Use this space to do a little thinking/writing about what you've seen so far in The Smartest Kids in the World documentary. You can write about wha tit seems to be saying about the purposes of school, the other themes of our class, its international perspective, or the film as a piece of education and/or popculture. You also could (but are not obligated to) react to this short, highly critical review in light of what you have seen so far.
Something that stuck out to me from the first half of the documentary was the statement that US schools are teaching compliance over anything else which tracks up against the other countries described given the extent the prison industrial complex informs most aspects of American life. I remember going through public school and getting in-school suspension a few times and feeling incredibly put off by it, later realizing that to me it felt like normalizing carceral systems that alienate and disenfranchise people on a mass scale. When the origin of universal public education was brought up in the documentary it explains that students were being educated to the standards of the market which explains the differences in our system up against others which measures productivity and profit over learning to think for oneself and apply their knowledge to any number of applicable situations.
ReplyDeleteI have found this documentary thus far super fascinating. I found it particularly interesting that these students are so motivated to leap to go aboard and earn an education in a different way from what they have had. I always think motivation is such a concept to have as a young student. Most people that I knew just did what they needed to do to get to their desired school and then get a job. But there was not a huge desire to go beyond their goals. So my question is, how does a student develop that kind of mindset, typically it is rare for students to be so concerned with their education that they feel the need to make a change.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing that stuck out to me was when Simone had said, "I don't go to school to make friends." It got me thinking, is there a certain point where the priority shifts from school being a social setting versus strictly academic. Of course, one can continue to make friends, but is there a point when academics trump socializing?
I think there is something to be said about having flexibility in the classroom. How students can leave when they have a break, go to the bathroom when they need to, etc. If schools in the united states did this earlier, it would be less of a wake-up call when students go off to college and have more freedom. The documentary said that it allows the students to figure out how to spend their time wisely. In the United States, students are expected to be in school for 7 1/2 hours and then go home and do more work. With the flexibility of a schedule, students can enjoy school more.
Lauren Jefferson - "The Smartest Kids in the World" was a very fascinating documentary from what we've seen so far, but I agree with the review linked above that it was far from perfect. I think that there is a lot to be said about the ways in which the United States education system fails students, but I'm not sure that the documentary fully shows how/why that happens or analyzes the deeper problems at hand. However, this could also be due to the fact that I've only seen half of it. Despite all of that, I agree with the documentary that a purpose of schooling that needs more focus in the U.S. is promoting student autonomy. It's important for students to learn how to become self reliant instead of controlled and compliant.
ReplyDeleteThe documentary highlights how passive the American education system is in comparison to international institutions. The student who studied abroad in Finland commented on her feelings of inadequacies. The studies aren't as rigorous, the schedules are arbitrary and the students have a lot of autonomy over their education. Although it was surprising that she felt this way, it highlights how America's standardized learning creates a heightened importance of productivity. Students are used to having structured periods/blocks that remain the same, once that schedule is disrupted, it may cause anxiety rather than peace. The student that went to the Netherlands felt the overworked. even though Americans students times in school are highly structured, the work is shallow. The student claimed that he felt inadequate because he was ignorant on most of the subject matter. These two differing case studies show how the American education system differs widely depending on the location, funding, ect.
ReplyDeleteTanai Banks - Roy
DeleteI really like this documentary so far and Amanda Ripley's thoughts and perspective on education have been very interesting. I learned a lot from short insights she gave, specifically about trust in students and how the US handles failure. She talked about how following industrialization, schools needed students to be compliant and funnel into industries and the economy, school's purpose was limited and more for training rather than learning. But now, school is meant to serve a different purpose and how students interact with school and vice verse should change as well. Since American students have no agency over their classes and schedules, school can feel entrapping which hinders ones ability and motivation to learn. That, along with any sort of failure being given a punishment, makes school seem almost like a prison. I think comparing our schooling system with other countries' through the students perspective can/will be very valuable and I'm curious to see the end of this documentary. - Peter Samaha
ReplyDeleteFrom what we have seen so far in class, the documentary has been incredibly interesting. I believe the discussion on how schooling in the United States tends to lack a certain freedom that other education systems in different countries is true. American education does have a very strict schedule that leaves very little autonomy and therefore it seems that children don't have the self-motivation to push themselves further in their schooling. The schools that are observed have students who are making their own choices or are willing to work hard on their own without the pressure of administration or a system. Another point that was brought up during the documentary was that in order to have a successful education system, the kids need to be in an environment where they feel comfortable to fail and recover. Personally, I have always been scared to fail in school. I have never once been okay with the idea of doing badly on a test or assignment because, in my mind, if I fail there is no way I can fix my grade afterwards. I like that other systems around the world are teaching students that failure is alright and that you can make decisions that will allow you to still be successful at the end of the day. I'm curious to see where the rest of the documentary goes and I'm hoping to learn more about how we could possibly improve our own education system by taking inspiration from others.
ReplyDeleteThis documentary has definitely widened my viewpoint on the educational system from what we have watched so far. The students in the video are definitely inspiring with their will power to learn, and I can't imagine how far the world would go if more students had their persistence. The system in Korea stood out to me the most with how focused they all are, here it seems that students go to school for one thing and one thing only, which is to learn. While in America as we have studied the purposes are endless. However, that isn't to say that the students aren't reaping the benefits the American students receive, such as socialization. I would love to get into this deeper in order to gain a wider perspective on how they seem to get their students to be so passionate about learning, and the other benefits they are still able to receive.
ReplyDeleteJones Boyer: The documentary makes me somewhat depressed regarding missed opportunities in my schooling that I could have received, it definitely makes me want to go to school out of the country. However, I feel that there could be a few problems with the documentary, most notably, I feel that economic status effects the efficacy of different schools in different areas and the documentary tends to focus on one location within a country that may not be indicative of the whole. While placing an emphasis on the voice of the students, the documentary also still seems to view test scores (specifically PISA) as what makes or breaks a successful education rather than some of the more meaningful purposes of education that we've talked about in class.
ReplyDeleteI have been really enjoying this film so far. I had no idea how poorly the United States public school system was ranked in comparison to the spending allocated. It made me think about my experience in the public school system and kind of lent me a critical lens to view with it through. When I was in high school I really didn't think much about the structure or quality of y education because I guess I just assumed it was good being that I live in a very powerful developed country that values education. I am excited to continue watching this film to see what exactly it is that other countries who have a better system in place do to help curate a more successful means for education.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to see how international school systems can foster a culture of achievement, effort, and engagement, and is simultaneously disappointing that the same does not appear prevalent on a widespread basis in the US. The documentary captures international student's independent, intrinsic motivation to be actively engaged in their studies. The documentary also captures the school environments that are conducive to the student engagement that leads to achievement. These school environments are built on values of student freedom and independence, which seem to empower student agency and motivation to engage.
ReplyDeleteThe documentary comments on how the American education system is lacking and how America should look at other countries and try to embrace some of their practices to improve the system. Although it’s an interesting idea, it is a bit lacking. For one, at no point are the negative effects of the non-American countries really discussed. It’s played out to be like that the American system is the worst ever and all of these others are the best ever. It also doesn’t take in account cultural differences. The purpose of education varied from school to school. For example, in Korea, education is important to succeed and is emphasized a lot. However, in other countries it’s more about encouraging students to want to learn things that they are interested in – the purpose of education, in those countries, is more self-fulfilling. Midhat A.
ReplyDeleteAfter today’s group discussion, I got a new look into what the purpose/perspective of school is in this documentary. I noticed that all colleges in the documentary have the same goal of getting their students into working jobs. The difference between the colleges lies within the “how” part of acquiring education. Each college that was represented in this documentary had its own unique pros and cons. These pros and cons accumulated into the unique scholastic systems we see before us today. I noticed how cultural differences played a huge role in the differences between schools which seemingly correlated with the pros and cons that each school system had. The reflection of the indigenous people and their school systems was something I found hiding in the background of the documentary. I perceived the differences between an American student with its correlated American education and (for example) the Finnish students and the Finnish education system. It seemed, at least to me, that the students and the people of Finland were harder workers than the average American student. There appear to be some underlying connections between the various cultures and their value in education that I think is hinted at in this documentary, but not fully grasped.
ReplyDelete~Matt Embretsen
This documentary was very enlightening. I never really thought about how much of an emphasis American public schools puts on sports in relation to other countries. I thought that was a very interesting point, students miss class excused for sports all the time. It's also very common for teachers to also be coaches in America. I was very interested in seeing how American students adapted to going to high school in other countries. I felt so sorry for Jackson, he was so ill-prepared but he wanted to experience it still. I thought the girl who went to Korea was amazing. It's really sad how there are so many brilliant students in America who would have to leave the country to get an education that challenges it. I also really admire the way Switzerland allows students to either go straight into a trade or into a more traditional education. It says a lot about the society... I wish America prepared our students better for the "real world."
ReplyDelete- Jesslyn
DeleteAngela Mitchel
ReplyDeleteI enjoy the international perspective, because it helps give examples/references of education systems that work well. The purpose of school in Switzerland is to prepare students for the real world and apply what they learned to useful every-day tasks. Students in Switzerland and Finland had many opportunities to experience career and technical applications which I resonated with. I attended The Loudoun Governor’s Career & Technical Academy and believe the things I did there served me well. All U.S. students should have an education that relates more practically to the real world, and administrators who care more about the students. I believe this film is bringing this issue to light along with representation of what the U.S. should be modeling. It also focuses on the idea of students traveling abroad for a new perspective, so when they come back to the U.S, they can share what they experienced and express their opinions. Student agency is important for improvements in education.
The smartest kids in the world documentary was very interesting and made a lot of thought provoking commentary on education in the US and internationally. From what I saw within all the school system I saw the same overall purpose of education, to prepare kids for the work force. For example in Korea the kids biggest schooling landmark was to take a test to decide their career and in Switzerland they offered the technological school. It seems like every school system was created to benefit the children's ability to work in the society they live in. But on the other hand I think the films take on education as a whole was very biased. They tended to only show the positives of the international schools while showing the worst of US schools. They also interviewed many international teachers while the US teachers were left out of the conversation. While the film is definitely thought provoking I wouldn't consider it well rounded.
ReplyDeleteThe Smartest Kids in The World Documentary really resonated with me, since I was also an American expat going to school abroad for my high school experience. The purposes of school to me seemed to be the same in all countries at face value; the purpose of school is to prepare students for the future, but each country had a drastically different approach to doing this. The Nordic countries in the documentary seemed to focus a lot on the individual and their personal journey through schooling. There were less assignments given and the students had more autonomy over their decisions. In Korea, individualism was less focused on, and loyalty to making the country a better place was more of the motivation behind performing well in school. All countries in the documentary, excluding the U.S, actually had a motive for wanting to get an education.
ReplyDeleteThe Smartest Kids in the World documentary is opening my eyes to the different ways students are being taught in other countries. I never considered that schools would only teach for a few hours a day then let their students go and spend their time how they would like to. Then you have the contrast in South Korea where they are in school for long hours then go to study late into the night. The exams are a big deal and are televised. The students remain motivated and eager to learn.
ReplyDelete-Abby Jegels
DeleteThis documentary was very interesting to watch, as a student we are conditioned. Beginning as a kid, we are told to think about what we want to be when we are older. We are not told to look past getting an education and then right after a job. Students do not have the freedom to take breaks or even bathroom breaks without being questioned by teachers if we're actually going to the bathroom. In a way, this makes students as old as 17-18 years old to have to depend on adults. We are controlled throughout the day while learning, not having the freedom to choose how to use our time, ( which can help us learn responsibilities) can lead to students not wanting to go to school.
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