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The Wrong Bet- By Yong Zhao
After reading the article "The Wrong Bet" by Yong Zhao I find myself wondering where I would be now if I had lived in a time where they had globally homogenized education.
I remember when I was in high school and I was given the opportunity to go to the US to study Culinary Arts, a degree that was not developed in Mexico yet. I was offered this opportunity by my father who believes in learning over anything, and who told me (repeatedly) that my education was his gift to me, because as long as I was able to succeed in something then I would be able to compete in the world. He sent me to the US knowing that it was there where I would be in a competitive arena, where I would be able to grow, and learn and become a better version of myself.
My culinary education made me a better person in many ways. I did become a better cook, but mostly I learned routines. I became better at managing time. I became more organized, responsible, and ready to take risks. One of my biggest problems when I was working in the restaurant business was that while I had all of these new skills, I found that the people I worked with did not. This made me wildly mad and frustrated, and eventually it was the reason why I did not continue working in a restaurant. While I no longer work in the field, I kept all of that learning with me.
I don't know if I would have been able to get the same kind of education in Mexico as I did in the US. I always thought that it was a privilege and an honor to have been able to go somewhere else and study. It gave me a different vision on the world and on life.
If education had been homogenized then, then careers such as culinary arts would not exist. If schooling focuses more on the reading, writing, and math- and we keep preparing kids just on those topics- then the creative people, the artists, the scientists would not have a place to grow. If we have a homogenized education, we are going back on everything we have learned as educators- no multiple intelligences, no different learning styles. We might as well go back to the same blue print worksheets they had years ago.
In my new life as an educator, I do teach math and I do teach language arts. But I try to instill the PYP attitudes to my students. Attitudes such as appreciation, cooperation, creativity are the pillars that every kid should be learning.The Wrong Bet- Yong Zhao
I agree that a homogenized education model may sacrifice creativity and cooperation but could it be possible that the same model may give others the time management and organizational skills that you talk about? I guess the real question is, is there a system that could incorporate both so students of today (and tomorrow) can "have it all"?
ReplyDeleteI really like the idea of working towards a system where students "have it all". During my college education, I was very successful in the workplace, but struggled to develop the organizational and time management skills to do just as well in the classroom until a couple years later. After I graduated, I had a similar experience working with college graduates who lacked the skills to acquire and achieve in the workplace. What could we do to develop both these skills from an earlier age?
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