Two Million Minutes a Life Lesson

 

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit Bogota, Colombia, and while there as you walk in the center of the city near Plaza Bolivar, you will encounter many students.  As an American, often we get stuck in our own ethnocentricities relative to perspectives. Bogota, unbeknownst to many, is quite an international city.  There are students from all over the world visiting and living in Colombia.  I was struck by the number of internationals arriving on the plane with me, and while frequenting many locations that the locals do.  The thing that really struck me was their take on education, (my friend Diego is an English language teacher) and the seriousness that they approach the study of it. 

In Bogota, and all over Colombia you will find students of a variety disciplines from art to science to engineering to philosophy.  I encountered Indians, Chinese, Australians, Americans, British, and other nationals all over the city.  Having the opportunity and curiosity, I admit, to engage in conversation is a delightful experience.  Sometimes we get caught up in our own little space, but right now somewhere someone is living an entirely different life with entirely different stimuli that will affect their life.  Education and learning are very unique things, and, in my little opinion, might be something as Americans we take for granted, not just what we learn, but the ability to learn at all.

The first thing to mention was the beginning of class displayed in the film.  It might be a small note, but the kids all bowed as the class started, which I believe shows national pride as well as respect to the principle of learning.  Our country has changed in the respect of fostering national pride in the classroom.  The pledge of allegiance, which was a formality in years past, is now absent in many schools, as well as prayer.  That may be a small thing to notice but I did.  There are some who believe that our educational system has deteriorated over the years, and the line of demarcation coincides with the removal of these two practices.  It has become a bit of a cultural fad in some part of the country to be harbor anti-American sentiments in respect to the Flag, as well as voice displeasure to some of the societal issues that been ongoing in relation to certain members of our country.  For me, this simple act

did cause me to think about how we were once similar in this practice, but no more, and what are the consequences throughout our educational system as we continue this trend?  As the video stated, Americans don’t know we are competing with the Chinese because we are in our own little bubbles.

In India the student emphasized that it is either academics or nothing else.  I thought that profound because in America we have fall backs, and in today’s social media culture we are even influenced to consider alternative routes to success.  Education is the prime medium to individual and family success, economic mobility, and quality of life.  Thus, you would have to see that importance of the approach of Indian students in contrast to American students in general.  On the simplest level education is connected to poverty, instability, and overcoming it.  I don’t necessarily believe Americans have the same approach in totality because the average citizen does not believe if they never acquire an education, they will have serious concerns on whether they will have food, housing, clothing, health, and employment insecurity.  For the most part Americans don’t have the fear in connection with educational pursuit.

It was a fascinating choice to review one of the top schools in Indiana, which is in the top 5% of America in respect to graduation rates.  That comparison to St. Paul’s English School in India, which was a family run school and for profit speaks volumes to the opportunity of education that is normal here in contrast to there.  This reality was emphasized by Neil, the student from Indiana who stated that in five years he had many choices or routes that his life might go.  When you consider that Indian students, their whole life trajectory is based upon their subject field, and the student declared he knew the direction of his life, and that he would probably obtain a Master.  Engineering is the major discipline in India, and that is accepted as a natural consequence of their culture, and as she stated to get rich – that obviously is connected to extreme poverty. In China, the young students, who seemed bright were undeclared with their goals, and expressed the feeling of joy that would connect with academic achievement.

The statistics about the percentage of science and math taken in American schools in comparison to international students caught my attention too.  As one person stated that the barriers that existed before the internet are non-existence now, and the competition globally is now at all time high.  Tim Draper, said that our system of education has failed structurally, and the film gave some alarming number on the math abilities of African and Latino Americans.  The US placed 24^th in Mathematics out of 29 of the world’s developed countries.  That is an interesting number to consider.  Just think that the engineer compared his opportunity to earn income in connection with education, and how there so many extremely intelligent people living in countries like India and China without the opportunity to be employed.  Education is a passport out of poverty for these students and families, which reveals the lack of hunger and motivation in the US according to the film.

I believe that all three countries have the academic prowess, but it appears that the technical and science fields of subject are placed on a win-all level in India and China.  Education as an approach is the prime objective of those students.  In America we teach the same subjects, but as the Indian girl stated, the American student life is like a dream.  They have so many options, and they can study if they want to or not.  In India, the girl was studying on the weekends it seems like part of regular life.  It is a boom or bust mentally, and I can attest to that reality because I know the pressure from my friends in India.  Just learning English is critical to changing their life!  The high school experience in India is simpler because the intensity of education is tantamount to success, and graduation is not an option.  The dire reality of life is similar in China where studying is the top priority.  I can recall my own high school years where education was a formality, but it was accompanied by other pursuits like sports or language or extracurricular activities.  I did not get the sense of that balance so to speak culturally was available abroad during this time in the student’s life.  The stress of learning is on another bar for Indian and Chinese students.  Brittany spoke about the time she had to kick back and enjoy life as well as study.  I think we take the simple freedom as students here for granted.  There is time for our lives to be defined and it is not the all-out approach that other countries take towards educational achievement.  Just think Neil said he took the PSAT and didn’t think it was that hard, and Purdue offered him a full scholarship.  Imagine if that offer was made to one of the Indian students?  That is a dream for international students to have opportunities like that, but in America that is commonplace.

In conclusion, as they addressed the Chinese model for the school year, and the realization that they have spent twice as much time studying as American students, you get the idea how important it is over there.  I believe international students do have an advantage because of the intensity of the approach, but socially that might create problems because of the ability to be a whole person [well rounded]. Of course, that is an assumption, international students suffer in that aspect, but perhaps that is American culture speaking.  In contrast, American students could benefit from a more serious approach to learning.  Perhaps not on the scale of the Chinese, because of the variety of culture across the country, as school is different depending on the region.  China and India are simplistic because of the uniqueness of the culture and way of life.  To create a nationalistic approach to education would not be successful in my opinion in America as the idea of individualism is part of the fabric of our country.  Overall, I thought this was a very interesting look at education and its goals depending on the country.