i am excited for this documentary!

well i am just way too glad tat I got a reli solid Chinese Education for my 1st four Elementary School years... Taught me enough math to last me until grade 11 without having to work at all in Canada LOL.

Then glad to have had sum slack public school days in Canada for my last 2 years of Elementary School. I reli did not work at all...It's amazing how easy it was.

Then went to crazy hardcore private boarding school... where everything went wrong and right at the same time. LOL. Wasnt the most academically challenging, but challenging enough for Canada with its AP system (which actually didnt come along until grade 11 anyways). However I must say, it's all thanks to the Western freedom to choose what you want and keep ur extracurricular, without tat I think I wud prob have killed myself. So I am glad I got tat VERY GLAD, because North American Education reli helped me find myself and where my true interest lies. DRAMA and LANGUAGE! gosh in china... ppl wud think it's a joke if u r smart enough to handle science but choose drama and language over science.

Then went to International School... which gave me quite a bit of slack partying time, but also turned me into a full legit TCK!

Then back to Boarding school...Oh APs..

In short, since all education systems basically...suck (yes I see it as the glass is half empty deal with it) ... it's nice to have tried them all and get the best out of every single one of them. ^-^

I have a question about this "world" part - is that supposedly representative of the world (which includes Africa and Europe) or just Asia?

I personally don't understand the culture of Africa and Europe that well since I've never spent any time there I wonder how that compares with the 2 mentioned here.

For me, I don't think any opinion can be formed unless the whole world can be taken into account. Perhaps they chose the most extreme but this shouldn't be conclusive of American's general education system. Sure, generally speaking there is probably a lack of some educational aspects that the American system has that the Indian or Chinese system doesn't and vice versa but to title the video as "American vs. World" I personally don't know if this is the best way to discuss American education in general.

(By the way, I recognized all the places they shot in the video of Shanghai! haha)

When there are villages in countries in africa that have a higher litteracy rate than an entire 1st world country, you know something's wrong ;-)

I agree with the video clip.

Putting culture aside, it come down to a question of who will be the most competative in the in the intenational community.

Maybe cheerleading and frat parties in HS and college was the way to go backin the 1950's where a HS diploma was just fine to make a good living, but in an economic enviroment where jobs and money can move freely across international borders, Americans need to make themself competative.

Many Americans still don't see the need to learn a second langauge and don't take into consideration that
they are competing with people all over the world who not only speak more than one language, including English and who also hold advanced degrees.

Also adding culture into the situation, I remeber reading a corporate memo that said that urged employers that it was better to hire foreigners (India and China) because culturally they were more dedicated to hard work, partied less, and did not have an attitide of "well its a free country".

The clip I assume chose students who were upper/middle class where life has been a party for most of their lives. The US has such deep class segregation that people can live their whole life without any meaningful inter-class interaction. However in places like India and China you can't go one day without having poverty stare you right in the face, even if you are upper/middle class.

I am nodding my head *nods *nods* as I am reading your comment. One thing I would add on to that is the myth I had of American parents. Like you said generally American parents expect their child to be out the door when they are 18 (ex. training them from young age how to make money on their own). I used to think that American children at age 18 become financially independent and that parents have no says in their children. Then, I am learning that many American parents still support their children financially one way or another and also give *advices* and words of *what to do* --not that this is bad. It's just that culturally they are different from what I am used to seeing.

Again it's a cultural difference, and depends somewhat on the Asian culture too.

American parents, depending again on their own respective cultures, generally figure that once their child is 18, they're out the door, nice to hear from them now and then, but it's all up to them.

Generalizing about Asians, one can suggest that the family is, again, more important than the individual. No matter what, a child is still a member of his/her family no matter how old he/she is. That means there are responsibilities.

In the US, a person doesn't necessarily have to support his/her parents once they retire, that's up to them. In Asian culture, it's often an obligation.

So in that sense, parental expectations of their kids also vary. In the US or similar Western countries it's more or less fire and forget and the person is responsible for their own success. In Asia there's a tendency among parents to feel that their kids' success is dependent and portraying of their ability as parents. The children too, are expected to be successful not as much for themselves as much as for their families, to support them and also to support their future families.

Someone else want to add something?

Brice, you've asked this sort of thing before. You have some special interest in the topic?

Good points from Dan and Miyon. :)

A few questions come to mind...

What do you think about the role of parental pressure and expectations in Asia v.s America?

Daniel, I like your point about the difference between the Chinese language and the European languages in written form. Language is never inseparable from the culture and that may be one of the reasons why Chinese education systems require more disciplines in writing (practice practice practice haha) and memorization.

Here's this video shared by a political science professor at my uni on where Americans stand in this global world :) It has some number comparison with China haha

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Judging from the trailer, there are significant aspects they don't seem to look at.

One is culture difference. The very structure of the Chinese language, and therefore its culture and education system, tends itself towards diligent memorization. You can't learn in Chinese without memorizing.

This, in comparison with European languages which use a smaller alphabet with a variety of combinations, tends itself to a more fluid learning process.

So simply comparing the time that students spend doesn't make a valid comparison.

I do believe that the US *high school* education system is generally not up to world standards. University education is another thing, as American universities generally have few peers for quality, adaptability, and services.

This is culture at play though, too. The US is a comparatively insular country. They generally don't have to worry about what happens outside their country for their survival or livelihood. Most other countries, do. However, this is increasingly less the case. America is important, and it's going to be more and more important that Americans learn to watch the rest of the world the way the world does them. At the moment, high school education painfully doesn't prepares them for that.

Since there are many factors to consider I can't narrow-minded say that this is true but I think the elite education in America (that so many students in other countries pursue) is done by private high schools. The literacy and reading rate in American public schools are relatively low and the education it gives has some downsides. (ex. Students rely on calculators while this is never the case in other countries).

But then what I saw as a benefit in American public schools is that students are given the time to explore who they are and develop their talents. This is not the case in many Asian countries because only academics is highly valued and the rest are neglected.

I see the balance between high school and college, though. In Asia, high school students are expected to study intensely to get into college and once they get in, the dedication to studies tends to decline. Whereas, in America high school students don't study as much but become more serious and dedicated to studies in college. Of course, there are still college students partying all the time ;)

To be honest, I sort of agree with them in the sense that Americans actually spend more time partying and such during high school. Australians don't seem to be that much different to be honest. I am one of the few who actually study, do homework etc etc every day after school!
Although, for all that we think that high school is nothing but a dream in America, American colleges are still some of the best in the world.