Lecture 8 1.docx
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Lecture81
April28,2011
Lecture8
Education
(1)
Educationisveryimportanttoanycultureintheworld.Generallyspeaking,systemsofformalandinformaleducationseektomeettheperceived(认知上的)needsofsocieties.Thus,ineveryculture,schoolsservemultiplefunctions.
First,ithelpsfashiontheindividual,orhelpstheformationofcharacters(性格).
Second,schoolsareplaceswhereaculture’shistoryandtraditionsarepassedfromgenerationtogeneration.Inanotherwords,educationisthetransmissionofcivilization.
Third,educationequipsstudentswithconventionalandmodernknowledgeandskill,sothattheymaymakealivinguponleavingschool.
Finally,schoolsplayabigroleinteachingtheinformalknowledgeofaculture,suchasbasicvaluesandbeliefs,rulesofcorrectconduct(formalbehavior)andthelike.
I.EducationintheUnitedStates
Pre-school,sometimescalledkindergarten,isavailableprivately,butpublicschoolsdon’talwaysprovidethis.Mostpre-schoolagedchildrenstayatprivatedaycareorgotokindergartenwhiletheirparentsareworking.
Whenchildrenaresixyearsold,theyenterthefirstyearofpublicschool.Ingeneral,localpropertytaxespayforthepublicschoolsfromthe1stthroughthe12thgrades.Thismeansthatinrichneighborhoodstheschoolsareverynice,andinpoorneighborhoodsschoolsarepoor.
ThesystemofelementaryandhighschoolinU.S.A.
Gradelevel
Age
Nameofschool
1sttrough4th
6-10years
Elementaryschool
5thand6th
11-12years
MiddleSchool
7thand8th
13-14years
JuniorHighSchool
9thto12th
15-18years
SeniorHighSchool
Notes:
Freshman,sophomore,junior,andseniorareusedtodescribeyears1,2,3,and4ofhighschool,respectively.Thesamefourtermsareusedalsoatthecollegeoruniversitylevel.Thestatement,“Johnisafreshman”,doesnotclarifyifheisincollegeorhighschool.
HigherEducationintheU.S.
Definition:
Anyeducationthatisaboveeducationofseniorhighschoolbelongstohighereducation.
School,college,anduniversity
Whatdothetermsof“college”and“school”mean?
Whatisthedifferencebetweenacollegeandauniversity?
“School”isageneralterm.Schoolmayrefertodifferentleveleducationalinstitutions.It’srealmeaningalldepends.
“College”isalsoageneralterm.
Ingeneralconversation,theterm“college”isusedtodescribeanyeducationalinstitutionabovehighschoollevel.
University
Auniversityusuallyconsistsofseveralcolleges.Canadian,English,andAustraliansaremorelikelytousetheword“university”thanAmericans.
Anypersonmayentercollegeanytime.Itissaidthatschoolsare“easytogetinto,buthardtogetoutof”.Manypeoplechangecareersbyreturningtoschooltogetaneducationinadifferentfieldthantheyworkin,orgetadditionaleducationinthefieldtheycurrentlyworkin.Anyonemaychangehis/hermajoratanytime.
“College”includesvocationalschoolsandacademicschools.Avocationalschoolisaschoolthattrainsitsstudentsinblue-collartrades,suchasautomobilemechanics,welding,hairstyling,electronictechnician,andmanyothers.Sometimesvocationalcollegesarereferredtoas“technical”schools.
Thetuitions.
Moststateschargehighertuitiontopeoplewhohaverecentlymovedintoastate,orhaveapermanentresidenceinanotherstate.Asmostofthemoneycollegelevelschoolsgetcomesfromstatetaxes,andforeignersandout-of-stateresidentsdon’tpaythesetaxes,theymustpayhighertuition.
Trade/Technicalschoolandcommunitycollege
Trade/Technicalschoolsbelongtothefieldofvocationaleducation.Practiceismorestressedinsuchkindsofschools.Forinstance,inamechanictrade(technical)schoolabout30%ofthetimeisspentinclassroomandtherestishandsontraining.Theteacherandstudenthaveatruejourneyman–apprenticerelationship(师徒关系).
Generallyspeaking,studentrequiresabouttwoyearsoftechnicaltrainingtobecomeanautomobilemechanic.
Communitycolleges
Communitycollegesprovidenotonlyspecialtechnicaltraining,butalsothefirsttwoyearsofacademiccoursesrequiredtocompleteabachelordegreeatauniversity.Peoplechoosetodothisbecauseitischeaper.IntheU.S.mostcommunitieshavethosecolleges.Theseschoolshavetwofunctions:
First,theyallowstudentstoobtaintechnicaldegrees.
Second,bycompletingthefirsttwoyearsofanacademicdegree,thestudentscantransfertoauniversity.
Communitycolleges,technicalschool,andvocationalschoolshaveprogramsthatarecenteredontheneedsofindustry.Thesekindsofschoolsallowyoutoearntwo-yeartechnicaldegreesorspecializedtrainingcertificatesneededforabluecollarcareers.Positionssuchas,
electronictechnician,
computerrepairtechnician,
x-raytechnician,
computernetworkengineer,
beautician,
machinist,
andotherskilledlaborjobs.
Learningtobeanetworkengineer,computerrepairman,orother“handson”computerprofessionalonlyrequiresabouteightmonthsoftraining.PrivateschoolsthroughouttheU.S.providethenecessarytrainingtoobtainanetworkengineeringcertificationsfromallofthemajorcomputercompanies.Aswithmostcomputerfields,experienceweighsasheavilyasformaleducationwhenlookingforajob.
Computerprogrammersareself-learners,mostareworkingwithcomputerlanguagestheypickeduponthejob,notinschool.Duetothefastchangingnatureofthebusiness,skillismoreimportantthaneducationlevelinmostcomputerprogrammingjobs.Newlanguagesarebeingintroducedallthetime;ifcomputerprogrammersdonotcontinuallystudynewlanguages,theywillfallbehindveryquickly.
II.Culturalinfluencesoneducation
Asculturesvaryinwhattheyemphasize,thereisculturaldiversityineducationalconceptsandpractices.Forexample,therearedifferentwaysofperformingteaching.
Basically,twoways,whichcanbeseenfromtheChineseproverb:
“Giveamanafishandyoufeedhimforaday.Teachamantofishandyoufeedhimforalifetime.”
Therearedifferencesin
howstudentsparticipateinthelearningprocess,
whatroleteachersplay,
howmuchauthorityisvestedintheteacher,andsoon.
NowletusdealwithsomeoftheeducationaldifferencesbetweenChineseandAmericancultures.
Somedifferencesinthewayteachingandlearning
1.MostAmericaneducatorsassumethatstudentparticipationinclassroomdiscussionhasvitalvalues.Becauseofthisbelief,AmericanandotherWesternteachersgenerallyhopetoencourageinformaldiscussionsanddebatesintheirclassesorseminars.
ButChinesestudentsarenotusedtomakingcommentsoraskingquestionsinclass.Someofthemevenviewthiskindofdiscussionasawasteofprecioustimethatoughttobeusedbytheteachertodeliverintellectualtreasurestothestudents.ThemostimportantreasonmaybethatChinesetraditiondoesnotvalueself-expression.Therearealsosomepracticalreasonsgivenbysomestudentsfortheirreluctancetospeak.
Poorstudentsinacertainsubjectusuallysaytheyareafraidoflosingfaceiftheyspeaksincetheymaysaysomethingstupid.
Outstanding/topstudentsusuallysaythattheyfearbeinglookeduponasshowoffsbytheirclassmates(alsocreatinglossofface)iftheyspeaktoooftenorsaysomethingthatareobviouslybrilliant.
Averagestudentsseemtohavetheleastreluctancetospeak;theysay,however,thatthereisnopointintheirspeakingunlesstheyhavesomethingreallyvaluabletocontribute.
2.InChina,thetransmissionofknowledgeisorientedmoretowardtheorythantowardpracticeorapplication,somemorizationofdetailsandfactsisimportant.
Incontrast,intheUnitedStatestheemphasisisonknowingwheretofindfactsandhowtousethemcreatively.
3.Americanteacherstendtousebooksmerelyassourcesofopinionsorinterpretations.
Whereas,booksinChinahavebeentraditionallytakenasthesourcesofauthority.
4.InAmericanclassrooms,experimentallearning,problemsolving,casestudies,andparticipatoryteachingmethodsarepracticed.
InChineseclassroomteachingshouldbeclearlystructured,andinformation-packed.
5.InAmerica.Testsaremoreusedtogauge(judge/measure)astudent’sprogress.
InChinatestsareextremelyimportantbecausetheyareviewedastheabsolutedeterminantsofastudent’sfuture.
6.AtypicalstrategyofAmericanuniversityteachersistolectureonsomeaspectsoftheircoursesubjectbutexpectotheraspectstobecoveredbytheassignedreadings.Chinesestudentsarenotusedtothiskindofassignment.
7.Americanprofessorsoftengiveessaytestsonwhichtheyexpecttheirstudentstodiscussanissuefromseveralpointsofview;typically,suchtestsaregradednotonthebasisofrightandwronganswersbutratherofcommandofinformationandqualityofreasoning.
Americanprofessorshateplagiarism.ThisattitudemayleadtomisunderstandingwithChinesestudentswhomayrepeatonatestverbatim(一字不差的),repeatingtheactualwordsexactlysomethingpreviouslyreadandmemorizedinthebeliefthatthisisawidelyapprovedwaytoattainahighmark.
Discussion:
AsthingsarechangingrapidlyintheeducationsectorinChina,someofthedifferencesmayhavebeenchanged.Pleasetalkaboutthechangesifthere’sany.
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