Education: values and expectations

1
Education values and expectations

• There is only one curriculum, no matter what the
  method of education what is basic and universal
  in human experience and practice, the underlying
  structure of the culture.
• (William Hazlitt)
• The schools of a country are its future in
  miniature.
• (Tehyi Hsieh)
• By nature all men are alike, but by education
  widely different. (a Chinese saying)
• Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.
  Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a
  lifetime.
• (a Chinese saying)
• Education has for its object the formation of
  character. (Herbert Spencer)
• A child miseducated is a child lost.
  (John F. Kennedy)

2
Major topics

• Functions of education
• Educational differences
• Skillful kids
• Hierarchy of learning skills
• The progression model
• Ranges of values
• The honor system
• What is expected of foreign graduate students in
  the United States?

3
Functions of Education

• Schools help fashion the individual thinking,
  behavior, guidelines, values, for a productive,
  successful and satisfying life.
• Schools are a primary means by which a cultures
  history and traditions are passed from generation
  to generation. Education is the transmission of
  civilization.
• Schools teach the informal knowledge of a
  culture rules of conduct, a hierarchy of
  cultural values, how to treat one another,
  gender-role expectations, respect, etc.

4
Educational Differences

• Educational differences can be found in
• what a culture emphasizes
• how the content is taught
• e.g. the teaching of history, language
• Each culture, whether consciously or
  unconsciously, tends to glorify its historical,
  scientific, and artistic accomplishments and to
  minimize the accomplishments of other cultures.
  (Ethnocentrism)
• How students participate in the learning process
• Authority vested in the teacher
• Nonverbal aspects space, distance, time and
  dress codes

5
Learning Style Differences

• A learning style is a particular way that an
  individual receives and processes information.
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• Learning styles vary from culture to culture.

6
Cognitive styles

• Field independence Vs field sensitivity
• Cooperation Vs competition
• Trial-and-error Vs watch-then-do
• Tolerance Vs intolerance for ambiguity

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• A field-dependent person has difficulty finding a
  geometric shape that is embedded or "hidden" in a
  background with similar (but not identical) lines
  and shapes. The conflicting patterns distract the
  person from identifying the given figure.
• A person who is field-independent can readily
  identify the geometric shape, regardless of the
  background in which it is set.
• There is also a strong connection between this
  cognitive style and social interactions. People
  who are field-dependent are frequently described
  as being very interpersonal and having a
  well-developed ability to read social cues and to
  openly convey their own feelings. Others describe
  them as being very warm, friendly, and
  personable.
• Women are more likely to be field-dependent,
  whereas men are frequently field-independent.
  Cognitive styles

8
Communication and relational styles

• Formal Vs informal communication
• Nonverbal communication
• Dependent Vs independent learning
• Participatory Vs passive learning
• Reflectivity Vs impulsivity
• Aural, visual and verbal learners
• Energetic learning Vs calm learning

9
Motivational Styles

• Intrinsic Vs extrinsic motivation
• Learning on demand Vs learning what is relevant
  or interesting

10
Education in South East Asian Countries

• Education as the single most important factor in
  their childrens future success
• Teachers esteemed as role models
• Group solidarity and conformity two important
  values
• Moral education as well as standard subjects
  teaching
• A national standardized curriculum few electives
• Reading and writing highly emphasized
• Show respect by avoiding eye contact, open
  disagreement, deferring to the teachers
  judgment, and by keeping silent

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Education in the United States

• Critical thinking, judgmental questioning, and
  active initiation of discussion
• Independent learning
• Direct and informal communication
• Impulsive and quick responses to questions
• Learn by doing
• Intolerance for ambiguity, a lot of clarification

12
Case Study

• The best way to learn
• Moving too fast

13
The honor system

• Students should be honest in all areas of
  schoolwork.
• Violation of the honor system can result in
  failing a course, having a permanent record of
  the violation in the students files, and even
  being suspended or expelled from the university.

14

• Academic dishonesty includes
• Plagiarism
• Cheating
• Fabrication
• Aiding dishonesty
• Falsification of records and official documents

15

• Skillful Kids
• Hierarchy of Learning Skills
• The Progression Model