What Does Scout Think of Current Fashions in Education

A truck arrives at your firm. A couple you've never met before open the back and brainstorm unloading stacks of cleaved woods, cracked tiles, dried out plaster, bent nails, stripped screws, used electrical wiring, dented sheets of metal, and a hammer made of hopes and dreams. They say, "Build us a house!"

You practice your all-time. For years, you lot proceed in this Kafkaesque nightmare, more people come up with more supplies. You fight fires and floods and you build house after firm after house. No one thanks y'all and most of what you lot build is shipped away unfinished into the scrapyard of life.

This is what it's similar to be a teacher. Except that, lest we forget, you're also in a grotesque fairy-tale where planks of forest and strips of canvas-metallic accept mouths that oft bite and sometimes tell yous to fuck yourself.

If that seems dreary, endeavour to call back what it felt similar to be a pile of stripped screws, bent nails, and scrapped lumber.

'Sometimes they throw puberty at you'

I've taught many Russian students over the years, both in and out of a classroom. In this time, I've learned one matter: they are simply like students all over the world: they are intelligent and funny and hardworking and yes, sometimes they throw puberty at you.

When I reached out to Russians to hash out their education, I found a genuine concern and a cracking bargain of passion. I expected anecdotes, petty complaints, and conflicting ideologies. What I received was a series of very consistent constructive ideas on where the Russian education organisation has gone wrong that are well worth ruminating over:

Curriculums are focused more on math and science than on humanities

Despite having one of the highest literacy rates in the world, (~100% compared to the U.Due south. ~86%) Some of the Russians I spoke to criticize their education system for not focusing enough on humanities:

"About the education system itself I think we accept more deep learning in exact sciences (physics, biological science, and chemistry are separated) so it explains why there are a lot of Russian hackers and mathematicians." – Zoe, current high school pupil in Russian federation.

"Humanities in general are considered to be the despicable fate of those who are incompetent of doing math and physics. Thus, the technical subjects would be superior, while humanities would serve equally leftovers." – Ulia, graduated from high school in 2015.

Notwithstanding, not everyone agrees. Ane highschool biology instructor has constitute that students are much more probable to excel in history over math and scientific discipline:

"Almost students do non know biology, chemistry, or physics very well. I am preparing some of them for exams, so I know immediate. Meanwhile, judging by my experiences with Russian students, they're better in history. It's hard to say on what Russian schools focus. School in the USSR were skilful in math and geography, merely now there are likewise many quondam teachers who have problems with computers and the cyberspace. On the other hand, there are some really practiced schools in cities." – Evgeny, highschool biology teacher in Russia.

There's a lack of critical thinking and personal expression:

When I was in loftier school disquisitional thinking was lauded as an essential attribute of didactics. I was taught to think and be disquisitional of everything; except my teachers, the textbook, my homework, the school, my parents, the primary – information technology was nearly important to be critical of authorization that was very far away, or dead.

"Compared with my experience with American universities (I know some people who teach students) — on subjects like social studies, history, etc. we most never wrote papers that were aimed at expressing our thinking, and Americans do information technology all the time. We were, like, "This scholar wrote that…," and hither you finer summarize their opus magnum, or "At that place are 2 approaches to this problem: first, …, and as opposed to this, in that location's another view..." Very rarely it was required that a student actually expresses their ain stance and debate it." – Nadja, studied in Russian federation in the early 2000s.

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"Russian education does not seem to facilitate personal or professional development of a kid, just rather holds an ambition of bluntly transitioning the facts written in a Soviet textbook into a student's head…The complete absence of critical thinking is probably the most obvious trouble in Russian schools. Nosotros are taught what to think, not how to call back, which is exactly the opposite of what didactics should be nigh." – Ulia, graduated from high schoolhouse in 2015.

"Trying to teach you how to think critically is a rare matter, even if a teacher is a young aware person, he/she cannot do anything with that due to the staff and curriculum. Trying to make some real sense is a directly path to being fired. So, yeah, the educational organisation is outdated, it doesn't do its piece of work as it did in the USSR, times accept changed." – Denis, taught biological science to Russian students in Grades 5 and 9.

There's a lack of choice for Russian students to explore new subjects

"In Russian high school y'all more often than not can't choice subjects and make upward your own schedule. Y'all have a fixed schedule, with dissimilar subjects every day, yous have a paper school diary where you write that schedule and write down your homework assignments… In the U.S., I could pick any subjects that I like, every bit long as combined they give you at to the lowest degree the minimum amount of credit required to pass the term. I liked this approach: I picked AP calculus and AP physics because I liked math, and I didn't take to torture through chemical science or biology or art or any other subject I find excruciatingly boring." – Ilya, studied in USA and Russia.

"In my fourth dimension, Russian school education had little to no subjects by choice, and you had to consummate bare minimum courses in math, physics, chemistry, astronomy, and other stuff that you lot may or may not need. That seems similar a waste material of time and endeavor for vertical pedagogy evangelists, but really this basis provides you a amend grab-all foundation for broad horizons, arrangement thinking and teaches you to run across connections between things." – Nadja, studied in Russia in the early 2000s.

What are teachers like in Russia?

"The concluding but not the least – the attitude. The teacher is always right. They can hands call a student an idiot, an imbecile, an incompetent nobody – that is mutual exercise. The children are shown that they tin exist treated like shit by the more than powerful others and practise nil about it. Of grade, at that place are groovy teachers with true love for education and children, but they are more likely to be an exception rather than the norm. Education is our past, present, and well-nigh chiefly, our future. It demands a drastic transition." – Ulia, graduated from high school in 2015.

"Well, information technology'due south more than about respect every bit you said, not subject area. Quite frequently teachers (usually ones from the Soviet era) are really conservative like Putin is the only true leader, women have to care more about the family than the career and stuff, and it'south hard to find the line between respectful disagreement and existence a moron." – Zoe, current highschool student in Russia.

"If we talk about the learning procedure itself, and then in the West the teacher tries to be a friend and person, then in the Russian schoolhouse teachers are oftentimes fenced off from students by the severity and the need to consummate tasks." – Nika, University Educatee Studying Technology.

Many teachers are underpaid and unmotivated

Ane of the other nearly consistent comments I received rings true all over the world: if we go on to pay teachers below-par salaries, future generations volition suffer.

"But, the 1 big 'simply,' is the salary. Teachers, such important people in people's lives, still get depression salaries. It's just barely possible to stay positive and spread joy in such weather condition for a long time, you know. You just must exist created for that to carry on similar this long-term." – Denis, taught biological science to Russian students in Grades 5 and 9.

"Teaching is non a well-paid job in Russia, so people who actually want to earn money don't piece of work in education. Which means those who stay in education, whether they really similar it or just desire to torture other people. Unfortunately, those who similar teaching tin can't last long at schools or universities and they leave the field, disappointed." – Daria, graduated high-school in 2007.

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It fascinates me that policy makers allocate funds to make schools more high-tech without understanding a unproblematic truth almost education: a not bad teacher can impart far more with a stick and a pile of sand than a bad teacher with all of the iPads in the world.

I'one thousand one of those foolish people who believe that education is the central to solving the world's bug, only this means coin needs to be ameliorate spent.

In America, nosotros have a yearly budget for education that amounts to $68 billion. In Russia, the yearly budget for pedagogy is $10 billion. If we stack these numbers up against American and Russian military budgets, nosotros get a good thought of our countries' priorities: Russian federation: $69 Billion. America: $600 billion.

So, here is my wild idea:

Why doesn't the world spend some of the money information technology uses to kill each other to compensate compassionate, well-educated teachers who are the simply ones who stand a risk at raising a new generation of people who might not want to kill each other every bit much. Perhaps this would grant the world more parents who admire teachers, rather than call up they know better; students who are eager to attend classes and learn, rather than wallow in boredom and resentment; and policy makers who understand the value of a mentor and guide in pedagogy, rather than our medley of politicians with their thumbs up their asses.

But what do I know, I graduated from public school.

Benjamin Davis, an American author living in Russian federation, explores various topics, from the pointless to the profound, through conversations with Russians. Last time he explored what Russians think of guns. If you accept something to say or want Benjamin to explore a particular topic, write us in a comment department below or write us onFacebook.

If using any of Russia Across's content, partly or in full, always provide an active hyperlink to the original material.

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