It looks like you were brought up with Western education and Chinese style discipline. I had much the same education as you, sans the discipline. And my father growing up had the discipline without the education.
So I find it a bit odd that you then say "I think - given my experience - that the "Chinese" have a much better handle on how to educate."
Going through point by point:
- complain about clothing
Discipline. Chinese.
- In time, I got the chance to co-design my curriculum on the elective level
Education. Western.
- Interestingly, my school day finished at around 2pm (started at 8)
Education. Western.
- The goal was understanding, not memorization
Education. Western.
- complain about dullness.
Discipline. Chinese.
The basic question here is - are the student's ideas worth hearing ?
Actually, that is rather besides the point. Being able to discuss ideas, go out on a limb, work well in groups, etc are important skills. Providing feedback to the teacher is critical in a group setting. Even incorrect ideas put forward by a student can get the other students to really think about the topic.
I would say, rather, that I was brought up on principles that emphasized discipline, along with intellectual freedom and curiosity. The implementation of this emphasized discipline as I was a young child, then shifting towards freedom as I got old enough to have useful impact on curricula development. Neither of those precisely map to the US or the Chinese norms.
Comments
It looks like you were brought up with Western education and Chinese style discipline. I had much the same education as you, sans the discipline. And my father growing up had the discipline without the education.
So I find it a bit odd that you then say "I think - given my experience - that the "Chinese" have a much better handle on how to educate."
Going through point by point:
- complain about clothing
Discipline. Chinese.
- In time, I got the chance to co-design my curriculum on the elective level
Education. Western.
- Interestingly, my school day finished at around 2pm (started at 8)
Education. Western.
- The goal was understanding, not memorization
Education. Western.
- complain about dullness.
Discipline. Chinese.
Actually, that is rather besides the point. Being able to discuss ideas, go out on a limb, work well in groups, etc are important skills. Providing feedback to the teacher is critical in a group setting. Even incorrect ideas put forward by a student can get the other students to really think about the topic.
I would say, rather, that I was brought up on principles that emphasized discipline, along with intellectual freedom and curiosity. The implementation of this emphasized discipline as I was a young child, then shifting towards freedom as I got old enough to have useful impact on curricula development. Neither of those precisely map to the US or the Chinese norms.