<p>actually, no. You see thinking and learning is good, but when you're graded on how you think, well you're being judged and that makes the admission process here in canada VERY subjective. And as they basically don't look beyond grades, it's as shallow as hell too. Standardized testings are good as they provide a constant from which students universally can be umm, well not neccesarily graded, but given an idea about. Of course I'm not saying they determine the intelligenc eof someone, but this is the most objective way so far in terms of numbers. and the fact that the more selective institutuions look beyond numbers further betters the admission process in the us. I dunno, its late, i can't really think. feel free to correct anything that didn't make sense.</p>
<p>There isn't a shred of evidence that schools either in Canada or in the US teach students "how to think". Schools at best create only the matrix in which students can be encouraged to think, but with the sort of intellectual pablum which passes for a curriculum most students don't have a whole lot to think about. To the extent that schools are streamed or have honors programs there may emerge in some schools a critical mass of thinking students who can educate each other but in the public system that is pretty rare. By the way wasn't it in Canada that somebody once, long ago, probably in the Ordivician, wrote a description of Canadian education entitled 'So Little for the Mind". Quite a famous lady by the way. Maybe read the book, would wash your mind of a lot of garbage about the superiority of the Canadian system. Think of it this way. Per definition both in Canada and in the US half the students are below average intelligence. In any class a teacher is faced with some students who are a lot smarter than the teacher, a large lump of dead souls with no glimmer of enthusiam for a life of the mind, plus rather a large contingent of the hopeless. On top of that the teacher himself/herself at least in Canada has no useful training in mathematics or science, and is barely literate in either official language. Not a great climate. Maybe Jacques Barzun had it right when he described education as a desert of the soul. Sauve qui peut!</p>
<p>my my paleozoic, you need to learn how to read. I was not propogating the superiority of canadian education at all! I am canadian and i hate canadian high schools! And yes, i do consider myself smarter than my teachers. I was actually talking about us schools being better.</p>
<p>lol snow-wings, had that experience too, back in gr 5 thoough. was doing systems of equations in china ( my school had astrong math emphasis) and when I got here-" hi today we are learning how to round numbers!".
as for the whole canada Vs states thing, I do believe that an canadian A is equal to an A in states in most public schools. so I dont belive that canadian students have it "harder". however if you count our grades by percentages then we are at a great disadvantage.</p>
<p>PS. to the above 2 posters: calm down-.-''</p>
<p>Ultimately, which system (Canada or US) is harder, for the most part is subjective. In both countries, you will find schools that are very challenging and force their students to think instead of simply "regurgitating" information, while other schools are very easy and simply make the students memorize their textbooks. From what I can tell, there really isn't a huge difference between the two systems. If you were to compare say the Chinese education system versus North American, then there would be a huge difference (In China, one exam in grade 12 determines where you will attend university). The quality of education in Canada and the US is also pretty much equal.</p>