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by nkangoh 4173 days ago
I REALLY wish teaching was as prestigious as say, being a doctor, or investment banker. I read a very interesting [1] book on this and it really just opened my eyes regarding the mediocrity of teaching (not quality per say, but as a profession, which eventually leads to poor education).

[1] http://www.amazon.com/Smartest-Kids-World-They-That/dp/14516...
1 comments
brador 4173 days ago
It is (in a free market). China/HK has millionaire private teachers.
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warfangle 4173 days ago
It is (in a socialist market). Finnish teachers have some of the utmost prestige.
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wyclif 4173 days ago
The problem with those who make 1:1 comparisons of the US and Finnish public education systems is that Finland is largely (yes, I know there are some Swedes there) a homogeneous culture, whereas the US is a "melting pot" containing a huge variety of cultures.
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warfangle 4173 days ago
The problem with those who make 1:1 comparisons of the US public education and Chinese private education systems is that those who can afford private education in China are largely (yes, I know there are some Americans and Koreans there) an (ostensibly) homogeneous culture, whereas the US is a "melting pot" containing a huge variety of cultures.
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peterfirefly 4173 days ago
The Swedes there are not the problem. The recent Muslim immigration is. The PISA scores are falling in Finland, too, in accordance with the rising number of school children of (recent) Muslim origin.

: The Tartars do not seem to be stupid and do fine.

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wyclif 4173 days ago
Well, I wasn't saying Swedes in Finland are a problem; I was simply trying to head off the potential criticism that Finland is not technically homogeneous ;-)
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nkangoh 4173 days ago
The mentioned book really talks about how Korea, China (and Hong Kong) along with some European countries do education much differently.
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ulfw 4173 days ago
It is in a social free market (Germany). I've never seen a high school teacher having to take on another job. Everyone had their own cars and in particular everyone went one or two multi-week vacation to warmer climates. It's painful to see how little America cares.
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seanmcdirmid 4173 days ago
China? Really?

The public teachers depend on bribes to get by. The private teachers are just into exploitation and delivering false hopes. Please don't take China as a good example, it is not; even HK is way more dysfunctional than the American system.

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bsder 4173 days ago
Yeah, and many of them tout their modeling credentials (discovered this when I was trying to learn Cantonese).

Uh, they're teaching something, it's just not what you think it is.

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