use some reforms. Now having said that, this article lacks constructive criticism because it doesn’t even suggest concrete reforms that need to be made, but it wines on and on and on.</p>
<p>Ok, I’ll agree with chocolateBanana.</p>
<p>I HATE the NCLB Act, it’s so useless.</p>
<p>Just pushes a bunch of kids that are no where near their grade level through school to build a fake statistic of the country’s “literacy rate”</p>
<p>^^Right. It is not ideal though. The point is it can be SO MUCH better. We are not yet fully a land of opportunity for everyone. Also, I think the article unfairly blames teachers. Teachers get way too much blame, in general I think.</p>
<p>Thank you. They are overhauling the NCLB Act somewhat, but I’m afraid the infrastructure still remains.</p>
<p>"This article definitely represents ignorance at it’s best. The American Schooling System is not inadequate by ANY stretch of the imagination. Being from a pretty under-developed place myself, I can tell you that there are factors about american schooling that you would never see anywhere else.</p>
<p>In Pakistan, and the greater part of South Asia, you learn what your government wants you to learn. You don’t learn about the Holocaust or the two World Wars because the government deems that irrelevant.</p>
<p>America is uncensored. You learn whatever you want and you shape yourself in any which way possible. I don’t think that the writer of the article has compared education in the US to education anywhere else.</p>
<p>US Education allows for a student to become fully capable of assesing higher knowledge, a luxury that is definitely not available in the greater part of the world.</p>
<p>I think that the writer should have compared the standards of US education to the rest of the world before berating it. The luxuries that American students afford are things wholly unfamiliar to most of the world.</p>
<p>Think about it"</p>
<p>That’s pretty classic pro-American thinking…do you really think that the American system is “uncensored”?? For example, how was Dalai Lama presented to you? I, for one, was taught (I’m in a Canadian school…but same dif. and plus canada’s teachers/textbooks actually should be a bit more liberal in political views on average if not in scope) that he’s some sorta peace loving harmless old man bent on freeing his fellow Tibetans from the evil oppressive CCP. So imagine how shocked I was when I found out that not only was he on CIA’s payroll for a couple of decades, what him taking over again would have meant a return to the traditional Tibetan caste society.
So yea, while America is sort of uncensored (if not unbiased), its education system isn’t. And honestly, how many people do you think searched up on Dalai Lama after learning about him in class? That’s why you get dumbasses boycotting the Beijing Olympics and attacking Chinese torch-bearers and screaming “Free Tibet” when they don’t even know where in the world Tibet is (literally. try googling for a video of a reporter asking demonstrators where Tibet is and providing them with a map for them to point to it. One guy actually pointed to Hawaii. It was pathetic).</p>
<p>The false sense of “oh we are so unbiased and liberal!” leads to just as much trouble as “oh shoot we never knew we were censored!”</p>
<p>oops sorry that was a long rant. = =</p>
<p>oh, and I disagree with the article about the “not understanding but knowing how to do it” part. Again, this may be dif. in Canada from the States, but the overwhelming majority of our teachers do try in every possible way that we “understand”, and a lot of test Qs and projects are based on how well you understand the concept.</p>
<p>I mean, in the long run, if you attend college, you’re going to learn all the wierd facts as well.</p>
<p>The US Schooling system is just a stepping stone, as is every other schooling system in the world that’s any good.</p>
<p>You learn your basics there, challenge yourself with a few AP’s and go on to higher level thinking at colleges.</p>
<p>It’s not as if we’re some sort of Roman lyceum “seasoning” our brains for conceptual thought, because as a whole, Americans are not interested in that.</p>
<p>There are a few select that go on to college that take part in that kind of conversation. I feel that people scrutinize the public schooling system and demand from it some sort of unrealistic “genius” breeding ground.</p>
<p>Do well in basic level thinking, and then you’ll go on to tougher stuff, which is what you want.</p>
<p>And I agree with the poster that teachers have a bad rap, I’ve loved most of my teachers and the fact that they sit around listening to the same conversations year after year, for that salary, hats off to them!</p>
<p>Public education should NOT be merely a stepping stone; most people do NOT go to college, and I don’t even think everyone should or needs to. I feel like, we as a society have placed too much emphasis on THE DEGREE.</p>
<p>The problem isn’t that geniuses aren’t being created, but that there are so many kids below-level…not up to standards in math, English…unaware of civics and history. And of course, this is all by standardized tests, which have been used way too much for political purposes.</p>
<p>As the daughter of Asian immigrants, I can definitely say that it depends on what you’re looking for. Students in Asian schools are taught to learn rigorous mathematics from a very young age, but in return, they are stifled and therefore lack creativity or acceptance of other things Americans take for granted, like mental disorders or wildness, freedom and celebrity.</p>
<p>America offers a lot. You can earn a GED (though I don’t recommend it, but if you have to!) here or drop out of high school and start singing or take classes at the local community college and still get a pat on the back for it. We have so many other options and features that even our Commonwealth cousins just don’t.</p>