On AmericanEducation.docx

On AmericanEducation.docx

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OnAmericanEducation

OnAmericanEducation

It’scommontruththatAmericaisthemostaffluentcountryintheworld，sheadvancesinalmosteveryfield:

politicseconomy，sciencehigh-tech,etc’。

Thereasonsmaybelistless,however,educationaccountsformostofthem.It’snowrongtosaythatwithoutAmericaeducation,withoutAmericanaffluence.

Americanstudentsneedtopassthroughseverallevelsofschooling,whichareverymuchalikeourChinese.Theyattend,attheageof6or7,ElementarySchoolorGrammarSchool.Itusuallymeansgradeskindergartenthrough8.Afterthat,studentsmoveonSecondarySchool.Oftenitmeans9-12.Howeverinmanydistricts,juniorhighschoolincludesgrades7-9,andgrades10-12arenamedseniorhighschool,thenaltogether,allsixaresaidtoforma“highschool”.

FromElementarySchooltoSecondarySchool,itisthecompulsoryeducationperiodforAmerican,andfreeofcharge.Allstatesrequireyoungpeopletoattendschool.Thoughtheagelimitsvary,everychildinAmericaisguaranteedupto13yearsofeducation.

Aboutthecurriculum,itisquitecomprehensive.Almosteveryelementaryschoolprovidesinstructioninthesesubjects:

mathematics;language;arts;penmanship;science;musicandphysicaleducation.Wecanseethatthesesubjectsbothfundamentalandpractical,amongwhichphysicaleducationarehighlighted.InChina,wetrytoavoidthissensitivetopicespeciallyinclass.Wehaveaninclinationtoregardsuchtopicasashamefulone.Howeverit’scompletelytheoppositeintheUSA,teachersandstudentshaveaheateddiscussionaboutsexinclasswithboththeattendanceofgirlsandboys.

Mostsecondaryschoolsofferthesamecoreofrequiredsubjects:

English,mathematics,science,socialstudiesandphysicaleducation.IntheUSA,ifyousayyouareingrade1class1,soonyouaregoingtobethelaughingstock.ComparedtoChinese,Americansecondaryschoolpresentsfreemodel,theyhavenofixedplacetoattendclass.Thusstudentsfromdifferentgradesmaytakeclassinthesameclassroom.

Likethefloatingfreshwater,Americaneducationhasneverrestraineditsdevelopment.Itchangesasthesocialtendencyandtrytoreflectandsevereit.Materialismfrommypointofview,isstrikingconceptbehindtheAmericaneducation.Taketheeducationchangepostworldwarforexample.Americanparents,especiallyyoungcoupleswhomarriedinthelate1940s–wantedtheirchildrentobeeducatedforthepostwar.Atthattime,AmericanjobswerechangedbynewtechnologyandAmericanbusinessspreadaroundtheglobe.Between1950and1960morenewknowledgewasdevelopedthaninalloftheworld’shistorybefore1950.Therefore,exposedtosuchenvironment,reformsinschoolsspreadquickly.

Schoolswereaskednotonlytoteachthisnewinformation,buttohelpstudentsasktheirownquestionaboutit.Thisinquiringmethodoflearning,focusingonsolvingproblems,ratherthanmemorizingfactsbecamepopular.

Nowadays,whatwespeakhighlyofthefreedomofAmericaeducationmaybederivesfromthisperiodoftime.AsweallknowAmericaneducationattachesgreatimportancetospiritandfreedomofimagination,callsonindependentthinkingbraveinvestigating,encouragesdoubtandcriticizetheauthority.

ComparedtotheUSAweChinesedoeslittleintermsofdoubtandcriticize,ourmethodhasneverchangedtoomuch,letalonereflectsthechangeofmodernsociety.ThecoreofourChineseistoinstillvariousknowledgewithwithoutconsideringitsfunctiontoallbrains,wetendtonotencouragequestion,butpraisememory.

AfterworldwarⅡ,itisclearthatagoodsecondaryeducationwasnolongerenoughformanyAmericans.MoreandmoreAmericansthoughttheuniversitiesasthedoorwaytobettertheirlife.ThesystemofhighereducationintheUSAiscomplex.Itmakesupoffourcategoriesofinstitutions:

⑴theuniversity,whichmaycontainseveralcollegesforundergraduatestudentsandoneormoregraduateschoolsforthosecontinuinginspecializedstudies.⑵thefour-yearundergraduateinstitution-thecollege–mostofwhicharenotpartofauniversity.⑶thetechnicaltraininginstitution.⑷thetwo-year,orcommunitycollege.

DifferentfromourChinese,applicantswhowanttogetintocollegemustsatisfythefollowingneeds:

Ⅰtheirhighschoolrecords;Ⅱrecommendationfromtheirhighschoolteachers;ⅢtheimpressiontheymakeduringinterviewsattheuniversityandⅣtheirscoresontheSATs.Thefourqualitiesoftheassessmenttocollegeentrancearenotsingle,rigid.Instead,thecriteriontriestoteststudentsfromvariousaspectsnotonlythefinalSATsbuttheirpresentationattheusualtime.Itisquitefullofhumanity,Ithink.Itdoesnotviewtheentranceexaminationaseverything.

ThecaseisstrikingdifferentinChina,wherethescoreofcollegeentranceexanimationiseverything,istheonlybasisforcollegetodecidewhethertoletyouinornot.Itisdoubtlessatragedythatcertainstudentsbehavewellatschoolandattheusualtime,yetfailordonnotgethighmarksinthefatalexams,thenrejectedindifferentlyoutsidethedoorofsocalledivorytower’s,what’sworsesomeofthemareunderhugepressurebothfromtheirfamilyandpublic,thenendedwithkillingthemselves.Sohorrible,isn’tit?

Ihavethetruefeelingaboutthegreatdepressionthatthedeadlyexamhasbroughtabout.Franklyspeaking,Ihavetakenthisexamfortwice.OnceIwasinthemostfamousseniorschoolinourcounty,whichcalledFushanSeniorHighSchool.Ididquitewellintheacademicstudy,gainedonescholarship,andtookactivitiesduringthethreeyears.PeoplearoundholdthefirmopinionthatIcanreadilyenterafamousuniversity.Butwiththeawarenessoftheimportanceoftheexam,Iturnedtobesoanxiousworriedduringtheexam.UptonowIcanclearlyrecalltheterriblefeelingwhensittinginthetest-room.Icompletelylosethecontrolofmybrain.IfeltlikeIwasattachedtoaropeanddraggedbyatrainatahighspeed.Havingnoreasonablemind,Icouldhardlyemploymyknowledgetosolvethoseproblems.Thetensedmindgotmecrazy,glancingateachquestionwithoutmuchtimetothinkandthendashedofftheanswer…Soyoucanimaginetheterribleresult.Inaword,Ifailedtoliveuptoeveryone,includingmyself.

IntheUSA,highschoolgraduatecantakeSATsasmanytimesastheylike,andchoosethebestEnglishscoreandmathscoreasthefinalone.HoweverinChina,thefinalscoreisdefinitelyunchangeable,youcandonothingbutacceptit.Inordertogethighmarks,studentsaretaughtmanyknacks,whicharenotbasedonthequestionitself,buttoseekshortcuts.Ourpainstakingteachersliketopresentuspreciousregulationstotherelativelyfixedquestion,“Whencomingtothiskindofissue,firstly,you’dconsideritsimportance,thenitseffect,thirdly,itsmeaning.Asforitsmeaning,you’dfocusonthefollowingpoints:

①…②…③…Aswecansee,studentscanreadilyfindthestereotypedmodelformostthequestions.Whatwedojustfollowtheteachers,neverexpressyourownoriginalideas,otherwiseyou’llfallbehindothersorevenfailtheterribletext

Thisiskindofmethodinresponsetothecollegeentranceexaminationnotonlynipstheoriginalityinthebud,butdrivesstudentstobesly,inclinationtomaterialgain.Thatiscostinganythinginordertoachievesomething,includinghonesty.

It’sdefinitelyatragedy,isn’tit？

Amongthefourcategoriesofhigheducationinstitution;maybethecollegeanduniversityenjoymostpopularity.Attheundergraduatelevel,afour-year“liberalarts”courseofstudyistraditionallyofferedinsuchsubjectsashistorylanguagesandphilosophy.ManyliberalartscollegealsoofferaBachelorofSciencedegreeinphysicschemistryoroftenscientificsubjects.AgraduateschoolinAmericaawardmaster’sanddoctor’sdegreesinboththeartsandscience.Thecourseformostgraduatedegreecanbecompletedintwoorfouryears.Soinsuchcircumstances,ifthestudentisgoodenough,hecanfinishthecollegeinlessthanfouryear,aslongashecanearnenoughcredits,orhecanenterthecommunitycollegeforpreparationstudyaheadoftimeinthesummerholiday.

Asforthecurriculumthatcollegeoruniversityoffers,theremaybesomecoursesthateverystudenthastotake.Studentselectstheirmajorplusaspecificnumberof“electives”,whicharenotrequiredbutstudentsmaychoose.

Amongthesecollegesanduniversities,about25%ofthemareprivatelyoperatedbyreligiousorganizations.Mostareopentostudentofdifferentfaithsbutinsomereligiousschoolsallstudentsarerequiredtoattendreligiousservices.Therearealsoprivateownedschoolswithnoreligiousconnection.InChinawedohaveprivateschool,buthavenothingtodowiththereligion.Mosthighereducationschoolsarefundedbythegovernment.Thusthemainsourceisthegovernment,apartfromwhichisthestudenttuition.ThingsaredifferentintheUSA,besidestheabovetwo,endowmentsattributetoquitemuchtothesourceofincomeincollege.

It’sauniversalfactthatifyouwanttogetthebesthighereducation,Americaistheperfectchoiceforyouwithoutanyhesitation.It’sreportedthatinthetop20bestuniversitiesallovertheworld,17areoccupiedbyAmerican.It’samazing,isn’tit？

SowhydothelargeuniversitiesflourishinAmerica？

Firstly,theyofferbestlibrariesandfacilitiesforspecificresearch.Secondly,accesstoamainframecomputerandtomodernlabattractsleadingscientiststothefacilitiesofsuchschool.ResearchprogramcontinuetobethereputationofAmericanuniversities.

Whenreferringtothefactorswhichdeterminewhetheraninstitutionisoneofthebestoroneoflowerprestige,peopl