Culminating assessment

When I first started taking this course, I thought that it was just going to be about how schools are different in other parts of the world, but I was wrong. We first discussed the culture as dynamic and contested. This is where we discussed accepting that everyone is different and that people should respect each others differences. Also, this made me see that not everyone is like there stereotypes to keep an open mind to others and hope that they will do the same. Since, I would with others that are from other countries, I have learned to be paition and work with them and help them learn aboutAmericaand our culture. I think that taking this class and working in the kind environment that I did help me apply what I have learned in this course to my real life. Like, stated in Comparative and International Education: An Introduction to Theory, Method and Practice “All cultures are shaped by events of the past (pg.92)”.  Since the men working at the Restaurant with me hated Americans for something they did in the past. It was hard for them to respect me in the beginning. We finally sat down and agreed that I was American, but wasn’t alive for these past events and that they shouldn’t hate all Americans. I think this changed there out look on me as a person. This also allowed them to be friends with Americans. This event also, reminded me of this movie, The Color of Friendship, when Piper is trying to get Marie to like her. Marie didn’t like Piper because she was black and in Marie Countries Blacks were the lower class, it was against the government to befriend them. Marie later let the color of Pipers skin by and this allowed them to be great friends. The reason Marie was against befriending because in her country they were going through a apartheid which is when blacks and Whites are separated. I think that coming toAmericawas the best thing for Marie she learned that blacks is the same as whites. She saw that blacks can have the same job, houses, and even drive cars. If she didn’t change her mind and open up to Piper’s family she wouldn’t have ever known about equal rights; that all people can be equal no matter whom they are.        

There are many cultures around the world, being American it is interesting to see how culture are is different. I decided to compare toEuropebecause both countries have a large economy, political stability, and strong military. The only big differences are the lifestyles. In the paragraphs following I will discuss how Americans are different than Europeans culture which gives an idea how people see each other and how cultures vary in different countries. The reason I picked Europe and America was because they are a lot alike with size, economy, and military , that the only really difference they have is their culture. I think that reading about this helps the understanding of different cultures. I learned this while taking this class that it’s important to understand their will be differences in culture. I learned the most about this goal by doing the different discussion groups. Hearing others stories and sharing ideas helped me see how others felt and see if I agreed with them of not. I believe that this also, covers the third goal of this course, analyze variability and heterogeneity within and across cultures. Though, I only comparedAmericatoEuropethrough out my discussions and others papers I have taken my travel experience and research to expanding my horizons with other cultures differences.

Americans healthcare is lacking compared toEurope. Hospitals will refuse patients treatment if they don’t have insurance or not US citizens. Europeans will treat anyone, no matter of citizenship or insurance. Doctor’s in theUSwill not treat patient if it is outside of their religious beliefs like, treating homosexuals, abortion, and birth control. While if Europeans did this they would loose their doctor’s license to practice for violation of the Hippocratic Oath. When traveling throughEuropethere are so many different languages, art, and food. While in theUnited Statesthere is only one language. Our food doesn’t really change as much as state by state. “ a person visiting New Jersey and Virginia as a tourist would have almost feel both are the same state (except the difference in street crime)” (Hickman 4). Americans have always seen as rushing around, while people inEuropeare more relaxed. Europeans will take time off of work to go home and nap. During the day, Europeans have almost 2 hours to sit down and enjoy there lunch. While Americans are seen as fast food eaters and running around everywhere. Europeans take their time to eat a little more seriously. When Europeans eat meals they have multiple course and use this time as a social activity with there families. This gives them time to discuss their day as a family. Also, when Europeans buy food they do it based on what they need for that day. Many places inEuropedo not have supermarkets; they have small personal owned places. While Americans are known for having a specific day that they go grocery shopping and we really only have Supermarkets. When going to Europe it is very unusual to find a strip mall or big malls like we have inAmerica. They are big at family owned businesses. For example, when you need meat a European would go to the Butcher. It very common for their meals to last for hours. When reading an article called American Vs European they said that the quality of education in theUnited Statesis much lower thanEurope, and lower than must third world countries. In theUnited Statesthey have a lower knowledge of “world history and politics, lower math, and scientific skills”.United StatesCollegeare expensive, and the better the University the more expensive they are. While aEuropeanUniversityis about the fraction of the price or in some case free likeGermany. These are just a few differences between Europe andAmerica.

When, Reading all these articles it was hard for me to understand when Europe sounds so much better thanAmerica. I feel that their culture is so much more enriched than Americans. When I livedItalyI remembered that being there was more relax thanAmerica. I also, felt that food their was more appreciated, while here people are just seeing to grab a sandwich as fast as we can. We don’t see the value in sitting down and enjoying that meal. The life they is more slow paced like around twelve it is very hard to find a clothing store that is open because people close down to have lunch and sometimes don’t open back up till like three. It just different than anything Americans have seen or done. Even though we are all different it is important to see that and when visiting others countries we should respect each others culture and lifestyle.

The last goal of this course, I think is to be experienced after this course is over. It is taking what we learned in this course and applying it the rest of our life. I have already started expanding my friendships with other countries, but I feel that it isn’t ever the end. There is always something new to learn about my culture and those of my friend. I took a class last semester that we talked to kids from other countries. Started my adventures with other cultures, which widened my horizons about different cultures. Then this summer, I started working with kids my age from other countries, I learned about there language and culture. They try to teach me a new word everyday. I feel that this isn’t the end and that spending out to be friends with others can help people learn about each other, instead of just the stereotypes of each other.

　

　

Sources:

Hickman, Sara. (2011). How is the European Lifestyle Different from the American Lifestyle?. EHow.

http://www.ehow.com/info_8716204_european-lifestyle-different-american-lifestyle.html

Judt, Tony. (2005). Europe vs.America. Nybook.

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2005/feb/10/europe-vs-america/

Daisy, Moon.(2010). Amerrican vs.Europe; which is the best place to Live?. hub page.

http://hubpages.com/hub/Europe-vs-America

(2007). Top 10 Differences between Europe andAmerica. Listverse.

http://listverse.com/2007/11/25/top-10-differences-between-europe-and-america/

Brooks,David. (2010). Opinionator.Americavs.Europelifestyles.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/13/america-v-europe/

 Philips, D. and Schweisfurth, M. (2008). Comparative and International Education: An Introduction to Theory, Method and Practice. London: Continuum.

Hopper, Lauren. Blackboard. (2011). Discussions. http://vista.csus.ct.edu/webct/cobaltMainFrame.dowebct

Hooks, Kevin. The color of Friendship. (2005).

Hopper, Lauren. WordPress. (2011).Essays.  https://hopperl.wordpress.com/category/essays/

The color of friendship

International Education

The Color of Friendship by Hook is about a young girl how is lives in California and she wants to have a foreign exchange students come to live with them for a semester. The girl form California, Piper was thinking that she was going to have a black African American stay with her. When the girl from Africa named Marie was paired with Piper she thought it was a white family. Marie has nothing against black people, she felt like she was friends with them. She had a maid in their house that Marie felt she was her “friend”. This movie was made when Africa had serious problems with black and whites being separated. The separation made whites a higher class and blacks were treated really badly this was called apartheid. Piper’s Dad is a congressman in California and he was would make speeches about the apartheid in South Africa. When Marie was first picked up at the airport, she was looking for a white family, but when she meet Piper she was cold and didn’t even shake Piper Mom’s hand. I think that this wasn’t to not show respect she just know anything else, but what her county and family tells her. Then, she goes to meet the congressman thinking that he would be a white politician. She was wrong when she walked in the room she the only white person this shocked her, because in Africa the whites over powered the blacks. Like, when blacks traveled they had to wear identification card that said what they did for a living and what route they were allowed to travel to. The moment that Marie truly understood her government was when she saw the news, and blacks Africans were trying to march for their rights while cops were beating them. She began to see how her country in all was different than the United States. She was very overwhelmed when this happened, she didn’t realize that her country was so bad. When she saw the news the first thing she did was called home to see if her father a cop was okay, then she watch the beating and tried to understand why she ever thought that was okay. I think if I saw this I would think about the new family I am part up and how I would feel if they were getting beaten because they wanted to have rights. I would be mad and confused why it was going on, because it was hidden from me my whole life.

Through out the movie, they had a shaky start with color being a problem. They were going to let Marie go to a different host family, but instead she stood up and wanted to stay. This was the best decision she made, because within the 4 months she lived with the host family she learned that blacks were the same as anyone else. That they weren’t lower class and just as good as whites. She learned a lot about her country that she didn’t know. Marie learned that her country was going through Apartheid, she didn’t even know what that meant. She learned that her government was controlling what the country was reading , watching, and many other things. When, she learned about all these things she was shocked about what her country was like. I think that this was good for her, she got the opportunity to see her country from another point of view. She this changed her whole out look on the blacks in her country. Even though she went back to South Africa, I feel that she will always feel differently about South Africa because what she learned. I feel that International education is important to understand when have a foreign exchange student in the house. When taking this course, I thought about this movie because of the difference in the teenage girls based on where they live. The movie shows how they thought they girls were going to be like. The stereotype of how they are, and how they should ask. I know its hard not to judge how people they will acted about their culture. Like, I work with foreign men that in their country woman aren’t allowed to work, so they sometimes don’t understand why woman would in the United States. You don’t realize how different country are till you spend time there or someone from there. I feel that Piper and Marie both learned this lesson that you can judge based on where they are and what color their skin are. Even though they struggled with each other to try to understand why they thought the way they did. Like, when Piper first met Marie she didn’t understand why she was so mean. It was Marie’s fault she was brought up to treat blacks badly. I would think if I was Marie I would be questioning why my country was that why. I would stand up for I believe in.

Hooks, Kevin. The color of Friendship. (2005).

Essay 9

This book has attempted to introduce key theories and concepts in international education and field of comparative. It explained how comparative education and international education. The chapters discussed purposeful application in education policy and practice. The education systems were discussed in depth about the way they work, and how they compared to each other. International organizations, including those concerned with development and development assistance, both conduct and use the research. The basic geography of the two domains demonstrates something of the complex connectedness of the activities they subsume. The international education helps the education develop around the world. Without international and their wouldn’t be education organization that help gather information and surveys about education, that help see how education changes and improves around the world.

Essay 8

The Eastern European schooling system is a lot different then the United States. In the united States we start at day care, if out parents want us too. Then, the kids will be moved into basic school from kindergarten to 12^th grade. When 12^th grade is over the American student could choose to go to college, trade school, or the work field. While compared to Europe which has a different system. They start schooling when their 3 years old. Instead of going to high school they are moved to a trade school, vocational school, or general studies. From their they go to technical school, or adult education for 2 to 3 years. Lastly, they will move on to an institution if they wish. I think that European schooling is longer and more in depth than the United States. The one thing Europe and Americans have in common is they want their young students to learn and excel. After thinking at the different school systems I think that I would have rather have gone the Eastern European schooling because I have always known what I wanted to do, so I could have gone to straight to my trade. While I know that other students are unsure about their job would be better with the American school system. Which you don’t have to choose your field of study till the middle of college. These two school system are successful in their own way.

Essay 7

The Chapter states that “ Each system of education can only be understand when seen in its own setting” (118). Its impossible to measure comprehensively of any system of national education. These surveys are done so that schools can be compared to others schools. Also, countries can compare to other countries. I find this really difficult to compare because schools in Europe have a different lay out than schools in the United States. The United States in sometimes looked at as having a bad education system, because we don’t have kids separated school based on our interest. The survey investigated many different areas like home schooling, science, reading comprehension, literacy, first foreign language, and many more areas of study. All these test makes the testing education systems in depth. These studies help all see the improvement of poor or smaller countries and help see where and how they can improve themselves. Even though schools and/or countries have different curriculums, education systems, and organize their schools in different ways. This give students a different experience at different school which makes it hard to test and compare. That is why the test are so in-depth and narrow. The large amount of dating collecting allows large schools to see how they can improve their percentage of students going to school, the improvement of students ability. and how they are taking up space . While, less developed schools can see how what other schools are doing and try to excel to that level. The surveys allow schools and countries to help develop each other.

Essay 6

When taking about education and understanding it, it can sometimes be hard because there are many different perspectives that people can have. The first perspective talked about was the Marxist and neo-Marxist. This theory is Karl Marx’s theory. His theory talks about developing and developed countries. When countries are developing their education system should be getting better, because with a good economy, more money can be moved into the school. Using this perspective shows that economically poor countries just keep getting poorer.Another Perspective is the The anthropological perspective which talks about the cultural aspect.This discusses how people studying the world view the world. there is also the Post colonialism perspective which focuses on slavery, race, migration, class, and gender. Gender is major perspective because people are working to make both genders equal. This perspective focuses on the rights and freedoms that all humans share. This perspective has three different parts to it. Rights in education, rights to education, and rights through education. I think that these views are important to the education field to know and understand.

Perspective

The first reading came from theUnited States, I do understand the statement, “Everyone’s into building their kids’ self-esteem by telling them they’re all “winners.” But I do agree with the fact that it is a good intent, but I think when the child sees that sometimes they don’t win, it might hit them hard emotional. I believe in telling kids to do their best and if that’s not enough then try harder next time. I think that way they will understand that you can’t win everything, but as long as you try hard you will not regret not winning. For Example, I was playing a final tournament hockey game and we ended up loosing, but till this day I don’t regret it because I played the hardest I could. I also think that failure, helps people learn from there mistakes. “We also increased school services for children with special needs”. I think this statement is the most important to me, because I have a special need. I know that my school spent a lot of money for me to get the best education I could. I found it funny, when I was looking for a high school that would make me most successful. I looked at a private school and the public school. The private school put the special needs kids in a smaller and different class, but really didn’t have anything for me. While the public high school, gave me a private teacher that would help me with all my school work. He would also, work on papers and help me read test. I found it interesting how a private school with more money had less special needs accommodations unlike, public schools that offered anything I needed. These statements discuss the importance that education is toAmerica.

 The second statement I picked is word from Gandhi’s views on education. I agree with the statement says, “Literacy in itself is no education”. This line really spoke to me because reading is everything. If someone can’t read it is very difficult for them to learn and teach themselves. In third world countries the first thing they want to teach in school is how to read because once you know the basics of reading, you can teach yourself with a book or expand your learning with books. When I was younger I never wanted to read and I think if I took interest in reading at a younger age I wouldn’t straggle with it as much as I do today.  When taking this course I have realized that you can teach yourself although I have a guide lines, I am still picking topics and article to fit within this course. If I didn’t know how to read I would be able to be educated right now. I don’t completely agree with this statement, “Real education has to draw out the best from the boys and girls to be educated”. I think that real education is what girls and boys are willing to learn. A teacher can teach students all kinds of things, but if they aren’t willing to learn the information then, they aren’t going to know it. I remember when I was in science class their was topics I wasn’t interesting in so I would learn it to pass the test, but that’s it , I probably couldn’t tell you anything about it today. These statements compared to the other ones makes,Indiafeels more spiritual about education.

Midterm Assessment

There are many cultures around the world, being American it is interesting to see how culture are is different. I decided to compare to Europe because both countries have a large economy, political stability, and strong military. The only big differences are the lifestyles.

Americans healthcare is lacking compared to Europe. Hospitals will refuse patients treatment if they don’t have insurance or not US citizens. Europeans will treat anyone, no matter of citizenship or insurance. Doctor’s in the US will not treat patient if it is outside of their religious beliefs like, treating homosexuals, abortion, and birth control. While if Europeans did this they would loose their doctor’s license to practice for violation of the Hippocratic Oath. When traveling through Europe there are so many different languages, art, and food. While in the United States there is only one language. Our food doesn’t really change as much as state by state. “ a person visiting New Jersey and Virginia as a tourist would have almost feel both are the same state (except the difference in street crime)” (Hickman 4). Americans have always seen as rushing around, while people in Europe are more relaxed. Europeans will take time off of work to go home and nap. During the day, Europeans have almost 2 hours to sit down and enjoy there lunch. While Americans are seen as fast food eaters and running around everywhere. Europeans take their time to eat a little more seriously. When Europeans eat meals they have multiple course and use this time as a social activity with there families. This gives them time to discuss their day as a family. Also, when Europeans buy food they do it based on what they need for that day. Many places in Europe do not have supermarkets; they have small personal owned places. While Americans are known for having a specific day that they go grocery shopping and we really only have Supermarkets. When going to Europe it is very unusual to find a strip mall or big malls like we have in America. They are big at family owned businesses. For example, when you need meat a European would go to the Butcher. It very common for their meals to last for hours. When reading an article called American Vs European they said that the quality of education in the United States is much lower than Europe, and lower than must third world countries. In the United States they have a lower knowledge of “world history and politics, lower math, and scientific skills”. United States College are expensive, and the better the University the more expensive they are. While a European University is about the fraction of the price or in some case free like Germany. These are just a few differences between Europe and America.

When, Reading all these articles it was hard for me to understand when Europe sounds so much better than America. I feel that their culture is so much more enriched than Americans. When I lived Italy I remembered that being there was more relax than America. I also, felt that food their was more appreciated, while here people are just seeing to grab a sandwich as fast as we can. We don’t see the value in sitting down and enjoying that meal. The life they is more slow paced like around twelve it is very hard to find a clothing store that is open because people close down to have lunch and sometimes don’t open back up till like three. It just different than anything Americans have seen or done. Even though we are all different it is important to see that and when visiting others countries we should respect each others culture and lifestyle.

　

　

Sources:

Hickman, Sara. (2011). How is the European Lifestyle Different from the American Lifestyle?. EHow.

http://www.ehow.com/info_8716204_european-lifestyle-different-american-lifestyle.html

Judt, Tony. (2005). Europe vs. America. Nybook.

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2005/feb/10/europe-vs-america/

Daisy, Moon.(2010). Amerrican vs. Europe; which is the best place to Live?. hub page.

http://hubpages.com/hub/Europe-vs-America

(2007). Top 10 Differences between Europe and America. Listverse.

http://listverse.com/2007/11/25/top-10-differences-between-europe-and-america/

Brooks, David. (2010). Opinionator. America vs. Europe lifestyles.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/13/america-v-europe/

Essay 5

Many cultures use a variety of methods in education as well as comparing education.  Some British have argued that education should be based on sociological law in the form. While, others think that the method of social science is a more appropriate way of comparative education. These two methods are really no longer used and are more as a methods like historical-philosophical. Some examples of these methods are: processes of analytical, descriptive, evaluative, and exploratory. Today, these methods would be different because of our technological advancement. This has cause education to increase there amount of information and education that should be done. It also allows countries to see each others education systems in comparison. Over time new methods will be created. I believe over time that countries should try to have a high but equal level of education even where so that people from other countries can still have their degree when they come over to America. I think that showing our education system is good, this will help others see what we are doing and many we will see what their education is like. This will help improve ours. Our international education has improved more and more each year, but we can also make things better as our technology and knowledge increases.

Russian CultureQuest

https://skydrive.live.com/P.mvc#!/view.aspx?cid=93D63DDC3A6579D8&resid=93D63DDC3A6579D8%21181