Education: What determines a successful school system?

NCTA at Trinity University

I was recently invited to attend an event hosted by the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (NCTA) at Trinity University in San Antonio since my book, Less Stress for Teachers, was being gifted to the guest teachers visiting from South Korea. During the American portion of the presentation, attendees were given impressive statistics about the South Korean school system:

205 school days – compared to our average of 180

8:00-4:00 school day – compared to our typical day of 8:30-3:30

Additional tutoring at a separate school (cram schools) until well into the evening – compared to no separate school for tutoring here

15 years in a traditional classroom – compared to 13 years here

85% of students enter college – compared to some areas in the U.S. that have a 50% high school drop-out rate

End result: South Korea ranks at the top of the world in nearly every school subject.

Those are the kinds of stats that make American teachers smack themselves on their foreheads and mutter things like, “Why can’t our schools be like that?” “Why can’t our students be like that?” “How will we ever compete?”

And those are the kinds of stats the media uses to crucify our education system and teachers.

But when you talk to the South Korean teachers, they tell us the human side of the story that can’t be quantified in statistics.

They have a labor problem because college graduates don’t want to work blue collar jobs. The U.S. tries to keep out low-wage workers, but they need to import them.

Their students must meet critical deadlines. The Korean teachers noticed that many of the American teachers they observed encouraged students to take their time.

Their students are stressed out beyond belief and are not encouraged to express their emotions. The teachers commented on how happy American students looked.

Their students’ names, grades and rankings are posted on a wall for everyone in the school to see. In the U.S. that would lead to some kind of lawsuit about a violation of privacy.

Their students don’t have hobbies and many don’t understand the meaning of fun.

Their students don’t have high school electives (“fun classes”) from which to choose.

End result: The U.S. ranks well below other nations on international exams, but we’re free and happy.

After their panel discussion, I had the chance to speak with a few of the South Korean teachers about the saying, “The grass is always greener.” We want to be like South Korea. South Korea wants to be like us. Or we think we do, anyway.

What is the best type of school system? That depends on who’s judging.  What do you think?

What does your pencil choice say about you?

Image via Wikipedia

I get a call every year to work at a high school with students who have been removed from their standard classroom environments. They have been invited to leave their home campuses for a variety of reasons – misbehavior, truancy or arrests. The choices and mistakes they’ve made have caused them to fall behind in their credits by one year or more. My job is to get them focused for their exit exams and help them with decision-making skills along the way. In a nutshell, I try to rewire how their brains think and plan for their exams – and life – so they can become productive citizens.

We have the same routine at the beginning of each one of my sessions. The students pick up their activity packets and borrow a pencil and highlighter to use for the class period. It dawned on me the other day when I watched how the students chose their pencils that their choices reflected who they are. Those who chose their pencils based on the sharpness of the writing tip were the same students who were working hard to make changes in their lives and get back on track. The students who chose their pencils based on the condition of the eraser were the same students who were fumbling aimlessly in life. They were already planning to make mistakes and erase the mess. Their counterparts, on the other hand, chose based on the tool they needed to complete their work; if they wound up needing an eraser later, they knew where to get one.

The attitude you have in your approach to projects will determine your success. If you start every day prepping for your tasks and telling yourself you will complete them, then you will. But if you start every day with the expectation that you won’t meet the standards, well, you’ll do just that.

So, how will you choose your pencil: by the sharpness of the tip or the size of the eraser?

Is it possible to live in 400 sf?

Image via Wikipedia

Space is finite, so anyone who lives in a small space has some tough choices to make about how many belongings they can own. Whether you’re living temporarily in a 10′ x 10′ dorm room or living permanently in a 400 square foot apartment, you’ll need to consider these options:

1. Choose a vision for your home. Do you want to live in a place that feels like a storage facility, crammed with boxes and stuff everywhere? Or do you want to be able to move around freely without any obstacles impeding your path? What do you want to come home to? When you close your eyes, what does that look like?

2. Determine the types of tasks you will need to complete in your home. Your answer will determine what zones you need to establish. You’ll need a place to sleep and an area to store clothing. What else will you do? Work at a computer? Read? Cook? Assign a “territory” to each task so that all the supplies you’ll need are located in that immediate vicinity instead of being spread out all over the place.

3. Go wall. Use wall storage as much as you can in order to utilize vertical space. The more floor that is visible, the more open your space will feel. If you have an open floor plan and want to separate your sleeping area from a living room, you can position stand-alone bookcases as a “wall” between the two areas. You gain privacy and storage at the same time.

4. Get creative. Don’t just think outside the box. Kick the box out the door. If you never cook but love to stay home and read, turn your kitchen into your library. Just because a room is named on the floor plan doesn’t mean you’re required to use the room in the same way.

Becoming a minimalist will be most helpful in creating more living space for yourself, but it doesn’t mean that your abode has to be sterile. Your home can still reflect your personality. Enjoy life without the burden of so much stuff.