Some of you might be interested in "the smartest kids in the world" by Amanda Ripley, stupid title, not the greatest of books, but interesting premise, trying to understand the differences in success generated by education systems around the world by comparing the experiences of American exchange students in countries that do well in surveys such as PISA and coming to the conclusion that one of the biggest problems about the US system is that the one thing most schools, kids and parents focus on over academics, spend more energy on, spend ridiculous hours and money on, and all round take more seriously than academics in all respects (including the idea that ability and results matter over self esteem) is sports.
Tigerle, I have no issues with anyone offering up opinions about another country's education system (or whatever) - I like good discussions all around
And I'll also admit up front, I haven't had time to read this entire thread.
I just wanted to point something out, as an American living in the US - I understand where one might come to the conclusion you've mentioned that Ripley did if you're basically looking from "outside" - we do have a love of football etc here, and I would expect that exchange students from America going into other countries would be successful - but not only (or possibly even semi-directly) because they are in a different education environment. The reality is, the American students who are lucky enough to be either studying abroad or living with their families abroad are most likely students who come from families who are living in families where the *parents* have valued education.
This is just my experience based on my very limited corner of the world, but from what I've seen, the challenges with American education are the vast number of students who's parents are struggling to make ends meet (or who perhaps have given up) - families where parents don't have time to invest in their children's lives (doesn't matter if the time invested is in sports, academics, or just being together). My town is very segmented socio-economically. You can see that reflected in neighborhood school performance - and this is in a city where the school district is doing their best to put all the resources they can into helping out children who are disadvantaged. It's just a very very challenging situation for educators.
I am not an athlete, but I do value participation in sports, as do most of the other people I know here in my little corner of America. I also really enjoy watching American football and soccer! And other sports. I value having my children participate in sports - not because it's some glorified activity that will make them some type of super-hero star, but because it's good for our health and spirit. That's *all* of my family. I also have one child who is very athletically talented - she has yet to meet a sport she can't excel at. Gymnastics is her passion, she competes, and she practices with her team five nights a week for 3 hours each night. Similar schedule perhaps to the foreign exchange student who joined the football team in high school. The thing about the kids I know who participate in truly competitive sports here in my little corner of the US - yes, it can take up a tremendous amount of time, and yes, it can be difficult to figure out how to juggle academics and homework and practice for the sport. And yes, very *very* few of the kids who participate in school sports will go on to either play sports in college and even fewer will be able to have a career in that sport. That's truly NOT why most kids are out participating in team sports - they are there practicing each night because they *love* it - they are having fun. And that fun, combined with the benefits of learning how to work together as a team, are things that *are* worth letting a child participate in.
And even though most of these kids won't go on to careers in sports, most of the adults I know still play some form of sport - many times the same sports they played in school. I play team sports as an adult - not as a professional, but just for fun in local "for fun" leagues.
I think it's easy to look at the extremes and extrapolate them back to apply to a group as a whole, but the reality is, the majority of parents aren't the pushy tiger-parents out pushing their child to do 3 hours of football or 3 hours of biology or 3 hours of academic decathlon or whatever every night. And those that are - certainly aren't the reason that education in America might be not exactly always the highest standard.
The reality is most parents who are engaged are reasonable, and the challenge is how to help children growing up in households where the parents *aren't* engaged in their children's lives - for whatever reason - find an adult who does care, find a way to keep their own motivation, find a way to make their dreams come true.
polarbear
