Response to Erik's Response to Zac's Blog: Education

Erik brings up some good ideas about the education system that made me think of certain things in different ways.  I agree with what he says about advanced placement classes being beneficial to students that excel in certain subjects. I think that these types of classes are important in helping kids that are interested in pursuing careers that involve those subjects and are interested in getting a head start. I don't think that these classes discourage other less excelling students from trying hard in school. They may view kids that take AP classes as smart kids but it will not deter them from their own academic endeavors. In the second paragraph where he talks about the two students comparing test grades I believe that the attitude whether to try and out-do or to give up trying, is solely a personal choice and not a trend of students. The part where he talks about learning undesired or unhelpful subjects keeps bringing one thought to my mind, the Japanese and Chinese education system. He is reflecting on how in the United States we expose kids to all different aspects of education to broaden their knowledge before they choose what are of study they want to focus on. In Japan and China there is an education system set up similar to what Erik is talking about. From an early age the child decides on what he or she wants to do in life and then begins to focus on that area of study from as early as middle school. So far in this century the two different education systems can be compared not as good or bad but as different or good in their own ways. The Japanese and Chinese education systems have been successful in producing experts in certain fields while the US education system has produced people that are intelligent in various different areas. It is a cultural difference that has both positive and negative sides to it. Similar to the foreign education systems we have magnet schools and technical schools that help students focus on certain areas of study from earlier ages than college. I see some negative sides to this type of education because it refrains the individual from having a wide variety of knowledge and becoming a well rounded person and rather makes them a single minded one track kind of person.