The Chinese and American Educational Systems - Essay Example

The Chinese and American Educational Systems Coming from China and having a one-year exchange student experience in a U.S. high school, I deeply recognize the differences between these two systems and draw the conclusion that every culture has its own advantage. Let me compare the Chinese and American educational systems from my experiences. Asian elementary through high schools pay more attention to academics than to extracurricular activities. This creates a competitive atmosphere that encourages everybody to develop him or herself intellectually as deeply as they can. Certainly kids under this system gain a much better academic knowledge. In the meanwhile, they lose a lot of fun, and that’s also a big part of school life, in my point of view. In China, only professional athletic students are on the sports team. In the U.S., almost everybody plays at least one sport. American schools offer sports that almost every student can play for competition and fun. At my U.S. high school, when it was my turn to join a sports team, I found out I couldn’t even try a lot of sports on the list. It was almost impossible to pass the try-outs, but I was still encouraged to join a sport. From birth, Asian children are told to be perfect, no matter how they feel about tasks, how much it costs, how long it takes. If you surveyed Chinese and American students, I bet most Chinese kids couldn’t name five things they like. They’re always resting in their spare time to relax from the overwhelming stress. American students work hard too, but seek fun instead of “perfecting” themselves. Extracurricular activities like drama, debate, and sports keep American students busy and teach us about more than just academics. My schedule is full of AP classes, but compared with 13 hours of classroom work a day in a Chinese high school, I don’t feel much pressure. After growing up in my academic-oriented culture, I find it’s pretty easy for me to get on the honor roll or scholar’s list in my American high school. There are diligent American kids who get a higher GPA than I do, of course. And worldwide, high school students who win creativity contests are always Americans. So I deem the U.S. educational system is as effective as the Asian system, just in a different way. Cultural values in the United States encourage equality in the educational system, as a general rule. In the U.S., people hold different political ideologies: liberal or conservative. People may be from different races: White, African-American, Hispanic, Asian or Native American. People may tolerate or speak against different things: abortion, gay marriage. But they all believe in the equality of opportunities. Everybody who wants to achieve higher education can succeed in college with diligence. In countries like India and Pakistan, class origin decides a person’s destiny. Private schools there are sumptuous and public schools are miserable. Only rich kids can go to college. The potential for equality is there in American high schools, even if there are places where inequality occur. If the American educational system is characterized as ineffectual for its lower level of academic knowledge, then the Asian system should be labeled as lacking creativity. If some consider the American system unequal, they have only to look at many other places where there is no opportunity for equality. No system is perfect. But the educational system in the United States is neither inequitable nor ineffectual. Read More