China and the US admire each other’s lawns

Re-education, a recent article in the New York Times Sunday Magazine, illustrates a classic case of the grass being greener, with the future of two countries at stake.

The article describes how Chinese educators, “concerned that too many students have become the sort of stressed-out, test-acing drone who fails to acquire the skills ‘” creativity, flexibility, initiative, leadership ‘” said to be necessary in the global marketplace…. are trying to blend a Western emphasis on critical thinking, versatility and leadership into their own traditions.”

Meanwhile, on this side of the planet, “American educators seek to emulate Asian pedagogy, a test-centered ethos and a rigorous focus on math, science and engineering.”

Not to put too fine a point on the matter, but if the Chinese are not happy with their system, why are we trying to copy it? And vice versa?

Maybe, just maybe, neither system is working. Perhaps it is time to experiment with an entirely new type of education system. What might such a system look like?

In How Computer Games Help Children Learn, David Williamson Shaffer talks about how we have to think about education in new ways for a new century. I’m excited to be working on developing epistemic games, and in particular on seeing how we can help adults get ready to play these new kind of learning games with kids. I think these games offer a new way of thinking about what we need to teach children to prepare them, and how best to do it.