For those who are interested in "contrasting and comparing" the education system of USA and China, I would suggest a documentary film called "Two Million Minutes".
http://www.2mminutes.com/My DD wrote a review about the film a couple of years ago (published). She in general agreed with the main point of the movie that American need to step up the game in Math and Science, but she is also very suspicious about the simplistic approach used by the film to do the comparison. I post the article here, hopefully, it adds a bit to the discussion.
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Two Million Minutes: Myth or Reality?
By Yiren L
A documentary film making the rounds among educators and policy makers, Two Million Minutes is an ambitious examination of the differences between six high school students in India, China, and the United States, interspersed with commentary from leading government and educational experts. The issue it addresses � the declining quality of American public education � is nothing new. But Two Million Minutes is one of the first to look beyond the classroom into the personal philosophies of teenagers and their parents.
Titled for the approximate amount of time spent in high school, Two Million Minutes follows the lives of Brittany Brechbuhl and Neil Ahrendt from Carmel, Indiana, Apoorva Uppala and Rohit Sridharan from Bangalore, India, and Xiaoyuan Hu and Ruizhang Jin from Shanghai, China. All six are successful students, in that they do well in school, are socially normal, and stay out of trouble. But the film soon makes evident that their perspectives on academics and the future are vastly different. Ruizhang Jin, an amateur programmer and math whiz, says that he does not set goals to avoid disappointment. Meanwhile, Brittany strives for �balance� in her life (future sorority sister and pre-med), and a line flashes across the screen noting that one area that American students surpass their peers is in self-confidence.
The film succeeds in presenting not only the schooling, but the lives of the subjects. Parents of Apoorva and Rohit are engineers, who have pushed them towards engineering, and viewed other activities as distractions. Yet even as Americans watch in awe of India�s rise, Rohit�s father complains that the motivation of the younger generation towards academics lags behind that of their parents. Neil�s mother, however, is satisfied with his multitude of extracurriculars, his grades, and his full ride at Perdue. Her son is encouraged to pursue a life and career that he enjoys, and in a manner he himself deems fit. Xiaoyuan and Ruizhang choose their own fields of interest, but they must fight the exam-oriented gauntlet that is Chinese K-12 education. For Apoorva and Rohit, though, there are no other options.
Does Neil�s mother�s complacency stifle his potential? Or are the Indians and Chinese stifling creativity? These are insightful questions which the documentary raises.
But Two Million Minutes also leaves gaping holes in reasoning and comparison. How can millions of high school students be characterized by two? Over 30% of Indians are illiterate. 40% of students in China don�t graduate. And if there must be judgment by proxy, at least the representation should be consistent. The two Chinese students are now attending Beijing University and Tsinghua University, respectively, premier institutions in China and home only to a select few. As for the Indian students, they belong to a highly privileged class. Living in Bangalore, the Silicon Valley of India, the children of well-educated, professional parents, they are seemingly unhindered by problems of tuition, textbooks, and electricity that plague so many of their classmates. Brittany�s 3.94 GPA and Neil�s National Merit Scholarship are undoubtedly admirable, but a deeper look at the very best students in America will reveal a dedication and work ethic which widely contrasts with theirs. Not every Chinese student wins medals at International math competitions, just as not every American student ignores homework and watches Grey�s Anatomy while studying.
Even putting inaccurate representation aside, Two Million Minutes suffers because its single-minded focus on math and science (particularly engineering), sells short the humanities, the social sciences, and the arts. Sure, Xiaoyuan Hu plays the violin and studies ballet, but her view of music as a �back-up plan� for college belies true love and enthusiasm. Likewise, Rohit Sridharan knows exactly where he is going with his life (Indian Institute of Technology or IIT, then a steady, financially rewarding job in physics) but at times, he seems beleaguered, resigned, and just a little bit resentful.
The message that executive producer, Harvard-educated Robert Compton, attempts to send is that in increasingly globalized economy, American needs to step up its game and invest more money and energy in math and science. The message itself is hardly earth-shattering. But Two Million Minutes personalizes what has been a statistical issue and turns concept into reality. Its analysis of attitude and psyche is its contribution towards the ongoing debate. Because ultimately, when we strive to reform education in America, we are looking to reform more than texts, labs, and curriculum; we are looking to reform an outlook on life.
