Top-Rated Free Essay
Preview

Educational Systems Differences Betwen Us and Taiwan

Good Essays
991 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Educational Systems Differences Betwen Us and Taiwan
WU, CHIA-CHEN (Judy) MDFL 290

The Differences of Educational Systems between the US and Taiwan

The educational system in the US and Taiwan is not totally equal. It might attributes to different concepts and customs, means that each country has each way to educate the students. There are three topics that are worth discussing: Educational Philosophies, K-12 education and Higher Education. It is also seen that good educational system leads to a higher education.

Educational philosophies in the US and Taiwan are generally similar. These principles have been established by educational philosophers throughout the years. In the US, there are three principles: equal access to education, strive for 100% literacy among high school students, state and local governments have a lot of control over schools. First of all, all students should have access to public education, but not totally the same in Taiwan. As students enter high school, they have to get higher grades to study in a public school. However, the government is going to extend the school year so that make sure every student can go to the public high school next year (note: it has been a controversial issue in Taiwan recently. I will discuss in the following pages). Also, standardized examinations should not prohibit further study after high school in the US. In Taiwan, we use a lot of this kind of tests when entering from middle schools to graduated schools, even to be civil servants. To be honest, I do not like it at all. It is said that standardized tests cannot measure initiative, creativity, imagination, conceptual thinking, curiosity, effort, irony, judgment, commitment, nuance, good will, ethical reflection, or a host of the other valuable dispositions and attributes. What they can measure and count are isolated skills, specific facts and function, content knowledge, the least interesting and least significant aspects of learning.--Bill Ayers. In addition to physically and mentally challenged students, aboriginal students (whose parent were born in the mountain and got less chances to compete with those grew up in the city) are admitted in Taiwanese schools. Give preferential treatments to special status students (including foreign students, students who has good performance on sports or international race, veteran, children of civil servants be sent to foreign country, by Mongolian or Tibetan tests and have Taiwan household registration of the Mongolian or Tibetan students and students in major disaster areas) is one of the characteristics of the education system in Taiwan. The same as community colleges in America allow for less academically able students to earn a degree. Furthermore, it is very common that hundreds of thousands of students go to language schools in the US. Courses are provided to non-native speakers of English to prepare for American colleges or universities. It is thought that English is an international language and the quality of university in the US has a good reputation. Second, the education system in the US should strive to produce high school students who are 100 percent literate. In most states, students must attend school until 16. In Taiwan, it is our duty to finish the school till we finish middle schools. As a result, it is almost the same. More than 85 percent of American complete at least four years of high school or more. Nonetheless, there is only three years in Taiwanese high schools. In an aspect, it is too short for them to explore the interests and decide the major. While the figures tell that most of students attend to school both in Taiwan and America, it is pretty high ratio for Taiwanese students go to high schools and colleges. Third, the federal government does not have control over schools; schools are governed by local school districts. For example, individual states determine the curriculum. Public schools are funded by property taxes in the districts in which they are located. In my opinion, America is too huge to take charge in each state easily. Compare to it, the Ministry of Education in Taiwan uniform all the exams though we are a small island where has 23 million people.

K-12 education in the US includes from kindergarten, elementary school and middle school. It has a few differences in its structure and courses. The structure of American schools is 6-year elementary school (including one-year kindergarten), 3-year middle school (since 6th grade) and 4-year high school.

That is why some parents disagree about 12-years-public school, because their children put a lot of efforts on the exam then government says no more test when enter high schools.

Some of my American friends went to private high school. They think the quality in private school is better than public school because the educational philosophy in the US allows all students access to school until high school. The tuition in public school is free, but they rather choose private school to earn a better education. One of my American friends disagreed with the way they taught before college. In Taiwan, we were beat if we did not get the good grade. She thought bad students should be beat when they made mistakes, but there is no punishment in the US.

Higher (post-secondary) education facilities in the US are more plentiful and larger than in Taiwan. Students in the US can choose various types of schools depending on their interests, from undergraduate schools, graduate schools to state universities, community colleges. It is no doubt that higher education in the US is better than most countries. Though the tuition is ten-times more expensive than in Taiwan, the quality is not good in most university except the top schools.

In conclusion, by making these comparisons, you can clearly tell the differences between that the educational systems of the US and Taiwan. In my opinion, not every educational system is the best. If you want me to choose, I prefer the US educational system in higher education.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Two educational systems that deserve attention are those of the United States of America and North Korea. The United States has 50 states, each of which has its own Department of Education. North Korea on the other hand is mainly controlled by one government. Both of these systems are effective, but the one that produces the most intelligent students is North Korea. There are three ways to judge the differences between the U.S. and North Korean educational systems. There is funding for schools, educational structure, and governmental influence on education. Using these items of comparison will give a good idea of which country has a better educational system.…

    • 1517 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    important exam. The school which they will enter is basic on grades that they get in the…

    • 711 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I partially agree with Anu Petranen perception of the American school. I do agree that getting rid of the standardized test might help the American students to relax more and make them focus more on lecture. But discarding the standardized while you cut excessive down on student homework wouldn’t be a good combination. You might get away with start small and give students more and more homework for each class level they is in but isn’t that the case already? All of the school systems are almost designed the same way if you look on it from this certain perspective. No matter where in the world you are located in it will always be the elementary school teacher job to prepare the student for middle school and from there it goes because the middle school teachers is trying to make sure that the student is ready for high school.…

    • 933 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Education, the pride and passion of many United States citizens, is an issue in the United States that has drawn scrutiny over past fifty years. The United States is no longer viewed as the leader of Education, as it may have or may have not once been viewed. We are falling behind countries like Japan, China, and other countries in most subjects. In order to try to close the gap in education between us and the countries that are on top in the education world; we have implemented laws, such as the No Child Left Behind Act. Some may suggest that we need to adapt more of an Asian-style approach: “US education system requires an ‘Asian’ overhaul-for example, longer school days, more frequent short recess periods, and an earlier introduction of vocational focus.” (Spellings 2010, 68)…

    • 1541 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Kristof

    • 684 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In “The Educated Giant” written by Nicholas D. Kristof, he explains why China is likely to over take the United States as the worlds most important country of the century due to its large focus on education. In the article, Kristof talks about his trip to China and the education system he observed. Beginning with peasant schools, he discovered the level of math being taught was equal to his children’s excellent schools in the New York area. While his children won’t learn a language in school until seventh grade, Chinese students begin English as young as first grade. Kristof gave reasons as to why he believes Chinese students do so well. First, is because they are harder workers. Students show up to school at 6:30 a.m. for tutoring before classes start at 7:30 a.m. They also do homework every night, including when they are out of school for an eight week summer vacation. The second reason Kristof gives is because China has an enormous cultural respect for education, part of its Confucian Legacy. Teachers are better paid and treated superior to educators in America. The third reason given is because the Chinese believe that those who get the best grades are the hardest workers. This contrasts popular American belief that the best students are ones who are innately the smartest. Kristof then touches on the fact that Chinese has its own faults, including bribes, enormous fees and over crowded classrooms.…

    • 684 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Students in foreign countries are more intelligent than students in the United States. Students in Singapore and several other Asian countries significantly outperform American students. The students in foreign countries standardized test results are much higher than the students in America. American schools underpay their teachers which means they will only teach the students as much as they feel they are worth. Foreign countries…

    • 508 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    This exigence interests me because from young, I’ve always had to study and prepare for standardized tests. In China, tests represent whether we get into a good middle school, a good high school, and a good college. We can be the best in our class, but without scoring high on the placement tests, we’ll never get into a good school. The same was here, in high school, junior year was all about testing and studying for the ACTs or the SATs. There was too much pressure placed on just the standardized tests.…

    • 522 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Today in America education is not highly valued in our society as it were in the past As our education value decline other country in Asia (such as China, Japan, Korea, India, Pakistan, e.t.c) excel over us. After reading the article “Why They Excel” by Fox Butterfield I began to understand some of the reason why Asia excels. Butterfield clearly state that American students are not doing as well as Asia student because American family are not getting involve/supporting in their children school life. And also it’s hard work, motivation, and how we’re raised. I believe this is true because many Americans have lost their value of hard work to succeed in life; instead they rely on talent alone.…

    • 604 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the past twenty years the United States school system has been accumulating quite a bit of criticism. Evidence shows that the United States has been lagging exponentially compared to almost all the industrialized countries. This specifically refers to Asian countries that are statistically blowing the U.S. out of the water. Recent survey results in the universal subject of math show us that the U.S. eighth graders have fallen behind, while the twelfth grade level showed only slight improvement (appositive). This means that the U.S. students are barely floating above water, where as, Asian students have built some sort of super boat (appositive). Yet we all recognize that not any one device is perfect, and are usually leaking water in the most unnoticeable spot. Before one realizes the problem, the boat is sinking. We would potentially look at these education systems as extremes of each other. Each education system being on the different side of the spectrum. Both systems having faults and advantages. Taking the positive aspects from both sides and merging them together, a harmonious education system could be established (verb phrase).…

    • 1043 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    For some time there has been a controversy about the effectiveness of different school systems in different parts of the world, particularly America and Asia. The American system consists of approximately thirty-five hours of school each week with about an hour of homework and no school on weekends. The Asian system of learning is comprised of around fifty hours of school each week including a half day on Saturday with four hours of homework each night. The better learning system for me would most definitely be the American system. The Asian school system would not allow me to spend time with my friends and family, sleep enough each night, and give me time to develop other skills needed in life.…

    • 495 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Today the American educational system is getting worse with every year. Teachers in the U.S. schools can not provide children with the appropriate skills wich are needed for their future education. But children in Asian countries are showing high results on their tests, and Asian countries are “beating the pants off us in the educational arena.” Moreover, work perfomance in the U.S. is very poor after graduation, for American students keep failing in Math and Science in high school. Due to the low test scores and poor work perfomance after high school graduation, our government came to a conclussion that the education system is failing. After examining the information out of the different articles, it is obvious that the U.S. educational system should adopt some Asian techniques in teaching, but there are some methods wich must not be changed because of cultural differences.…

    • 938 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I remember I have taken piano lessons, painting lessons, writing lessons, English classes, and math classes; you name it, and I’ve probably had the lesson. Most of the people also believe getting into a good college leads to a better future, which is why everyone has to get into the best college. People define a better future as making a lot of money. My mom always tells me if I don’t get into a good college, I will not find a job and my life will be horrible. Health is also really important to Taiwanese people, and they will do anything to be healthy. Consequently, there are a lot of shows telling people how to be healthy and people do whatever they…

    • 1039 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    As education and common core modernized with time, educators had difficulties comparing students’ academic levels and determining national standards. An educational pioneer named Horace Mann created a standardized test in 1845 to give “children equal opportunities” (Gershon). The idea expanded globally and each nation created their own forms of testing to accommodate for their country’s academic system. In Thailand, for example, O-Net is the form of testing which not only is the basis for the national curriculum, but also helps the board evaluate the educators teaching abilities (Goodman). Another example is Singapore, which isn’t solely based on academics; they also include physical fitness tests. Each country has a different method to determine future placement, but it has been argued whether these tests are truly effective (Rotberg).…

    • 1601 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    A Comparison of Education The United States versus Japan In 1947 the Japanese took a page from the American education system and implemented the style of 6-3-3 classroom division (Angela Bartlett). Therefore the Japanese children attended six years of elementary school followed by three years of junior high and three years of senior high school. The major difference comes between the two systems in the area of study disciplines, students’ having a clearer direction earlier, motivation and structured learning environment to name a few, giving the Japanese children a marked advantage above the American children. Early on in the Japanese system the children remain required and encouraged to learn additional sciences, languages and math,…

    • 1303 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In order to keep up with the trend of globalization, the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Taiwan had to outline some proposals for educational reform, including several proposals for the area of English language instruction. Educational reform in the country started in 1997 and is still an ongoing project at present. According to the Nine-Year Integrated Curriculum Guidelines, the MOE initiated a new curriculum based on the Education Reform Action Plan for elementary and junior high schools in Taiwan in 1997 (MOE, Taiwan 2004). For years, English language instruction in Taiwan had been designed to begin in the first year of junior high school. However, with the Nine-Year Integrated Curriculum, English language instruction was advanced to fifth and sixth grade in 2001 and to third and fourth grade in 2005 (MOE, Taiwan 2004; MOE Taiwan 2006). The second change in educational reform was the opening of textbooks for elementary and junior high schools to non-governmental publication. Previously, all textbooks were designed and published by the National Institute for Compilation and Translation. At present, textbook policy in Taiwan has shifted from a unified editorial system to an open examination and appraisal system (Huang 2005).…

    • 4692 Words
    • 19 Pages
    Better Essays