Struggle For Smarts By Alix Spiegel Analysis

This week’s article, Struggle for Smarts? How Eastern and Western Cultures Tackle Learning, was written by Alix Spiegel on November 12 of 2012. It goes over the cultural norms regarding education in the United States and compares it to the schooling systems in Eastern Asia, particularly Japan and Taiwan. The biggest differences he pointed out were the widely contrasting views on struggling in the learning process. In America, he points out, struggling is a sign of weakness. If a person struggles on a subject, it means that they just cannot be good at it. In Eastern countries, however, struggling is seen as a natural part of learning and is expected from all students. Intelligence in the East is not seen as something an individual is
Each is a hivemind built to attempt at solving problems, even if it’s a difficult task. In the U.S. most teachers don’t ever see this problem- children are creative and artistic; they’re diverse and maintain their individuality. What teachers see, instead, are students who refuse to try. Nearly every classroom has them- those students who put forth no effort to learn, skating by on thin ice. These kids get chance after chance to improve, but those chances are rarely taken seriously. These students aren’t truly indifferent of a passing or failing grade, they choose not to participate because they have a fear of struggling. They scrape by at the bottom for as long as they possibly can because to them, not trying and failing is more ideal than trying and looking “stupid.” When situations like this one occur, there are several factors at play. A “lazy” student can be blamed for their actions, but not the cultural
One of the most important things that can be drawn from this article is how to blend the best parts of each schooling system. If there were a way to utilize a student’s potential without erasing all individuality, or to take away a student’s fear of failure, it would solve a lot of problems in not only American schooling, but in flawed systems all over. Intelligence and creativity are not opposites; they coexist in many students and simultaneously aren’t found in many others. If there were a way to somehow mix the teaching methods of Eastern and Western countries, the discussion on fearing failure and struggle would not have to exist anymore. Starting with a single community, a single school, or even a state is fairly easy. It definitely isn’t impossible. But changing a whole nation, let alone several, will take a lot of work. Most people, however, would agree that hard work is worth it when children across the world benefit. The issue at hand is not punishing children who are afraid to try, but rather making it so that they don’t have to