"The
United States places 17th in the developed world for education, according to a global report by education firm Pearson.”
The
United Stated ranked 17th in the entire world with Finland being
rated first, South Korea came in 2nd and Hong Kong came in 3rd
for the best countries for education. Others that came in close were Singapore,
United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
This information was last updated in 2012 so it’s fairly recent. Do
you believe that differences in some various educational institutions around
the world can create an international variation amongst student performance?
What are these top performing countries doing in education that other countries
aren’t? Have they used special resources throughout the years to maximize such
performance in their schools? Are the families in these countries relying
solely on the government so they force their children to focus more on their
schooling than anything else? What do you believe are the strongest factors in
a strong educational system.
You might wish to reference the following link:
Ranking outside of the top 15 worldwide in terms of achieving academic success is certainly not something we, as a nation, should be proud of. I believe that unlocking the key to success is the quality of teaching as a whole, not spending more hours in the classroom or because we have extra-curricular activities. Certainly, more time spent on using outside resources, employing guest lecturers, and using a variety of educational tools are all among the reasons why these nations succeed ahead of others. The harsh reality is that, in some ways, we have become a nation afraid to fail our children, to hold back kids, and to separate a good job from a bad job (i.e. the "everyone gets a trophy" theory). In education where the very livelihood and perpetuation of our society is at stake, not everyone can, or should, be getting a trophy. Perhaps in some of these successful societies, the government is being expected to take charge of the child (certainly this is true in Finland and other places), so while I'm not advocating that the ultimate responsibility of education be taken away from the family/parental unit, more funding towards schools and less funding for frivolities would certainly help us to move in the right direction to moving back among the top five or six nations in the world educationally. But, as discussed last week after watching the video on education in South Korea, I think most of us would agree that such a strict focus on performance so much so that the rate of teen suicide is through the ceiling isn't the answer here. So, let's increase funding which would increase teacher pay, spend more QUALITY hours at school, and let's not be afraid of having to redo a failed job (because they exist) and we'll find our way back to the top. It's all about striking a balance like anything else in life.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, I find the fact that the United States is ranking 17th in the world for education as poor. We are such a large country and we should have better results in all our subjects. As mentioned in the article, American students ranked 25th in Math, 17th in Science, and 14th in Reading. These numbers should be better based on the importance of teachers right now. As we discussed last week in class, I believe these other countries are STRONGLY stressing the importance of education, unlike many families in the Unites States. They do not settle for low grades because they understand that in order for students to be successful in life, they need a good education. In addition, I think the parents in these countries are having to pay for their child(ren) education therefore the parents want to make sure they get the best out of it. The Unites States has public schools which allows all students an education, which is not bad, but maybe parents would care more if they had to pay. One factor that I think needs to be implemented in the United States in order to have a good education system is that all districts should have the same textbooks. As mentioned in class, this allows for students to move from one location to another and not fall behind. Another factor I believe is that teachers need to become more unified with their profession. Many schools have their "clicks" of teachers and some are not willing to help new teachers. This does not benefit the teachers and most importantly the students.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I agree with some of the beliefs of the other countries with regards to the education system, I do disagree to some of the beliefs as well. I don’t think it is right for students to attend school all day and night. This is not a healthy living style for these students which will not result in anything good.
It doesn't surprise me that the United States was ranked 17th world wide in terms of education. Many people in the United States view teaching as a job, in which teachers have two months off along with every other holiday. Often times, people forget the time and effort that goes into planning a lesson, grading tests, organizing and maintaing a classroom, which then leads to many teachers taking up whatever free time and MONEY into career. In Finland and in South Korea, teachers are valued and highly respected. In the United States, not so much. Society has taken upon themselves to blame the teacher, when students don't score high on the state exam, regardless of their home environment or circumstances. I'm sure that the teachers in Finland and in South Korea, are paid fairly well, with benefits. There is no pressure from state testing and students/parents are held responsible for any testing outcome. I'm also sure that they are not swamped with paper work, nor do they have a half hour lunch.
ReplyDeleteThis is a comment written by Donna Russomanno
ReplyDeleteA while back I saw a political cartoon of how the educational system has changed in the US. The first picture is from 1969, a parent is pointing at a child's report card, and is upset with the child. The teacher is present in the background. The second window showed 2009, where the same student, parent and teacher are present except now, the parents is yelling at the teacher and the child is smiling. The biggest difference between the US and Finland/South Korea is that there is a difference in the culture of the countries in how they perceive education. Yes, teachers do ALL have a masters degree in those countries, and teachers are also perceived as experts in their field and are trusted as such. What adds to the insecurity in the US is that teachers are given the sole responsibility of improving students test scores, on tests that may or may not be accessing whether students are college and career ready. There is no question that there are islands of success: schools where amazing things happen and where students produce results. However on these islands, one also finds professionals that build tight knit communities, where teachers are perceived as professionals. I do not think its so much of what are we doing wrong, but what are we not doing? I believe there is a lack of confidence in parents, when they send their children to school. If their child does not get an A, often times, parents look to blame the teacher, and there is not enough emphasis of responsibility at home.
The article states: “While funding is an important factor in strong education systems, cultures supportive of learning is even more critical -- as evidenced by the highly ranked Asian countries, where education is highly valued and parents have grand expectation. While Finland and South Korea differ greatly in methods of teaching and learning, they hold the top spots because of a shared social belief in the importance of education and its "underlying moral purpose."
ReplyDeleteI believe this is the biggest setback for the United States, as our society simply does not value education as much as we should. As a result, countries with greater ambition have been able to supersede the United States from an educational perspective. For many of today’s youth, academics has to compete with, and often take a backseat to extracurricular activities. The majority of parents and guardians needs to realize that education stretches beyond the school walls. Parents must set the tone for how their children perceive school. If parents treat extracurricular activities as taking priority to education, why will the child believe any differently? While sports and the arts are wonderful outlets, and help to make our children well rounded, I think that education must come first. If parents made participation in extracurricular activities dependent on school performance and behavior, it would help to teach children responsibility, accountability, and the importance of time management.
Being ranked 17 out of all the countries is disappointing, especially considering we, as a nation, feels strongly about teaching each child, leaving no one behind regardless the child's situation. All the changes we are recently seeing as teachers and this added pressure is to ensure our students succeed, and achieve their highest potential. I believe there are other factors our country encounters more than others. We don't put as much emphasis on education as maybe we should..in class last week we discussed how unhealthy it was for a student to have so much pressure riding on them to achieve excellence. I feel as though schools and families in other countries are all working towards the same goal..Education comes first, second, and last. In the United States we don't always have that relationship and common goal, for example teachers are encouraging education is the way to success whereas some parents will go against schools and purely encourage being the best in sports. A perfect example is in the U.S. we tell our athletes in order to play their sport they must receive a "C" or higher, a "C' is just average, showing the student is getting through the class. Whereas other countries look at sports and the option to play isn't even a question unless you are continuously receiving an "A" average, and practices and games are not to interfere at all with studying. I believe teachers and parents should have the same goal so it is always being reinforced to the students. It is very common for athletes to get injured and then what happens to them? If they are not educated they have very few options to fall back on. What example are we showing students when they don't see a bond between education and family?
ReplyDelete