The US vs. everyone else

Editor's note: This is a P-I Reader Blog. P-I Reader Blogs are not written or edited by the P-I. They are written by readers, for readers. The authors are solely responsible for content. If you see any posts you consider inappropriate, please send us a note at newmedia@seattlepi.com.
· Want to blog for the P-I?

« Summer in a cast | Main | Testing: district-provided or private? »

Ed in '08 / Strong American Schools has a new campaign out: One Nation Left Behind, highlighting our educational system's decline against other countries.

I have a cousin who taught high school and undergraduate courses in Japan, France and the United States. He was in Seattle this past week, so I asked him: are kids here dumber than their overseas counterparts?

In Japan, he taught at Izumigaoka Koko high school, a.k.a. "super-science school." There, the school day started at around 6:30 AM and lasted for twelve hours. As my cousin explained, school was both work and home for these kids, and home as we know it was the house they returned to at night to eat and sleep. At one point, he suggested a "fun" exercise for the students, studying and discussing American song lyrics, but the administrator curtly explained that school was not supposed to be fun.

Were the kids smarter there? Yes. But they were also super-stressed and depressed. The Japanese even have a particular term for kids who break down from the pressure.

France's classrooms were closer to ours, though my cousin said that they provide much more comprehensive education on civics, history and geography--knowledge that is highly valued in their culture. Also, he noted that it's more acceptable for kids in France to attend trade schools. How early do kids choose their track--vocational or college? At about age 16. Oh, and in case you didn't know, college is free for France's citizens.

Were those French kids smarter than us? My cousin didn't really say, although he mentioned that they seem more mature and are treated like adults by the time they hit college.

I looked back at Ed in '08, and learned that France ranks 19th in quality of science education--not that far ahead of us. Japan, on the other hand, is up in 3rd place... right behind Canada in 2nd place, Finland in 1st.

Okay, I knew Japanese schools are intense, and it doesn't surprise me that just about everyone, including France, provides a stronger foundation in history and geography than us. But what's up with Canada--how are they providing a high quality education? And do these international rankings worry you?

Posted by at July 18, 2008 7:30 a.m.
Categories: Education, Parenting, Schools

Comments

#152544

Posted by unregistered user at 7/18/08 11:12 a.m.

Well it is certainly interesting to know how France and Japan rank and how we compare in result. However, since the cultural expectations and values vary from country to country, HOW and WHAT teachers are able to teach vary as well. I was shocked when I read school lasted for 12 hours. However, people in Japan deem that as noraml. In result, education differs greatly between here and other countries.

Report violation

#152575

Posted by unregistered user at 7/18/08 12:01 p.m.

12 hours a day, yikes, how developmentally inappropriate. How can kids experience just being kids, play, try a sport, relax, even get bored.....let alone eat dinner with their family, take a shower and sleep 8 hours a night! It's just not appropriate to me, much like the 10 hour a day daycare situations that we have here in the good ole U.S.A.

Report violation

#152617

Posted by unregistered user at 7/18/08 1:13 p.m.

I have never really understood what exactly these measure and what this is supposed to say. Is this some gold standard to what "being educated" is? As shown by other conversations here, people tend to have very different ideas about this.

Who even creates these tests? How do we really know how these tests really measure what they set out to measure? And even if you are number one or two, or last, what impact does this actually have? In some instances being number one or two, such as valedictorian, can affect which college you attend, but in the case of being number one country, what does this mean? You can go to the top college in the galaxy?

Report violation

! Login below to post a comment.