8. 18 In the evening, I went to Silicon Valley. Luke, a high school classmate, took me to "Laozhao Sichuan cuisine" for dinner.

Luke and his boss's son, 12 years old, studied in Beijing before and just came to Silicon Valley last year. I asked him, do you like studying in America? He said, yes, because there is less homework here. I had too much homework when I was studying in Beijing. He studied in the primary school affiliated to Beijing Foreign Studies University, which should be regarded as one of the top primary schools in China.

When dinner was served, Luke, Luke's girlfriend and this 12-year-old kid were playing the glory of the king online, and I watched them play silently.

At that time, I felt as if I were in China. Most customers of Laozhao's Sichuan cuisine are from China. They speak fluent Chinese. In front of them, three friends are playing the glory of the king with rapt attention. I can only say that the glory of the king is amazing, not only occupying mainlanders, but also coming to the United States across the ocean. The glory of the king has become a social game. You see, when they are playing the glory of the king, I can't be one of them. Although Luke is in Silicon Valley, he often plays the glory of the king online with his friends in China, and keeps abreast of each other's current situation while playing games.

Speaking of the glory of the king, Zhihu's Da Ren Fei Cat once wrote an article "If no one really wants to play the glory of the king, it will only be more difficult for you to get ahead" and "How Your Deep Thinking Ability was Destroyed" written by Lacher, which are highly recommended for reading.

2.

Anyway, let's get back to the topic and talk about American education.

Before, in the WeChat group writing harem group, there was also a pen pal who wanted me to know more about American education.

When I was in China, I knew nothing about American education. I have read several books about American education, such as The Choice of Chinese Mothers in Sino-American Education, Excellent Sheep, etc., and have some basic understanding of American education.

We all hope to receive a good education, but a good education is always expensive.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, only nobles had the opportunity to receive education. Confucius was the first person to create civilian education, so he was called a teacher from generation to generation.

In feudal society, only a few people can be called scholars, and most people are illiterate. The best educational resources are in the hands of the ruling class. For example, the prince can ask the most learned person in the country to be a teacher.

Now everyone is still competing for educational resources, such as sky-high school districts, which is the result of competing for excellent educational resources.

In the United States, education is also graded. Wan Wei has just written an article "What class of American education do you admire?" The author divides American education into three levels.

The first category is the education of the ordinary working class. In this teaching system, there are mechanical procedures full of rote memorization, and there are almost no opportunities to make choices and decisions. Similar to education in China.

The second category is middle-class education. What we usually envy is the education of this class. There is a better education, and that is the education of the ruling class.

I know about the education of some colleagues' children in America. I think it's middle-class education.

At the Silicon Valley Sharing Meeting on August 20th, Wei Zhe, the former CEO of Alibaba, talked about his thoughts on Sino-American education. He summed up the difference between Chinese and American education in one sentence: China's education is to train skilled workers, while American education is to train innovative talents.

Wan Weigang has a similar view in his article.

3.

In the United States, education is also a large part of family expenditure, and if you go to a private school, the cost is more expensive. When chatting, Vietnamese colleagues joked: I know where all my money has gone, and it has been invested in children's education.

She has two sons who study in a private school. Her eldest son is a bully and just entered high school this year. He is a national chess champion, swimmer and pianist. To educate children, besides the investment of money, more is the investment of time and energy. For example, Tuyet has to take the children to the swimming pool several days a week, while the children are swimming and she is working.

Private schools in America are very expensive, and many families need to save money for their children's college education. Relatively speaking, university education in China is relatively cheap, and the gap between top universities and ordinary universities is very small.

In the United States, there is a big gap between different classes in education quality and tuition fees.

In China, the competition for educational resources is also very fierce, otherwise the school district room would not be so high.

With a good family economic foundation, there are conditions for children to receive a better education. My primary school and junior high school are in the village. When I graduated from primary school, some students with good family conditions were sent to the county for junior high school at the expense of their parents. In the rural junior high school where I live, at most a dozen people from a school are admitted to County No.1 Middle School, with an average of one in a class. There are dozens of students in a class in the junior high school in the county where those students are located, which is more than that in a rural school. This is the gap between different educational resources.

If you have a good family, you don't have to take the college entrance examination. My friend's girlfriend, a sophomore in the United States, studied in an international school in Shanghai for two years in high school, and then went directly to the United States to go to college.

Therefore, education is also about winning over parents. In the United States, elite education is to some extent to protect the interests of aristocratic families and ensure that their children are still in the upper class.

4.

American basic education is very easy, and children like to go to school in America.

A colleague used to work in Shanghai, but later he was transferred to the American headquarters. His children also came to American primary schools from schools in Shanghai. He said. Children like American schools very much.

American education is also more humane. The son of former boss Shelley has just entered junior high school and is a musician in the school band. The United States has been like a university campus since junior high school, with no fixed classrooms. Go to any classroom where you have classes. Shelley said she liked it this way. Students can make their own choices. There are seven or eight teachers every year, and students can feel different personality charm from each teacher. If you have a fixed classroom and a fixed teacher, if you meet a teacher who is not very good, the students will be miserable all year. Think about our primary school and junior high school. It is possible to have a teacher for three or five years. If you are unlucky and meet a bad teacher, students will have a miserable life in primary school and junior high school.

The book "Chinese Mothers' Choice of Chinese and American Education" mainly talks about the comparison of Chinese and American basic education. Author Wu Chenyang, a senior educator. At the same time, she was once the mother of a young international student and an American elementary school teacher.

American education is more encouraging. The teacher uses a magnifying glass to find the advantages of students. Every student is a genius in the eyes of the teacher and has his own uniqueness. In school, the status of students is the highest. American schools generally teach in small classes, with about 20 students in each class.

American elementary schools are children's paradise, which is more in line with children's play nature. They don't ask students to sit in the classroom, and they can't walk or talk casually. They are more casual. The content of the teacher's teaching is also more casual. The teacher can teach whatever he wants, and there is no outline. Primary school hours are also very short,

3 p.m.

After school, physical education class has more class time. Moreover, there are many holidays in the United States, and students spend less time in school than in China.

The disadvantage of elementary education in the United States is that schools teach too little knowledge, as long as children have fun at school, and do not cultivate children to develop good study habits.

The author thinks that primary education in China is more suitable for girls and suppresses boys' nature. The primary education in the United States conforms to the nature of boys. Boys are naturally active and energetic, and it is really depressing to sit in the classroom all day.

Generally speaking, American primary schools have eight major courses, namely, language, mathematics, science, sociology, health, art, music and physical education.

Education in the United States is easier to cultivate confident students, who are happy at school regardless of their academic performance and innate conditions. Education in China is more about cultivating children with low self-esteem and some students with relatively poor academic performance. For them, school is like a prison.

5.

American university education is world-class. Many China students receive basic education in China and higher education in the United States. The number of students coming to the United States to study in universities and graduate students is increasing year by year.

American university education is not perfect, but also has its own problems.

A professor at Yale University wrote the book "Excellent Sheep" to reflect on the elite education of the Ivy League.

After 24 years in an Ivy League school, I feel that most of the students trained under the current American education system are smart, talented and high-spirited, but at the same time they are full of anxiety, timidity, confusion about the future and extreme lack of sense of purpose. They are busy with one club after another, learning one course after another, but they are actually very anxious and don't know how to live. They pursue high-paying jobs such as lawyers, doctors, consultants and investment banks, but they don't want to understand why they choose these jobs, just go with the flow.

The author makes a sharp analysis of the American education system and the formation of the whole elite class. In fact, the education system also serves the elite. If you want to remain an elite, or want to by going up one flight of stairs, you must take the route of the education system.

Similar problems exist in China's education system. Most students who graduate from top schools choose high-paying jobs such as consulting, finance or engineers. The disadvantages of elite education are not only the problem of American education system, but also the problem of global education system.

The author of Excellent Sheep believes that real education is to stimulate students' inner potential and talent. Let students find the meaning and goal of life.

Real education is to forget all the knowledge learned in school and leave yourself behind. Real education should make you a better person. The responsibility of the university is to teach students how to think first. Another important resource provided by universities is classmates who live together day and night.

Wei Zhe made a similar point at the sharing meeting. He said that the future schools are not used to learn knowledge and skills, and knowledge and skills can be acquired through online learning. The future school is to train students to become real social people and learn how to communicate with others through getting along with classmates.

6.

When I travel in the United States, I also envy my classmates studying in the United States.

Although there are no children yet, I began to think about whether to let my children go to school in China or in the United States in the future (of course, if they go to school in the United States, money is a big problem. )

In the Q&A session, I asked Wei Zhe this question. He said that this is a question that you and your husband need to consider, and he can't give an answer. He said that children should be involved in decision-making as early as possible, not you making decisions for him.

This reminds me that many times, we often impose what we think is good on our children and ignore their own feelings.

Let your children participate in decision-making as soon as possible. If you have the ability, take your child to visit as many universities as possible to see what kind of atmosphere he likes.

At present, there are many summer study tours in China, or go to foreign universities to participate in summer camps. I met many domestic study tours at Stanford University.

At present, it is a good choice to go abroad to study in university or graduate school.

7.

The rootless embarrassment of Chinese descendants.

Many friends I know in the United States will stay and work in the United States after finishing college or graduate studies in China. If they can get a green card, they should not plan to return to China.

Their children are what we call "American-born China people" or ABC. Although their skin is yellow, their thoughts are pure American thoughts.

In China, the parents of American-born China people still communicate in Chinese. They were educated by Americans at school, so it is difficult for them to find their identity. Like duckweed without roots, it floats on the surface of various cultures. They rarely choose to go back to China to survive, because they don't know the culture of China and have nothing in common with most China people.

Colleague, former personnel director, had the opportunity to work in the United States, but she chose to stay in the unit. She said that she didn't want her children to become "American-born China people", because she had no cultural foundation and couldn't find cultural identity.

8.

But we are not desperate. No matter what the environment, people have free will, which no one can deprive.

In addition, with the popularity of the Internet, we can learn the best knowledge and skills in the world online.

Besides, China's books are cheaper than American books. This is not good for the author, but for the reader, you can buy excellent works with less money. As long as you are willing to spend time and energy on reading, I believe books can bring you endless spiritual wealth and competitiveness. You know, many people stop studying after graduation. If you keep the habit of reading all your life, the advantages of reading will become more and more obvious as time goes by.

Furthermore, it is not enough for modern society to study near schools. What we need is the ability of lifelong learning. Even if we fall behind in school education, we can still get it back in our future life.

Life is not a fixed state, you can jump or go backwards. You have the free will to decide the way forward.

I'm Hongdan and I'm in Japan.

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