Posted on 12/29/2004 11:51:07 AM PST by hsmomx3
Ten million for the lousy students. How about putting the 10 mil toward the really bright students who might go on to find a cure for cancer or write the great American novel or become President?
Sort of. Technically they come from a culture that puts a high value on work. Work, work, work - and lots of it.
That’s what Americans don’t understand. Americans think school is some place to send the kids while mom/dad work. A place to socialize and play and hopefully pick up a thing or two.
Asians typically view school as WORK. Their child has a JOB and it’s called school. They are expected to be enthusiastic, productive, eager little workers at their “job,” too.
I took a “walking tour” of Chinatown once. Chinese lady that led it was interesting. Talked about “Chinese life” and growing up in Chinatown (still works much the same today).
They’d start out with “regular” school at 8:30am. After school was over it was off to “Chinese” school until 6:30pm. They’d go home and while mom/grandma prepared dinner they’d study. Then they’d eat and go back to studying.
She said that even as a child in grade school, she cannot ever remember going to bed before midnight. Study, study, study.
Regular school was off on weekends but Chinese school was held on Saturdays. So not only is it viewed as a job, it’s a six day per week job and a darn-near all-day-long job.
This busy-busy all the time attitude doesn’t end when you graduate either. The lady leading the tours (on weekends) also owned a restaurant, a jewelry shop, a touristy gift shop, and sold real estate.
Anybody have any questions why you “average” semi-pro X-Box playing American doesn’t really *truly* want to compete against them? It’s because it’s too much WORK. Not enough leisure time to unwind… stuff like that. (And it hasn’t always been that way here, but that’s the way it is now from what I can see.)
I worked as a Kumon tutor for a few weeks, and I was not impressed. It seemed like more busy work to me, without any instruction.
< /sarcasm >
Isn't this counterproductive? The schools with the larger number of failing students get exta money. They will be rewarding the failure of these schools.
My daughter, we have discovered, is a potentially gifted pianist--she sat down after a month of piano lessons, and could play any song in her first-year and second-year books. My son, we also have discovered, is a gifted drummer. He can quickly pick up rhythms and patterns with surprising ease. We have also found that his talent translates into math. Once we showed him the connection, his math score soared.
The point is, genius or talent shows up in many places. Thomas Edison and Albert Einstein were both thought to be poor or troubled students, certainly not the "bright kids" you would fund. The list could go on and on.
I am not saying take money away from the "bright kids." I am saying do not write off the struggling students simply because someone labelled that child as such. Perhaps there is a genius among the rest as well.
So the answer is that Asian students do better at Asian math.
Do people of color consider Asians to be 'people of color', and therefore eligible for affirmative action, etc.?
No, recognizing and rewarding GOOD results is elitist.
If the kids are learning the math, it doesn't matter if there isn't much "instruction". I just finished a General Chemistry course at a state college. The instructor's lectures consisted of just reading off a bunch of pre-fab Powerpoint slides which were a skimpy outline of the textbook. Students sat quietly, reading the textbook (where all the important details were), reading books for other classes, and some actually napping. You were supposed to teach yourself Chemistry. The sooner kids develop the ability to self-teach and stop expecting someone else to do it for them, the better off they'll be -- not only in college, but especially if they go on into some field where constantly developing new knowledge (that no one else knows yet, so they can't teach you) is important.
Perhaps. However, when you have limited money you place your bets on those with the best odds.
It's too bad that all American public schools do not give as much attention to the needs of the higher end students as ours does.
That's not what I mean by instruction, obviously. It is an egregious example of how many college faculty don't know how to teach. Although college relies on students being able to teach themselves more than secondary and elementary school does, a skilled professional knows what people are likely to have trouble with and helps them over the rough sport with explanation and examples. This produces much better results.
My niece who was having learning problems in school used this method. Her parents worked with her for the last three years.
She went from failing grades to the honor roll. She has gained confidence and enjoys the challenges of school. I would not have believed how the program not only changed her ability to learn, but increased her social skills as well.
In my eyes, she is a Great American, even if she can't find a cure for cancer or become President of the United States, but she will make our Country a better place because of her ability to believe in herself.
Asians benefit from minority set asides in government contracting, SBA loans, etc. Most Asian social service agencies in New York and on the west coast have seminars on how to exploit Uncle Sugar.
ping
It's not so much the method as is the parental involvement and parental expectation of excellence. Fat American kids of the Me generation are told only to do things that "feel good" and their parents loathe having to do things like parenting or God forbid, weighting their kids down with heavy vibes like expectations man.
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