Individualism. How important is it in our student's education? Collectivism. Do students learn more if they are in a collectivism culture? Do test really show if the student has mastered the topic?
I read a contemplative article written by Diane Ravitch titled "The Myth of Chines Super Schools". In her article she explained how the Chines students were scoring higher on their Program for International Student Assessment, than the American children. Arne Duncan, Secretary of Education could not figure out why American students were scoring just average on the test. He and policymakers thought that if they gave our students more testing it would help the students score higher on the PISA. Suffice to say it did not help. As I read, my first thought was, why do we have to be better than another country? Why can't we help the students be the best versions of them? It went on to say that the Chines student lost their creativity and originality.
If I had a Chinese student in my classroom how would I teach? What if they are not comfortable with individualism? These and many other questions started to surface while reading the article. I think to encourage individualism is a great idea but we also need a balance of collectivism. I think of church. We are all on our own, individual path to live with our Heavenly Father again, but we need our ward, branches and our family to help us to become loving and patient like Christ. This topic will have me thinking for days!
What are your thoughts about this topic?
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