Education: East Versus West

This week there was a story on NPR (Click for article) about how Asia (specifically China and Japan) and the United States approach student learning differently.

Jim Stigler, a UCLA psychology professor who has extensively studied this topic, identifies the key difference between Asia and United States as to what extent students are expected to struggle in school.

“I think that from the very early ages we in America see struggle as an indicator that you’re just not very smart. It’s a sign of low ability. People who are smart don’t struggle. They just naturally get it; that’s our folk theory. Asian cultures tend to see struggle more as an opportunity. In Eastern cultures, it’s just assumed that struggle is a predictable part of the learning process. Everyone is expected to struggle in the process of learning, and so struggling becomes a chance to show that the student has what it takes emotionally to resolve the problem by persisting through that struggle. They’ve taught them that suffering can be a good thing.” 

There has been much research and recommendations, e.g., Carol Dweck and Paul Tough, about the benefits of teachers and parents in the United States emphasizing work ethic over innate intelligence.  

It does seem that the pendulum of American education is slowly moving from its emphasis on achievement (product) to include more room for effort (process).

Still, more can and should occur. 

The over-arching goals of education are the development of a student's intellect, character, and social skills, yet these can be broken down into more specific needs, including students:

• Learning and mastering a core set of knowledge, skills, concepts, and procedures

• Developing a sense of self confidence and assurance even when facing hardships and challenges

• Developing habits that will help them be better students and eventually effective, contributory members of the workforce

• Developing communication (oral and written), problem solving (creative and analytical), and collaboration skills

The question for American education is whether or not these goals are best developed in students through a supportive, nurturing system that minimizes student difficulty and maximizes student self-esteem or one that pushes kids more, letting them learn through struggles and even frustration.

A number of year ago, I was observing a classroom in Ghana, Africa. Students were assessed by one-at-a time answering basic information they were asked to memorize at home. Whenever a student answered incorrectly, the teacher would berate—even humiliate—the student. As an American educator, I was shocked at how poorly he was treating his students. I felt he was destroying their self-confidence and self-esteem. Later when we talked about this, he told me that unlike American kids, Ghanaian students had scant opportunities to continue their studies in high school--let alone college. They couldn’t afford any missteps. When I also asked him why he was requiring only basic rote memorization answers and was not allowing his students to be more creative and imaginative, he responded that if they did not pass the high school entrance exam, which consisted of basic factual recall questions he was asking them in class, his students would not have the opportunity to attend high school. That day I learned that my (and his) beliefs as a teacher were shaped by the culture I had been educated, lived, and now taught in.

While changing a country’s culture is exceedingly difficult, the research does indicate that we in America need to give students more opportunities to struggle in academics. 

Countries like China and Japan recognize that their schools are not succeeding in developing creative, imaginative, and individualistic students, and they are looking to the Western educational system for guidance. 

In the same way, we need to look to the Chinese and Japanese educational system as an example of how we can give our students more chances to learn through failure.