L. Walker
English 101 MW5pm
10/6/2011
Education Systems Around The World
The United States excels in the creative aspect of schooling whereas Chinese students are much better at receiving direct instruction. Japanese students have very high test scores and a very high university attendance, but in Australia more students go into vocational schools or the workforce after high school. (Noel 99,102,103)The differences of education systems in the United States, China, Japan and Australia have created testable strengths and weaknesses. No country has found a perfect balance but each system has evolved to create workers suited to its respective nation.
The United States is predominantly influenced by creativity but not as strongly in math and science. Expansions upon creative thought have brought in new products introduced to the market. (Noel, 36) In U.S. President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address, Obama emphasizes the importance of specialized creative schools and additional funding of the arts in K-12 public schools, which was spelled out in his the “Reinvestment of Arts Education” Plan. Obama states, “The first step in winning the future is encouraging American innovation. None of us can predict with certainty what the next big industry will be or where the new jobs will come from. Thirty years ago, we couldn’t know that something called the internet would lead to an economic revolution. What we can do –– what America does better than anyone else –– is spark the creativity and imagination of our people. But if we want to win the future then we also have to win the race to educate our kids… And so the question is whether all of us –– as citizens, and as parents –– are willing to do what’s necessary to give every child a chance to succeed.” (Noel, 65) The U.S. President sees the specialization, the pronounced freedom of creativity that America has been able to maintain for many years and how they have benefitted from it.
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