There is a real paradox revolving around this whole China story. Canada and the United States are looking across the Pacific Ocean, and are envious of China's centralization and standardization. We aspire to be more like the Chinese - we want more standardization and more accountability through high-stakes testing.
And yet the Chinese are looking across the Pacific and wish they were more like us. They are envious of our creativity, ingenuity and individualism. There is a real 'grass is greener over there' scenario going on here.
The scary realization we need to make here is that they are right - we have it right, but we are squandering more and more of it every time we longingly look east.
Here are my posts involving Yong Zhao's work:
Great post, Joe. Awesome that you got to meet Yong. That is very cool. I would love to hear him speak, too.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.slate.com/id/2288402/
ReplyDeleteSorry, I should have said something about that link - it's a great article entitled "Why Preschool Shouldn't Be Like School". I think you'll like it.
ReplyDelete