DH and I taught internationally for 11 years, in the Philippines, Turkey, Japan and Latvia, so we've seen an awful lot of different cultures and the ways they treat education. I have to interject a few thoughts here about the work ethic or lack thereof in regards to US kids and our education system. (This may be the wrong thread for it, but many of you seemed to bring it up, so bear with me.)
One of the biggest differences between the way children are educated here and in other countries is that we allow children to start thinking for themselves much much earlier than most of the other countries we worked in. Most of the national curricula that we saw was extremely heavy on rote memorization and empty of critical thinking skills.
There is also usually a much smaller number of spots in universities in other countries than what we have available here in the US. In most places it is still an honor to be able to go to university, where as here there is literally a place for everyone (even those who don't want to go). This over abundance of opportunity leads to complacency for our students as well as the attitude of "Oh, I can get into somewhere, I'm not worried."
Another major difference is that teachers in other countries have been protected by laws so that they have control over what happens in their classrooms - meaning that parents can't go to the administration, complain about a grade and have it changed for what ever reason they see fit. There is a respect for teachers because they really do hold the key to a student's future. (There are no helicopter parents allowed.)
(Yes, I know some of you are wondering about the control that teachers have, but think back to years ago in this country. A teacher had the right and the power in the classroom. Yes, some abused it, but these were and are the exception, not the rule.)
Ok, enough rambling, this is just one of my pet peeves, sorry.
