I had the completely opposite experience.
My lower education was full of teachers who didn't teach anything and just didn't care.
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Top Education Systems in the World Ranked by Pearson / The Economist
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I had the completely opposite experience.
My lower education was full of teachers who didn't teach anything and just didn't care.
killer rin
Member
Hey, we're doing better than the US, that's all that matters. Now that's out of the way, we go back to fixing Ontario.
Ace Harding
Member
Dood what the eff, USA is way gooder than that.
QuicheFontaine
Member
Something I have noticed as well.
The_Hitcher89
Member
Any other Brits here think that PE focusses too much on variety, and not enough on keeping kids fit?
ReBurn
Gold Member
I think that the US system is too disjointed. Federal government mandates minimum standards that states interpret however they see fit. Different states fund schools differently, leading to different levels of education quality in different areas of the country. Curriculum is not standard, much less consistent. Public funded post-secondary education is still prohibitively expensive for many people.
I'm surprised that the US is that high on the list.
I'm surprised that the US is that high on the list.
D
Deleted member 17706
Unconfirmed Member
It's called physical education not "fitness training."
It's supposed to teach physical skills, so having variety is important.
The biggest problem with kids getting fat is diet, anyway.
The_Hitcher89
Member
There was barely any focus on excercise in our curriculum though. They could surely at least combine the two?
Napalm_Frank
Member
yeess finnlands ist the bestest
TheRagnCajun
Member
Read, but wasn't going to reply.
Anecdotal, mostly. Although I agree about the limitations of standardized testing. I would theorize that too many are getting left behind in the US school system. This isn't about where the smartest, most innovative people in the world come from. Its about what countries are doing the best at setting a higher standard for everyone...as an average for the country.
We'd still be just as low on the list, the blue states isn't gonna help do much. By that I mean even taking away the red states the overall edcuation system in the U.S is still shit, i'm surprised we listed at all.
Edit:I agree with what gambit above me said.
You can thank the teacher's union for that.
Probably a cultural thing, but hearing "maths" bugs the hell out of me. It feels like someone saying "deers" or "gooses" to me.
fredrancour
Member
it's like, abbreviating "frankfurters" to "franks" is perfectly normal because "frankfurter is a noun that can be pluralized, but "mathematic" on its own isn't a noun, so there's no need to preserve the 's'
Edit: actual contribution: How do you make kids care more about learning? Part of educational success is getting off to a good start, so what teaching methods have been invented to convince children to care about things? Once a person starts consciously thinking "I suck at math" or "literature is stupid," you're never gonna change their opinions.
The_Hitcher89
Member
Wikipedia and everyone in England calls it Mathematics in its extended form, not Mathematic
D
Deleted member 17706
Unconfirmed Member
Why do you keep the 's' from the end when shortening the word? Would you shorten "Gymnastics" to "Gyms" or "Economics" to "Econs"?
In the US we say math. Britons say maths.
CyclopsRock
Member
The UK has, for the last 15 years, been routinely falling lower and lower in international standards. No idea what they were using to base this list on (I haven't read the article, obviously).
The_Hitcher89
Member
Econ and Econs sound as stupid as one-another
Guess saying Math/s just sounds natural by familiarity. Just because it doesn't make sense, it doesn't mean its incorrect
This. Yes the long for is Mathematics, but you don't add letters to the end of shortened words. It just sounds weird. Plus, it makes it sound plural, which sounds strange as well. You don't say "my favorite subject are mathematics".
D
Deleted member 17706
Unconfirmed Member
Econ and Econs sound as stupid as one-another
Guess saying Math/s just sounds natural by familiarity. Just because it doesn't make sense, it doesn't mean its incorrect
Of course not. I'm honestly fine with either when it comes to math/maths, but that's just because I've heard both quite a lot.
I just find it funny when either side tries to justify their preferred usage.
Earthstrike
Member
And let's not forget the GOP who actually put it in their texas platform that children should not be taught "critical thinking". Heaven forbid they come to examine the idiocy of the modern republican party.
It just bothers me to hear "maths". It really reminds me of that mentally challenged kid or kid with a speech impediment at school who can't say certain words correctly. Kind of like i said with "deers" or whatever. I know it's just a location thing and people in the UK are brought up with "maths".. it just sounds really awkward to me. I am in no way implying that people who use "maths" are mentally challenged or have speech impediments.. lol. It just reminds me of that, never hearing "maths" until recently over the internet.
CrunchyFrog
Member
Lot more people need to read this. Our lower education though is still majority fucked though, so many subpar teachers or good potential teachers who just can't live on the penny an hour wages that educators command in this day and age. Still don't understand why something as essential as lower education is so profoundly ignored. I'm also one of those who thinks that the current industrial-age system of packaged classes and rigid curriculum needs some overhaul to cater more to the individual, but that's gonna take a paradigm shift in cultural perception which won't happen anytime soon.
I feel that way about the educational system in the US. I feel that, unless you happen to get an amazing teacher who brings creativity and critical thinking to the class, it's all just meaningless memorization to pass tests. I also feel like they don't stress the importance of it enough, earlier on. You can sleep through K-12 and get a HS diploma. I honestly don't know how there are people who don't graduate aside from major problems at home that cause them to either drop out or cause them great amounts of stress and mental issues (like an abusive household or parents that aren't ever around, for example).
In my basic college-level english class, I had a great teacher. She brought us interesting assignments and challenged not only our grammar/language skills, but our thoughts on the subjects as well. I learned plenty from the class and aced it. For the next level up, I had a teach who was the exact opposite. He only taught by the guidelines, assigned meaningless busy-work and didn't foster any type of creativity. I barely passed that class (Honestly, I'm not sure why. I turned in all of the assignments and thought that they were decent, despite my complete lack of interest in the class).
The most impressive thing about Finnish education is the efficiency compared to the other top countries.
From what I've gathered Finnish students have a lot more free time than the ones from the top Asian countries and still manage to output similar results.
To me that would suggest that the Finnish system is far superior, and on top of that that the problems tokkun mentions don't exist in the same manner.
I'm not suggesting that there aren't any flaws, but they aren't very obvious compared to, for example, the Swedish educational system.
From what I've gathered Finnish students have a lot more free time than the ones from the top Asian countries and still manage to output similar results.
To me that would suggest that the Finnish system is far superior, and on top of that that the problems tokkun mentions don't exist in the same manner.
I'm not suggesting that there aren't any flaws, but they aren't very obvious compared to, for example, the Swedish educational system.
Do you sincerely believe the bullshit you post? if so...
CTRL-F United
CTRL-F United
WHY AIN'T MURCA #1 ON THE LIST
Tenure is the main thing that bothers me. When I was in high school we lost an amazing science teacher after his first year because a tenured teacher (a lazy, shitty one) wanted to come back.
CTRL-F United
WHY AIN'T MURCA #1 ON THE LIST
Tenure is the main thing that bothers me. When I was in high school we lost an amazing science teacher after his first year because a tenured teacher (a lazy, shitty one) wanted to come back.
IrrelevantNotch
Banned
Some of the countries on that list have some pretty backwards views towards women's rights. I wonder if they were docked points because of that.
WonkyPanda
Member
Doesn't the US have, unequivocally, the best higher education system in the world?
Admittedly, our lower education can be utter trash at times.
Admittedly, our lower education can be utter trash at times.
Canis lupus
Member
Belgium only 16th? Not cool.
billy beane
Banned
How many of these countries have freedom though? Only one: Amurica.
It's a bit more complicated than that.
While it's absolutely true that the US has most of the absolutely best universities in the world, you can look at the UK which also has quite some if you take into account the population differences.
I would guess that the variance of quality of education is higher in the US than in many other western countries though. (or maybe not, just basing this on what I know of the Nordic countries...)
And if you compare a 4 year university education in the US and in Sweden, they are very different. If you would go to a business school in Sweden (which used to be 4 years, now pretty much everything is 3 year BSc + 2 year MSc), you only take classes in business/economics/etc (unless you take extra classes in other subjects).
This usually means that an average person coming from the US to Sweden after only 4 years of college would most likely not be as qualified as his/her Swedish peers in the field.
That's what I've heard about Swedes going to an average American university for 4 years and then coming back.
You have to remember that's it's probably more common than not to take a year off, or even more, after you've finished your lower education in many countries, such as Sweden. So this doesn't mean that Americans are less qualified at a certain age at all.
However, If we look at higher higher education I'm pretty sure that the US would qualify as the absolute best.
Quantifying and comparing higher education overall is probably a lot harder than lower education.
edit: Correct me if I'm wrong on anything, some of it might just be speculation.
It's easily explained when you think about it. You can get all F's and pass through Elementary and Middle School. So then these kids who literally are nowhere near a high school level in English or Math are forced to actually pass standardized tests or the like to graduate.
And they just can't do it because they're too far behind to begin with.
Technosteve
Banned
and play Dota
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