I heard Yong Zhao, from the University of Portland, speak at the ATA sponsored Educational Futures Symposium on March 19, 2011. He provided interesting food for thought for this blog. China has launched a comprehensive reform of its education system. They have cut hours for math and increased hours of instruction for physical education, the Arts, and complementary courses.
They are broadening their curriculum, certainly increasing local autonomy (they had been nationally centralized), cutting down the burden of academia on their students and minimizing using test scores as measures of teacher and school evaluation.
In short, they are diversifying the definition of achievement in Zhao's words.The Asian countries are now focusing on Creativity.
It is interesting that while we in North America worry about Mathematics and the teaching of it, China is worried about Physical Education and the Arts. Perhaps it is time for our innovations to meet in the middle somewhere or as Zhao says, Distance is Dead - we are in one world, together
You can learn more about Yong Zhao"s ideas at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNpZ60IJ42o
