Catching Up or Leading the Way: American Education in the Age of Globalization . by Yong Zhao. Select a link to read sample content. Premium and Select.
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- Catching Up or Leading the Way: American Education in the Age of Globalization by Yong Zhao
- “Catching Up or Leading the Way: American Education in the Age of Globalization” - Yong Zhao
Science advances on the back of art, and vice versa. They are all part of the same thing. To rephrase Fred, science and art eat the same food. Remember the example of the falling apple a few moments ago? The main reason for most companies moving American jobs to other countries is not because scientific and technical work forces elsewhere are superior to ours: It is because they are cheaper!
Globalization is about profit. Very little of this push for science is about improved American scientific capability: Globalization, the drive for maximized profits, has delivered millions of jobs to other countries. And that same relentless push for profit combined with corporate leadership turned greedership, has put our economy in that ungilded tank we unceremoniously refer to as the crapper.
Globalization is a word for the maximization of profits by finding places to get tax breaks, lower manpower costs, or both. Recently we have seen where the unregulated, never-ending search for profit takes the world. In what is largely sociopolitical baloney, many of our political leaders at all levels of government bray about the importance of teachers and fixing our education system.
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If sincere, how come we treat our educators like fecal matter? People who purport to support education whinge: Okay, teachers do have summers off. They also work nights and weekends. And their employers require them to continually upgrade their educations — mostly on their own dime and on their own time. In most systems teachers have students per class — as many as a day, kids with little socialization from their families, kids looking to visit violence on each other, and so on, ad nauseum.
We support teachers and education? This is no more than lip service, bumper-sticker philosophy, and hot-air citizenship. The United States once was a country that walked our talk. Now we jay-walk and double-talk, and proclaim it serious thought. Thank You for the post. I love to read interesting post that has knowledge to impart.
I hope to read more articles from you and in return I will post also my articles in the forum so that others can benefit from it. Keep up the good work! I really enjoyed this, keep it up!
A truely hearty account of what the U. If the author had gained no hands-on experience of the education in the East such as China and the West such as the United States and had lacked wisdom and insights about the weaknesses and strenghs of Chinese and US education,this book would not have been made possible.
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What he has proposed is the dream path of education not only for the United States but also for any country beyond it, I believe. You can lead the way, cath up, or stay in the middle way. Zhao, I heard you speak at a leadership conference for independent schools in October and was so inspired I bought your book, which I enjoyed enormously. Perhaps I am biased being the Director of a Waldorf school , but I beleive a Waldorf education is one of the success stories in education today.
If you want a good read that will make you think, pick up Catching up or leading the way. Spring break gives me a good opportunity to reflect again on your presentation. Thank you for your consideration and help. American Education in the Age of Globalization: American education is at a crossroads. There are two paths in front of us: Add your comment below, or trackback from your own site.
You can also subscribe to these comments via RSS. Mail will not be published required. You can use these tags: This is a Gravatar-enabled weblog. To get your own globally-recognized-avatar, please register at Gravatar. Introduction to my new book: Side Effects in Education. Education in the Age of Smart Machines: Presentation at the City Club of Cleveland.
What Brexit and U. Top 5 Mistakes in Ed Tech. Shifting the Mindset about Education Inequality. Different Incarnations of Personalization. Creative, Entrepreneurial, and Global: Two paths lie in front of us: The current push for more standardization, centralization, high-stakes testing, and test-based accountability is rushing us down the first path, while what will truly keep America strong and Americans prosperous should be the latter, the one that cherishes individual talents, cultivates creativity, celebrates diversity, and inspires curiosity.
Dec 16, Chase Parsley rated it it was amazing. Wow, what a refreshing perspective on education in America today! Yong Zhao, who grew up in China and is a professor in the United States, writes a mind-bending account of the dangers of increased "accountability", standards, and all of the other magic bullets associated with the current education reform movement. Despite honest intentions, it is an outrage what the education reform movement is doing today.
Catching Up or Leading the Way: American Education in the Age of Globalization by Yong Zhao
Some of my favorite points include: Amazingly, countries in Asia are starting to realize these crucial points while the United States foolishly is falling towards to Asian Tiger Mom model, which is great for making factory workers but little else. In summary, this book ought to required reading for anyone involved in the politics of education. Yong brilliantly articulated much of the frustration I have felt about education reform, and I applaud him.
It is time to stop squaring the circle for our kids. Mar 27, Erik Akre rated it really liked it Recommends it for: Current policy in education in but continuing currently will eventually--and especially if strengthened--make the United States less competitive in the global age, because it will squelch the creativity of American children. This he says is now the trait that really matters in an accomplished learner. Zhao looks to China especially in his writing as an example of how testing and standardization have continually turned out a population of good test-takers who are also low-ability and low-f Current policy in education in but continuing currently will eventually--and especially if strengthened--make the United States less competitive in the global age, because it will squelch the creativity of American children.
Zhao looks to China especially in his writing as an example of how testing and standardization have continually turned out a population of good test-takers who are also low-ability and low-function, unhappy and far less creative than the graduates in the United States. Zhao impresses upon us just how much globalization is changing, and has changed, the world. He argues that children should be allowed to unfold their unique interests and talents. To him, standardization is the ultimate in myopic education policies.
Many children do not excel in left-brain skills, and it appears that right-brain skills will be in higher demand in the new economy of the world. The argument is a compelling one, although not new. Zhao puts a very practical spin on it, addressing the need for the U. Between the lines, though, one can easily see many more benefits to releasing our young learners from the straight-jacket of standardized education. Nov 22, Jamie rated it really liked it Shelves: This is a important book to read. It got me a bit fired up. The content is timely — education reform and international comparison — and Zhao is particularly qualified to speak to the relative merits of the Chinese vs.
The path we are on, he argues, is not a good one, and I have to agree. Just as we are moving towards national standards and accountability, the Chinese are trying to move away from it - and to emulate more American methods of education which emphasize critical thinking, creativity and problem-solving. Chinese education, he argues, produces engineers who are great test-takers but can't engineer anything. American education, he argues, has produced great innovation and our current efforts at reform threaten to destroy everything that is great about what we do.
Mar 16, Nancy rated it really liked it. A strong, well-developed argument for changing course in education "reform" in America. Published four years ago, right after Obama was elected, I was surprised to see how prescient the book is in describing the persistence of a wrong-headed, government-sponsored grand theory of how to "fix" education in the U.
The book would be a great overview for anyone who hasn't been deeply immersed in education policy and change. Yong Zhao's global pers A strong, well-developed argument for changing course in education "reform" in America. Yong Zhao's global perspectives--identifying what a truly forward-thinking education would look like--are especially strong, but there are useful chapters describing how we got to where we are.
I found the preface a great overview and the final chapter heartbreaking. Nov 16, Elin rated it really liked it Shelves: I just can't bring myself to give 5 stars to non-fiction - I can't imagine I'll ever like it that much. But I did enjoy this and it was a pretty quick easy read with some interesting points.
I am very much looking forward to talking to some of my friends who know more about China then I do. I am especially interested in his assertion that standardized testing is what caused China to stop inventing. Feb 16, Sue Lyle rated it really liked it. This is a fascinating read by a Chinese man brought up in china and now an academic in the west. He identifies why china wants to be more like the US and way the US wants to be more like china.
His critique with Evidence and personal experience to support his argument claims that america is doing well In education and china is not. It is the US that is producing the critical thinkers, the creative minds, the innovative scientists and entrepreneurs - not china. It is the US that wins the Olympics This is a fascinating read by a Chinese man brought up in china and now an academic in the west. It is the US that wins the Olympics in Nobel prizes - not china.
When my own UK government is bringing Chinese teachers of mathematics here to train our teachers how to do it this book is a wake-up call to recognise that high scores on international tests like PISA is not the best guide to how successful an education system is. May 06, David Rickert rated it really liked it. The beginning part of this book was pretty dry - a bunch of statistics on testing in China and America and where both countries have gone astray in their educational systems. Once Zhao begins to analyze the skills that are needed to thrive in a global economy, it turned into a pretty captivating read.
There are a lot of skills that we definitely need to teach kids in order for them to thrive today, and a lot of them deal with being able to navigate the virtual world. One I'd definitely like to r The beginning part of this book was pretty dry - a bunch of statistics on testing in China and America and where both countries have gone astray in their educational systems. One I'd definitely like to read again, and a book that gave me some other titles to check out. Sep 23, Sheila rated it really liked it Shelves: I thought Zhao was interesting when he wrote about the fear and anger that surrounds this conversation.
I enjoyed his philosophical overview but for me he became too generalized by the middle of the book. I liked the cross-cultural comparison between China and the United States and it helped me to reflect on my own experiences growing up in Ireland. You'll have to buy me a guinness to get more from me about that! Oct 09, Zeni rated it it was amazing.
Zhao only summarizes education reform over the past few decades, and how the current standards movement has decreased our students ability to succeed in a global world. This is contradictory to what public opinion thinks. Most people are under the impression that the United States is behind in education, and that we are not preparing our students.
“Catching Up or Leading the Way: American Education in the Age of Globalization” - Yong Zhao
According to Zhao, the opposite is true. If you have ANY interest in education, read this book! Oct 07, Jane rated it really liked it Shelves: The great part of the book is its accurate critique of the culture of testing and how American schools still excel over others in terms of fostering individuals and creativity, critical thinking. Clear examples of how Chinese and other systems are NOT better and in fact are trying to emulate us to get away from testing.
His remedies concentrate on global thinking and aren't as clear as his case against top-down dictating of standards and tests unless it is a narrow band of standards Jan 02, Katie rated it really liked it. If you are an American educator you really should read this book- it took me a long time to absorb the content but it is a great perspective from a Chinese educated MSU professor on why we may not really want to set up our system to imitate China's.
He gives very compelling and rational examples while making his points. Dec 09, Seth rated it liked it Shelves: Zhao works from the perspective that the goal of education is to ensure that the most potential is realized. The American system has its weaknesses, but probably does not do well to focus on improving test scores. Asian countries with the high test scores narrow their talent pools too early and end up with a less creative, less motivated workforce. Jan 21, Spacek Kim rated it it was amazing.
Zhao pulls no punches in laying out the type of education system needed in the United States. Educators understand the need to teach to the whole child, however, politically education has shifted to narrow the curriculum to few subjects. Students are doing amazing things and the sooner education enters the digital age, the better able students will be to live in out emerging world.
Apr 24, Irene rated it it was amazing. Great book with lots of convincing arguments in favor of un-standardizing and against high-stakes testing. The author's cultural insights into American philosophy is poignant, and I believe he answered a lot of unanswerable questions. Feb 23, Sydney Lewis rated it really liked it. Great perspective on the future of education in America. Really interesting book I read for my education class.
Makes me feel a lot more concrete in my goal of becoming a teacher: Oct 07, Burt Lo rated it really liked it Shelves: Enjoyed the anecdotes in the book. Apr 05, Mocamom added it. This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.