An American Way of Thinking

Every few years or so, an organization publishes a report on the American educational system, saying that the United States is falling farther and farther behind in the world as a result of its underrigorous, uncompetitive education.  We are consistently compared to nations such as China and Japan, and we pale in comparison.  In my language arts class, we were asked to write an essay in class about how the United States educational system fosters social responsibility and democracy in its students based on John Dewey's views of schooling, but it seems to me that the more important thing is to encourage creative thinking and problem solving, which the United States does to some degree already.

My youth pastor's sister-in-law is a teacher in China, and as an American in a foreign country, it was interesting -- no, more than interesting -- to hear her perspective on the Chinese mindset.  My mother and I were talking to her, and she mentioned that in China, finals begin in kindergaten.  Kindergaten?  My finals are this coming week, and I feel as though I could sink under their pressure.  I'm not sure that kindergaten should be so crucial to a child in such an obvious way.  The teacher said that the children begin to learn English, math, and history in kindergaten, putting them years ahead of our own students.  From this early age, Japanese and Chinese students are drilled in facts, making them exceptional mathematicians and scientists.  The very last thing the American teacher said was that her Chinese students find it difficult to look at an academic problem and come up with a unique solution based on their knowledge.  This carries up the educational ladder in China.  In my math class, it is commonly known that there will be a problem on the test that you will not know how to do.  It is similarily expected that you man up and figure out a way to do the problem, orthodox or not.  In my teacher's words, "It says advanced on the door."

I can't help but wonder if all this problem solving might come in handy some day.  I want to be a research scientist in the field of microbial genetics, and I am excited to go study it in college.  Not for the opportunity to simply know more, but for the opportunity to build a foundation on which a house of experience will be erected later.  If I only know facts, there is no way I could ever begin to think outside of the box. 

For a long time, Americans have been creative.  Our ancestors tamed this country; pioneers, miners, homesteaders, politicians, factory workers, and entrepreneurs.  These people, their experiences, are encoded in our genetic code through our parents and their stories, our grandparents and their memories.  We were born with innate creative ability, and it shows in our entire society, especially in our education.

If we change anything about our educational system, it should to make it even more American.  There is no need to make it more rigid and less open.  That is not who we are as a people, as nation.  Americans need to realize that despite their faults, they are a creative, resourceful population, and that may be one of their few really redeeming qualities.  Suffocate that, and we lose the good part of us.