WHAT WHY AND HOW IN AMERICAN SCHOOLSWord文件下载.docx
- 文档编号:6803692
- 上传时间:2023-05-07
- 格式:DOCX
- 页数:24
- 大小:37.18KB
WHAT WHY AND HOW IN AMERICAN SCHOOLSWord文件下载.docx
《WHAT WHY AND HOW IN AMERICAN SCHOOLSWord文件下载.docx》由会员分享,可在线阅读,更多相关《WHAT WHY AND HOW IN AMERICAN SCHOOLSWord文件下载.docx(24页珍藏版)》请在冰点文库上搜索。
“CultureMatters,”ChinaLectureTour
November,2013
Dr.PhilipC.Holtrop
InthislectureIwanttodothreethings.
(1)IwanttogiveanoverviewofAmericanelementary,secondary,andhighereducation,andgetatthemaingoals,concerns,challenges,andtrends.
(2)IwanttocompareandcontrastthiswithChineseeducation,andcommentonwhatmightbehelpfulinbothcountries.And(3),Iwanttosuggestwhy“Christian”privateschoolsmakesenseinAmericansocietytoday.Mypurposeistoinformandraiseissuesinyourminds,butnottoprescribehowyoushoulddothingsinChina.Thatwouldbepresumptuous—andthatisthechallengethatyouhavetofaceyourselves.
I.GENERALCOMMENTSONAMERICANEDUCATION
ElementaryandSecondaryEducation
Someinitialfactsattheheartofeverything—theAmericandiversity
Solet’sstartatthispoint—whichmaybeinterestingalreadyformanyChinesepeople.InAmerica,therearefiftystategovernmentsandmorethan14,000localstatedistricts,whicharelargelyresponsibleforeducationalprograms.Sothereisanimmensevariety.Somecoursesarerequiredbystateanddistrictlaws,andsome“electives”(orchoicesforstudents)areavailabletomeettheindividualstudent’sneedsanddesires.Sothatintroducesevenmorediversity.
Let’stakethreeimaginarytenthgrade,first-semesterstudents—“Ann,”“Bob,”and“Cheryl.”Annwantstogotocollegeafterhighschoolbuthasnomorespecificgoals.Soshetakes,perhaps,English10,Chemistry,Trigonometry,Spanish,PoliticalScience,ComputerProgramming,andPhysicalEducation.That’sagoodprogramfor“generalcollege.”Bob,however,wantstogotocollegeandknowsalreadythathewantstoteachhandicappedchildrenaftercollege.HetakesEnglish10,WorldHistory,Algebra,ExpositoryWriting,Psychology(ChildDevelopment),“Record-keeping,”andMusic.Thatcovershisbasicrequirements,butithasmorefocusthanAnn’sprogram.Cherylhasn’tdecidedifshewantsajoborcollegeafterhighschool.ShetooistakingEnglish10,Accounting,Mathematics,BasicScience,Geography,Health,andTeamSports.Thiscoversseveralbasicrequirements,butisa“softer”setofcoursesthantheprogramsofAnnandBob.
Nowcomesabigquestion.Whatalotofchoice!
SowhydoAmericanstudentstakesuchdifferentprograms?
Howcantheircommonachievementsbemeasuredandcomparediftheircoursesaresodifferent?
Dotheyhaveanysharedgoals?
Heretherearetwoverycrucialpointshere.
(1)Americadoesnothaveanationalsystemofeducation,buteachstate,orlocality,decidesitsownstandards.Someofthesearegood,verygood,andsomearenot.And
(2)eachindividualisexpected—byGod,society,orbothofthem—tobehisorherownunique,individualself.Heorsheisequaltoallother“selves,”butisalsoaspecialindividualinsociety.Andthatbringsusto...
The“Americanexperiment”inelementaryandsecondaryschools
InAmericatoday,therearemorethan82millionstudentsin150,000schools—withclassesfivedaysaweek,fivetosixhoursaday,fromSeptemberthroughMay,and“extracurricular”activitiesoutsidetheregularschoolhours.Summervacationsarefromearly-ormid-June,throughJulyandAugust—showingtheoriginal“roots”ofAmericanfrontierandruralsociety.Youngpeoplehadtohelp“carveouttheland”or“workthefarms”inthesummertimes.AndsoyougetlongersummervacationsthaninChina.
Whatthenwasthe“Americanexperiment”?
Theexperimentwastoeducateanentirenation,withaverydiverse
population(immigrantsfrommanylands),andtoattainuniversalliteracy,withtheknowledgeandskillsnecessarytopromoteindividualwelfareandthegeneralpublicgood.The“experiment”wastoattainthegoalsofresponsiblecitizenshipforallpeople.Neverbeforehadthisbeentriedinthehistoryoftheworld.Thefinalaimwasactiveparticipationandcivicresponsibilityinsociety—forall.Inademocracy,thepeoplearenottaughtfirstofalltoobeyauthorities,buttothinkforthemselves,andtoanalyzeissues,andtomakedistinctcontributions.TheresultinAmericatodayisthatabout99%ofourpeopleare“basically”literate—althoughsomearewhatwecall“functionallyilliterate.”Inthepastdecades,thevastincreaseofmigrantworkers—especiallyfromMexico—hasincreasedthispercentageof“functionalilliterates.”Somemaybeabletoreadstreetsignsandnewspapers,butnottofilloutjobapplicationsandotherforms.
About85%ofAmericanstudentsattendpublicschools(supportedbytaxpayers),andmorethan10%attendreligiously-sponsored,orparentalprivateschools(notcoveredbypublictaxes)—andmostoftherestattendprivateeliteschoolsorare“home-schooled”(about2%).Fouroutoffiveprivateschoolsarerunbychurches,synagogues,orotherreligiousgroups,andsomereligiousteachingsarepartofthecurriculum,whichalsoincludesstate-requiredcoursesinreading,math,history,geography,andscience.Specialreligiousinstructionisnotgiveninpublicschools,butakindofgeneral“civilreligion”maybetaught—insomecasesverystrongly.PrayerandBiblestudymaybeprohibitedonpublicschoolgrounds.Butagain,thesepracticesvaryfromstatetostateorcommunitytocommunity.Mostoften,thelocalboardsdecidetheschoolcurriculums,teacherstandards,salaries,andmethodsofmeasuringstudentprogress....Andthatbringsmeto...
Therequirementsandcontentof“primaryandsecondaryeducation”
Somestatelawsaresimilarinthe50states,butsomearevery,verydifferent.Allchildrenareguaranteed13yearsofeducation,iftheyortheirparentswish,regardlessofrace,religion,sex,olearningdisabilities,physicalhandicaps,orlimitedcompetenciesinEnglish.Somestatesdecideontextbooks,whileothersleavethattolocalcommunities.Practicallyallschoolsfocusoncivicandsocialconcernsorresponsibilities—andespeciallythebasicrequirementsforbeinga“goodcitizen,”forvotingresponsibly,orparticipatinginsociety,ormakingcontributionstoit.
ElementaryschoolsareusuallyKthroughgrade8,butsometimesK-6—andsometimesgrades4,5,and6makeupa“middle”gradeorelementaryschool.Secondaryschoolsaregenerally9-12(“highschool”),andsometimesgrades7-8or7-9arecalled“juniorhighschool.”Whilethereisnonationalcurriculum,thereisageneralagreementor“consensus”onmainsubjects.Thestateeducationalagencieshaveconstantcontactswitheachother.
Inelementaryschoolsthemainsubjectsaremath,language(reading,grammar,composition,literature);
penmanship,science,socialstudies(orhistory,geography,citizenship,economics);
music,art,physicaleducation;
andtheuseofcomputersandotherelectronicaids.Sometimesasecondlanguageisofferedintheupperelementarygrades.InsecondaryschoolsthemainsubjectsareEnglish,math,science,socialstudies,andphysed—butschoolboardsdifferonotherrequirements.Commonlytheyincludeaforeignlanguage(Spanish,French;
Latin,Chinese,German;
orArabic,orJapanese).Manyelectivesareavailable—especiallyspecializedacademicandvocationalsubjects,withafocusoneitherliberalartsorpracticaljob-courses.Thereareotheroptionsforspecialneedsordesires—foreignlanguages,advancedmath,science;
world(orregional)history;
businesseducation,industrialtrades;
musicperformance;
marriagetraining,homecare;
andthelike.Drivereducation,shop,woodworking,andothervocationalskillsmaybeofferedinsomeschoolsduringregularschoolhours,inafter-schoolclasses,orinsummercourses....AndnowIwanttotalkabout...
Acurrentconcernandshiftingaccent
Inmanyschools,electivesandevenrequiredcoursesaremovingawayfrom“academicsubjects”topracticaljob-orientedareas—likecomputerscience,officework,mechanics,agriculture,orvarioustrades.Sincethe1960sand-70sthetrendistooffermorechoicesandsometimesto“givestudentswhattheywant”—butthishasseemedtobelinkedwiththesteadydeclineofAmericanstudents’averagescoresinstandardizedtests,especiallyinmathematics,reading,andscience.Collegescomplainthathighschoolgraduatesoftenneedremedialworkinreading,math,andwriting,orcomposition.Somecriticssaythat13-15percentofAmerica’s17-year-oldsarenow“functionallyilliterate”—orunabletodealwithdemandsofreadingprintedinstructionsandfillingoutjobapplicationforms.
Still,manytodayaredefending“vocational”and“technical”education,withanaccentonthe“practicalvalue”ofthesethingsfor“reallife.”Themainquestion,however,isWhatdoesitmeantolive?
—ortobeafullhumanbeing?
Doesastudenttruly“live”whenheorsheknowsthetechnicalskillsnecessaryto“makemoney”and“holdajob”?
Oristhisaseriousformof“reductionism”?
Doesitseeallrealityorexperiencethoughthelensesofonehumanfunction—namely,thepragmaticfunctionof“earningmoney”?
Istherefinallyaprofounddifferencebetween“learningtomakealivingandlearningtoliveafulllife?
Istheremoreto“life”thantheeconomicorcognitiveskillsnecessarytolive—forexample,theabilitytocount,move,interactwithotherhumansorphysicalobjects,ortosee,touch,feel,orformimpressions,andexpressoneselfsocially?
Whataboutthefurtheraestheticorsocialdimensionsofappreciatingart,beauty,orsuffering,tragedy,ormusic,orthe“science”involvedinwriting,orreallyhearingasymphonyoropera—ortryingtowriteapoem?
Whataboutap
- 配套讲稿:
如PPT文件的首页显示word图标,表示该PPT已包含配套word讲稿。双击word图标可打开word文档。
- 特殊限制:
部分文档作品中含有的国旗、国徽等图片,仅作为作品整体效果示例展示,禁止商用。设计者仅对作品中独创性部分享有著作权。
- 关 键 词:
- WHAT WHY AND HOW IN AMERICAN SCHOOLS