Methods Of Education: East Versus West

UNIT 2

A.              A teacher from a Western country recently visited an elementary school in an Asian country. In one class, she watched sixty young children as they learned to draw a cat. The class teacher drew a big circle on the black board, and sixty children copied it in on their papers. The teacher drew a smaller circle on top of the first and then put two triangles on top of it. The children drew in the same way. The lesson continued until there were sixty-one identical cats in the classroom. Each student’s cat looked exactly like the one on the board.

B.               The visiting teacher watched the lesson and was surprised. The teaching methods were very different from the way of teaching in her own country. A children’s art lesson in her own country produced a room full of unique pictures, each one completely different from others. Why? What causes this difference in educational methods? In a classroom in any country, the instructor teaches more than art or history or language. He or she also teaches culture (the ideas and beliefs of that society). Each educational system is a mirror that reflects the culture of the society.

C.               In a society such as the United States or Canada, which has many national, religious, and cultural differences, people highly value individualism – the differences among people. Teachers place a lot of importance on the qualities that make each student special. The educational systems in these countries show these values. Students do not memorize information. Instead, they work individually and find answer themselves. There is often discussion in the classroom. At an early age, students learn to form their own ideas and opinions.

D.              In most Asian societies, by contrast, the people have the same language, history, and culture. Perhaps for this reason, the educational systems in much of the Orient reflects society’s belief in group goals and purposes rather than individualism. Children in China, Japan, and Korea often work together and help one another on assignments. In the classroom, the teaching methods are often very formal. The teacher lectures, and the students listen. There is not much discussion. Instead, the students recite rules or infomation that they have memorized.

E.               There are advantages and disadvantages to both of these systems of education. For example, one advantage to the system in Japan is that students there learn much more math and science than American students learn by the end of high school. They also study more hours each day and more days each year than North Americans do. The system is difficult, but it prepares students for a society that values discipline and self-control. There is, however, a disadvantage. Memorization is an important learning method in Japanese schools, yet many students say that after an exam, they forget much of the information that they have memorized.

F.                The advantage of educational system in North America, on the other hand, is that students learn to think for themselves. The system prepares them for society that values creative ideas. There is, however, a disadvantage. When students graduate from high school, they haven’t memorized as many basic rules and facts as students in other countries have.

Exercise I

Getting the Main Ideas

Answer the questions according to the reading selection. Which statements apply to which system of education? Write W (Western) or A (Asian). Don’t look back at the reading.

1.    The teacher draws pictures that the children copy exactly.

2.    Each child draws a different pictures; the teacher helps individuals.

3.    The society value individualism highly.

4.    Students have to find information themselves, and there is a lot of discussion.

5.    Most of the people in the country have the same language, history, and culture.

6.    Students listen to the teacher and memorize information and rules.

7.    The system prepares students for a society that values discipline.

Exercise 2

Guessing Meaning from Context

Find the meanings of the bolded words in the sentences.

1.    A children’s art lesson produced a room full of unique pictures, each one completely different from the others.

2.    The instructor also teaches the culture (the ideas and beliefs of society).

3.    People highly value individualism – the differences among people.

4.    Most Asian societies value discipline, or self-control.

5.    The teacher drew a big circle on the blackboard, and the children copied it. Then she drew a smaller circle, and the class drew it the same way.

6.    The teaching methods were very different from the way of teaching in her country.

Exercise 3

Understanding Reading Structure

A.  Paragraphs divide reading material into topics. In the selection at the beginning of the chapter, there are letters next to the six paragraphs each of which is usually about the topic. Match the paragraphs with their topics and write the letters of the paragraph.

1. How Western school systems reflect the value of individualism.

2. The advantages and disadvantages of the North American system.

3. Reasons for differences in educational systems.

4. How Asian school systems reflect group goals.

5. Introduction: A classroom in an Asian country.

6. The advantages and disadvantages of Asian methods of education.

B. A reading may express one main idea. The main idea is the most important idea of the      reading: it sums up the topics and the ideas of all the paragraphs. Bold the main idea of the reading selection.

1. In elementary schools in Asia, children copy pictures of cats from the blackboard.

2. There are advantages and disadvantages to different Educational systems, which

    reflect culture.

3. In a society such as the United States or Canada, teachers value individualism highly.

4. Students from Japan can memorize information better than students from United States can.