Some thoughts on education

I've read a couple of fascinating stories in the New York Times recently about testing in education and international education rankings which raise some interesting points and questions about Asian and Western approaches to education. paper a universally-accessible, practically permanent media where they can come back to bite me at any time. I should note now that this essay is much longer than I intended it to be.
I thought I'd put some of my thoughts down on

My thinking is of course informed by my background as a product of the Canadian education system, which is to the best of my recollection fairly relaxed. I acknowledge that I likely had a much less stressful experience throughout my whole education than the vast majority of students, but one can compare somewhat objectively: I took less tests in high school than my Grade 1s take at our English academy, and had as much homework in high school as my middle school students have for the academy.

Working in the Korean education system, where educators and parents take a very different approach to homework and testing, I always cringe when my students write something like this (from a Grade 1 today):

Doing homework is my job. Because when I do my homework I always wanted to play, but when I play always I can't make my dreams in future. So I need to do it.

To be fair, it is hard to know what "play always" means - is she indicating that if she only played and didn't go to school, she would lose the ability to follow her dreams? That's a fairly astute assessment for a six-year-old. Or is she parroting something her mother has told her when demanding she do homework instead of playing with friends?

Certainly, the education system here leans heavily on homework and testing, as the first NYT article relays. Having worked here for nine months, I can see both the upsides and downsides to this. As much as I grouch about it, the kids do get used to the homework, and can produce some pretty amazing results. At my academy, my Grade 6 students--who, remember, are ESL students--have written 5-paragraph essays on Nelson Mandela's views of freedom, debated treating violent youth as adults in the criminal justice system, and created an Asian Games video news broadcast.

On a societal level, the emphasis on academic work and results has paid off, at least statistically. The chart to the left (click to enlarge) shows country rankings in an international standard test. At the top of each category? Asian countries: Singapore, Korea, parts of China. Canada does relatively well, but the U.S. is falling behind, concerning politicians there who may be nervously watching their theories of American exceptionalism slide away.

Asian-style education is not only focused on homework but also on testing. This, too, has its benefits. The constant stream of testing gives myself, the parent and the student a measurement of their progress in class. Also, doing well on a test will boost self-esteem in a way that's hard for a teacher to replicate with simple praise. Most of our students adapt to the testing, do well each week or month, and fold their test results into their positive self-image.

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Having laid out the pros -- like any good debater -- I'll spend some time talking about the cons.

First, it's hard for me to escape the conclusion that Asian-style work-and-test education starts too early. As Alfie Kohn notes via the NYT,

... genuine learning in young children was a global process, while tests look at narrow and specific skills, and good teachers don’t need tests to know if a child is learning. He added that for young children, good test results were more a function of whether children can sit still or hold a pencil.

I can speak to this from experience. I have one Grade 1 student who is quite frustrating to teach. Though he is fantastically smart and does test well (our classes are ranked and I have the top class) he has trouble paying attention and sitting still in class. Today, he handed in a homework drawing project which was absolutely beautiful (see photo to left). There is no way this aptitude could be measured on a test, nor can they measure teamwork, social skills, conversational fluency, and so on. If my student were just a bit less able to pay attention--to the point where it impacted his test scores significantly--his potential would be overlooked.

Also, testing is often done in a manner that doesn't take age into account. Our academy gives monthly tests to all students, from Grade 1 up, which are multi-page multiple choice exams that take upward of an hour to complete. These are standard and expected by parents. I remember well the numerous times I've heard Jampa Grim railing against multiple choice, and I tend to agree.

Second, my experience talking to students suggests that the intensive educational atmosphere in countries like Korea and China doesn't make for happy or self-actualized students. Most of my students studied abroad, and most of these would prefer to still be abroad. Reading students' sentiments such as the one quoted at the beginning of this essay, and talking with them about their daily schedules makes me wonder how some of them have time for friends or fun. And however positive the effect of a good test score may be on a child's self-image, a bad score has just the opposite potential effect. I teach some students who, despite having a myriad of skills and interests, come to school turned off of learning. One of my Grade 3 students, for example, is fascinated with biology and loves reading, but regularly fails her vocabulary quiz due to disinterest, and doesn't pay much attention in class.

Finally, to rip off Samuel Clemens, Korean schooling sometimes seems to get in the way of the kids' education. One's education extends well beyond the classroom and a formal education plays only one part in a child's development, so it should be important to allow and encourage playing, socializing, exercising, exploring, and pleasure reading that don't happen naturally in the classroom.

I should also make a few observations. In some ways, the teacher is more important than the system of education. I try to engage the students and get them talking, make them work in groups as much as possible, encourage fun competition but discourage rivalries, and generally teach to the best of my present abilities. I think this would make a large difference over a hypothetical teacher who just lectured and assigned workbook pages.

Also, in any educational system the kids will vary. Just as in North America, we have our brilliant and dedicated students, our hardworking but dull students, our lazy geniuses, and our troublemakers. Perhaps student complaints about the system here can at least partially be attributed to the general tendency of kids to complain about school.

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In all my debate and writing classes, I urge students to make a proper conclusion. So, what conclusions can I come to?

Not many firm ones. Although I started quite shocked by the educational norms here, I will admit that my views are shifting somewhat. Of course, I still have serious reservations about the academic load and emphasis on testing I see in Korea; I have outlined many of my objections here. However, it seems like the benefits--fluency in a second language, for example--may be worth a little more sacrifice as a child, and as I noted, most of my students are quite happy and well-adjusted. I suppose the question is, as it always is, about balance: balance between scholastic achievement, homework and testing, and fun and freedom in childhood.

One thing I do know is that this post, rather than a rigid treatise on education, is a continuation of my thoughts in a life-long conversation I will have with myself and other educators. I sure hope it will be the start of some conversations over the Christmas break.

With that thought, goodbye from Steve teacher!