Comparison between American and British Schools
Media
Part of Panorama
- Title
- Comparison between American and British Schools
- Creator
- Koerner, James D.
- Language
- English
- Source
- Panorama Volume XXI (No. 4) April 1969
- Year
- 1969
- Rights
-
- Fulltext
- ■ This short summary should be of great interest to Filipino educators and school men. COMPARISON BETWEEN AMERICAN AND BRITISH SCHOOLS There is much that we in the United States could learn from English schools. We could learn that child ren are capable of working effectively in language and numbers earlier than they do in American schools; that they are capable in the elementary school of more systematic and sustained stu dy in basic subjects than they generally get in Am erican schools; that the true abilities of many children are often buried by low scores on standardized tests or by poor home conditions or by low expectations on the part of teachers; that children do not suffer from a longer school day and year than is standard in Am erica. Even more important, we could learn that a limited, though by no means a rigid, curriculum for students at every ability level is import ant; that schools cannot try to do everything anil any thing and still be schools; that they must establish some priorities thought by adults, not children, to be important; that secondary school students of modest ability can be brought fur ther in basic subjects, in cluding mathematics and foreign languages, than they commonly are in American schools; that students of high ability can be brought a great deal further in basic subjects than they common ly are in American schools. And we could learn that the elaborate administrative ma chinery that characterizes our schools and school systems, with their plenitude of non teaching supervisory person nel, is not visibly superior to the looser and much less grandiose system of the Eng lish (and European) schools, where the emphasis in ad ministration is on classroom 12 Panorama freedom, not restriction, and on the selection of parttime administrators who are respected for their ability as teachers. All this and more we could learn from Eng lish schools, while at th* same time recognizing and eschewing their weaknesses. But first there must be a willingness to look abroad for ideas on the part of those in charge of American schools. — From the Reform in Education by James 1). Koerner (1968). OF STUDENT DEMONSTRATIONS I am for youth activism as long as the move ment is geared toward economic growth and na tional development. The danger of youth activism lies in the leadership of the student demonstrators. The leadership should not fall into the wrong hand. — Gov. Isidro S. Rodriguez, Rizal April 1969 13
- pages
- 12+