Do schools kill student creativity?

Dreams for my son

My little boy just turned 8 months old. If the last 8 months were any indicator I am sure that in no time he will be on the bus going to school! While I am truly looking forward to the benefits of his growing up in the United States I also worry about him missing out on what I had growing up in India. While I am excited about him growing up to be confident and independent I worry if he will respect the wisdom of age and experience. While I am sure he will be an effective communicator, I wonder if he will be able to solve Math problems in his head. While I know that he will have all the possible options that anyone can ever have while growing up in a developed country I shudder to think of him growing up without the fire in his belly and determination to succeed no matter what!

Well, you may say, no one forced him to study in the United States, if it is so worrisome, or is it? I don't know why I worry. But more importantly I don't know why I have to chose one or the other - why can't I have it all? Why can't my son have the best of both worlds, in fact why can't he have the best of all the world? Why Can't he?

Is it ever cool to drop out of school?

Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs...the list of illustrious names continues... the new big name is Tumblr CEO, David Karp. All these guys did not complete their education, but went on to not just become billionaires, but to change the world.

Tumblr CEO: To drop out or stay in school, that is the question for wunderkinds

It is a great talking point, when discussed in the context of poor public education or super smart whiz kids, but the discussion should end right there. As many and as exceptional as they may seem, these folks are outliers with streaks of genius and good luck.

The school system, with all its imperfections still is absolutely necessary not just for an education, but for preparing the next generation of  citizens.

Use of Technology keeps students engaged

The internet era students find it rather hard to sit still in class and listen to long monotonous lectures. For teachers,as if the increased administrative demands of testing and formative assessments are not hard enough to keep up with, keeping students engaged and interested has become a task of its own. In this situation, technology is the two edged sword that can come to a teacher's rescue. It not only helps teachers with record keeping, keeping track of assessments and conducting research, but when employed rightly, it can also help keep students engaged and interested.

How To Use YouTube In Your History Class - Edudemic

Americans fear Math and Indians fear the competition

The educational news headlines across the United States today are about the PISA (Program for International Students) results and what can be done to improve the Math and Reading abilities of American teens. 

I did my engineering in India and MBA in the US and I have a first hand feel of average American students screaming out in distress when the professor happens to write a formula on the board and God forbid if it has variables and even worse if the variables are Greek alphabets..while the average International Students in the class will exchange quiet "there they go again" glances. But that is just the average population. In fact, there are some super smart Math ( Science, Economics...you name it) wiz kids too, the thought leaders and the geniuses who are better than the rest of the world - the only problem is that they are not always idolized and glorified like the sports stars and pop icons who seem to capture the imagination of the nation. In short, it is not cool to be a genius in the US. The Americans import a lot of these uncool geniuses from China, India, Russia, Poland and have absolutely no problem doing it, while they continue to cry hoarse about exporting low skilled, low paid jobs to China and India!

Indian students on the other hand, famously from the land of Aryabhata and Shakuntala Devi, don't bat an eyelid as they dive into complex mathematical problems and effortlessly do Math in their heads, remember their times tables and other formulas - Math is child's play and it is worn on the sleeve - proudly, like a badge of honor!

So I looked through the PISA results to see where India stood in the ranking. I started looking in the space above the United States - No, I looked below the United States - No. I looked at the bottom of the table - No - where was India? Apparently India did not participate in the tests. Why? The last time India took the test in 2009, it ranked at the bottom of the table, worse than Kazhakstan and Moldova, so India backed away from taking the test in 2012 explaining that Indian students were not prepared - Really?

2009 to 2012 was not sufficient to prepare students who inherently enjoy Math - at least with a focus on Math and Science to start with? Do we see a pattern here? Why does India lose in cricket to Pakistan even when it has a better team? After 50 years of Independence and with a population of over 1 billion, why does India still not have a single gold medal at the Olympics? India is supposedly one of the oldest of civilizations- why aren't there enough Nobel laureates? India once considered herself better than China and now China is topping the PISA ranking in Math, Science and in Reading. Does India get cold feet when she sees competition?

Speaking Mandarin like the Chinese

My little niece who is three, talks to her parents in Tamil and effortlessly switches to English when she talks to me over Skype, because I am in the US of A! I do speak Tamil, but we encourage her to speak in both languages because it is an essential skill to have in a global economy.

Indians, Singaporeans and other former English colonies have used our ability to communicate in English to our advantage as we maneuvered the global stage and have attracted several offshore jobs that require a working knowledge of English.

And now as China catches up at the world stage, it is commendable that the CBSE board has chosen to hire Chinese teachers to begin teaching Mandarin in some Delhi Schools.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/CBSE-to-get-25-Chinese-teachers-for-Delhi-schools/articleshow/26060289.cms

I always wished we were taught English by the English and French by the French, but thanks to the complexity of the Mandarin language we finally get to learn a foreign language from a native foreign speaker. I think it is a wonderful idea and wish CBSE students will take advantage of the opportunity.

Learning a foreign language not only provides an advantage in later years, but it also stimulates brain development and increases sensitivity to cultures different from ones own from a very early stage. Keep it up CBSE!