I really enjoyed hearing the speakers on Monday talk about their teaching experiences in other countries. It was very interesting to hear the similarities and differences of how teachers were viewed in their society. According to this website,
http://www.onlinecolleges.net/2011/08/16/the-10-best-countries-to-be-a-teacher/,
it seems like the best countries to be a teacher in are in either Asia
or
Europe, which happens to be the same countries that the speakers are
from.
I wasn't too surprised to hear that teachers were more respected in
other countries than in the United States. Those same countries from the website mentioned earlier have the highest
graduation rates
(http://www.aneki.com/oecd_countries_high_school_graduation_rates.html). I think culture plays a huge role in that idea because in some
countries, children are taught to respect their elders at a very young age. Also, the education system in other countries can be a lot
more strict than ours and won't tolerate certain behaviors. I mean the speaker from Korea even said that some students would try to call the cops on their teachers!
However, I was very surprised to hear that the salary of a teacher were pretty similar in other countries. I always thought that since teachers were more respected in other countries, that they would get paid a little more. I also thought that teachers in other countries would require more training than the United States, since they seem to take education more seriously, but the amount of education needed to be a teacher is also pretty similar.
It was very informative having the three guest speakers come to class on Tuesday. I love hearing about life in other countries...so hearing about how schools are around the word was definitely interesting. In your post, you briefly mentioned how other countries seem to take education more seriously. On Tuesday, the speaker from Korea mentioned that students from her country spend their time memorizing to they can later regurgitate it for exams. She also said that in studying this way, she feels it's harder to use the information in real life settings. I found that COMPLETELY interesting! If you study to memorize for a test only, are you really taking anything substantial away from what you learn? This class for example, we don't need to memorize a thing...but I already know that I will be walking away with more information that I came into this class with. I'm also willing to bet I "learn more" from this class than another class I'm currently taking where we are quized and tested on the material weekly. Just something interesting to think about, ya know?
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