Week 2
School System in the United States
Primary school
Kindergarten-5th grade
Secondary school is divided into two programs:
middle school (6th-8th grade)
high school(9th-12th grade)
students typically attend school for about 7 hours each weekday(Rybak).
Teacher-student relationships
The student-teacher relationship is very open and the students are willing to talk to their teachers(Hassan and Jamaludin).
Classroom Participation
-Personal expressions are valued heavily(Rybak).
To engage students in the learning process, teachers ask lots of questions during class(Lu).
Students must raise their hands in order to answer the question(Lu).
When no one raises his/her hand, teachers still ask students to try to answer the question as best as they can(Rybak).
Teachers also try to encourage student to be active in class by sharing their ideas or proposals openly in class(Hassan and Jamaludin).
To do this, teachers often assign students a broad topic to give students unlimited space to think and apply their knowledge.
Teachers don't require students to copy down each and every single word shown on the board. Instead, teachers encourage students to write down only what's important(Lu)
Classroom Structure
Students have each class in a different room with a different set of classmates(Rybak).
Class sizes range from 25 to 30 students(Dalian).
Desks are often combined to help students work in groups(Hassan and Jamaludin).
References
-Dallian. "12 Differences between Chinese Education and American Education." N.p., 1 June 2007. Web. 20 Feb. 2016.
-Hassan, Aminuddin and Nur Syuhada Jamaludin. "Approaches & Values in Two Gigantic
Educational Philosophies: East and West."Online Educational Research Journal.1.2 (2010): 1- 15. Web. 20 Feb. 2016.
-Lu, Echo. "3 Big Differences between Chinese and American Classroom Culture"Weareiu.com. N.p., 17 Sept. 2013. Web. 20 Feb. 2016.
-Rybak, Grace. "Education Differs in China and America." China Insight. N.p., 2 July 2009. Web. 20 Feb. 2016.