I will protect your pensions. Nothing about your pension is going to change when I am governor. - Chris Christie, "An Open Letter to the Teachers of NJ" October, 2009

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Fear Chinese Schools?

We've got to make our schools more like the Chinese, who are going to kick us in the economic teeth! Just like the banksters keep telling us!

Or not...
"Terrible" Education System Is Main Impediment 
 
11. (SBU) However, Lai identified China's "terrible" educational system as presenting a serious impediment toward achieving a shift to a more knowledge-based economy.  The current system promotes copying and pasting over creative and independent thought.  Lai said that the system rewards students for thinking "within a framework" in order to get the grade.  He described the normal process undertaken by students when writing as essentially collecting sentences from various sources without any original thinking.  He compared the writing ability of a typical Chinese Phd as paling in comparison to his "unskilled" staff during his decade of work with the IFC in Africa.
This can't possibly be right. Everyone on TV allowed to talk about education knows America sucks; and Wall Street agrees! That's why they're funding a "transformation" of our schools - you know, to get us to be more like the Chinese! Like Whitney Tilson wants us to be! Yes, he does!

Screw creativity and independence; that's not what America was founded on!

Right, George?

3 comments:

Jason V. said...

...and this is why, in the business world, Chinese companies are very good at *copying* the designs of others from around the world, not *creating* their own new and original designs.

And on a similar note, one of America's greatest 'exports' to the world are our media products (movies, TV, music, books), and those things demand creativity!

Duke said...

Amen, brother. This music teacher feels you!

thinker said...

Interesting. I recently watched a documentary on which a young Chinese entrepreneur was speaking. He was asked why most of his business ventures were so similar to already established businesses (mostly in America), he candidly stated that people in his culture are not very good at ideas, innovating and creating, but they were very good at executing the ideas of others. He actually stated that he recalls being much more creative as a child, but after preparing and studying for literally hours a day to take some MAJOR test that Chinese students all undergo (as it largely decides their future), he just lost his ability to be creative. How telling.