Daca ne uitam la testele internationale standardizate de mate descoperim ca tarile asiatice conduc detasat, cu diferente substantiale (90+% fata de 20+% pentru tarile occidentale). Explicatia ar fi ca agricultura europeana, care a format societatile in care traim noi, are la baza un efort sustinut in anumite sezoane urmate de lungi perioade de repaos. Sarbatorile noastre, religioase sau nu, sunt determinate si ele de acest ciclu (ziua recoltei, pastele etc). Ca urmare, am invatat sa privim acest efort ca pe un “rau necesar” si sa celebram repaosul si timpul liber. Iata ce zice Kenneth Gold (PDF):
[the reformers] strove for ways to reduce time spent studying, because long periods of respite could save the mind from injury. Hence the elimination of Saturday classes, the shortening of the school day, and the lengthening of vacation—all of which occurred over the course of the nineteenth century. Teachers were cautioned that ‘when [students] are required to study, their bodies should not be exhausted by long confinement, nor their minds bewildered by prolonged application.’ Rest also presented opportunities for strengthening cognitive and analytic skills. As one contributor to the Massachusetts Teacher suggested, ‘it is when thus relieved from the state of tension belonging to actual study that boys and girls, as well as men and women, acquire the habits of thought and reflection, and of forming their own conclusions, independently of what they are taught and the authority of others’.
Problema vacantelor lungi, identificata demult de profesori, este ca elevii saraci care nu au preparator si nu iau meditatii uita totul in timpul vacantei de vara, in fiecare an reintorcandu-se s-o ia de la zero. Asa ceva insa nu se intampla in tarile asiatice – cel putin, nu la acelasi nivel. In contrast cu graul, cultivarea orezului implica o munca aproape continua si mult mai multa ingeniozitate. Nu exista vacante, nu exista repaos:
Culturile care considera ca drumul spre succes se afla în trezitul de dimineata înainte de ivirea zorilor 360 de zile pe an nu vor da copiilor lor trei luni de pauza în timpul verii. Anul scolar în Statele Unite este, în medie, 180 de zile. Anul scolar din Coreea de Sud este de 220 de zile; cel japonez, 243 de zile.
One of the questions asked of test takers on a recent math test given to students around the world was how many of the algebra, calculus and geometry questions covered subject matter that they had previously learned in class. For Japanese twelfth graders the answer was 92 percent. That is the value of going to school 243 days a year. You have the time to learn everything that needs to be learned—and you have less time to unlearn it. For American twelfth graders the comparable figure was 54 percent. For its poorest students, America doesn’t have a school problem. It has a summer vacation problem. (..) There is actually a significant scientific literature measuring Asian ‘persistence.’ In a typical study Priscilla Blinco gave large groups of Japanese and American first graders a very difficult puzzle and measured how long they worked at it before they gave up. The American children lasted, on average, 9.47 minutes. The Japanese children lasted 13.93 minutes, roughly 40 percent longer.
Acestea sunt confirmari empirice ale “Principiului lui Matei” (25:29), care spune Caci tot celui ce are i se va da si-i va prisosi, iar de la cel ce n-are si ce are i se va lua (Merton 1988, countries, Merton 1962, Deduction). In lupta pentru supravietuire, suportul familial este deosebit de important – faimosul studiu al IQ-ului superior facut de Prof Lewis Terman (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) de la Stanford demonstreaza asta cu prisosinta - dar acesta cu greu poate fi obtinut in randul familiilor a caror unica speranta de a manca suficient este sa doneze organe sau sa puiasca pe contract.
In USA pentru parintii si copiii care vor sa sparga ciclul saraciei exista scolile KIPP. In Bronx de pilda (dar nu peste tot) intrarea se face prin tragere la sorti, nu prin examen. In astfel de scoli elevii stau intre 7:30 a.m. si 5:00 p.m. de Luni pana Vineri si 8:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Sambata, cam de doua ori pe luna, cei din invatamantul gimnazial participand de asemenea in 2-3 saptamani meditatii obligatorii in scoala de vara, plus activitati extracurriculare dupa scoala si Sambata. Ca urmare, elevii KIPP petrec cu peste 60% mai mult timp la scoala decat colegii lor din alte scoli, si asta se cunoaste in rezultate (PDF):
Using a matched comparison group design, results show that for the vast majority of KIPP schools in the evaluation, impacts on students’ state assessment scores in math and reading are positive, statistically significant, and educationally substantial.
Discutia asta a este frecvent purtata in USA. Un recent articol din WSJ prilejuit de lansarea cartii Battle Hymn Of The Tiger Mother pune exact aceasta intrebare: sunt mamele chineze superioare (Amy Chua, vezi wsj-chinese-mothers dedesubt)? S-au inghesuit sa raspunda NMA, Fox, Lisa VanDamme si multi altii pe care nu-i mai mentionez. Extremele se ating, dat fiind ca avem de a face cu stilul de educatie al parintilor asiatici al caror sistem este hipercompetitiv si bazat pe rezultate, comparat cu cel vestic, a carui mascota este Finlanda, unde accentul se pune pe “self-esteem”. Poate ca raspunsul se afla undeva la mijloc, permitand celor bogati sa aleaga daca vor sistemul vestic, dar fortandu-i pe cei din zone dezavantajate in sistemul asiatic / KIPP. In fond, nu-i vina copiilor saraci ca s-au nascut in familii cu mai putini bani – de ce sa sufere generatii din aceasta pricina?
Is this a lot to ask of a child? It is. But think of things from [the child’s] perspective. She has made a bargain with her school. She will get up at five forty-five in the morning, go in on Saturdays, and do homework until eleven at night. In return, KIPP promises to take kids (..) who are stuck in poverty and give them a chance to get out. It will get 84 percent of them up to or above their grade level in mathematics. On the strength of that performance, 90 percent of KIPP students get scholarships to private or parochial high schools instead of having to attend their own desultory high schools in the Bronx. And on the strength of that high school experience, more than 80 percent of KIPP graduates go on to college. (..) How could that be a bad bargain?
In partea a III-a ajungem in sfarsit la plata copiilor pentru a merge la scoala.
Sources / More info: KIPP-books, vipulnaik-gladwell-critique, kipp, wiki-kipp, wsj-chinese-mothers, parenting-allankatz