EDUC 200 - SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENT

Task 1. Big Picture Questions

Question 1 – Name 4 countries that have a great educational system. Based on
what you learned in this course, what are 3 similarities that these countries
have in common? What are some factors that have helped these countries to
excel in the area of education?
4 countries that have some of the best educational systems include Finland,
Korea, Poland, Singapore and Shanghai, China. According to the book, “The
Smartest Kids in the World” by Amanda Ripley, it states that these successful
countries fit into the following categories: “1) the utopia model of Finland, a
system built on trust in which kids achieved higher-order without excessive
competition or parental meddling; 2) the pressure-cooker model of South Korea,
where kids studied so compulsively that the government had to institute a study
curfew; and 3) the metamorphosis model of Poland, a country on the assent, with
nearly as much child poverty as the United States, but recent and dramatic gains
in what kids knew (Ripley 25).” The author was even thinking about pursuing
studies in Singapore or Shanghai, China but she wanted to work in developed
democracies. According to the book, all these countries treated school as the
most important part of a child’s life. These countries also allowed the students
more freedom than schools in the United States. “...rigorous work required
failure; you simply could not do it without failing (Ripley 117).” The difference is,
in the United States we get punished if we fail or do a problem wrong, but these
kids were expected to fail in order to learn, which is why most students in these
countries learn to manage their time wisely. Sports are also a higher priority in
the United States where 9 out of 10 international students surveyed agreed that
the United States kids were better at sports. This just goes to show how
important schooling is to international students.

Question 2 – Based on what you’ve learned in this course, do you think the top
performing countries are influencing other countries? Describe how the
countries, which are listed highest in terms of PISA scores, are having an effect
on other countries.
I do think that other countries are partially influenced by each other. Finland, who
scored the highest on the PISA test, says that they “...attained this bliss partly
because it had very low rates of child poverty, while the United States had high
rates (Ripley 6).” This would make sense because the students who were raised
worrying about their at home life obviously wouldn’t care about their education
and they wouldn’t learn from home.

Question 3 – Do you think that countries who pay little or no attention to

educating its citizens can/will have a negative impact on the world in the
future? Support your answer.
I do not think that countries who pay little to no attention to education would
‘negatively impact’ the whole world in the future. Although, I do believe that they
will negatively impact their individual country and the citizens within in it. By not
having proper education and not putting in effort to achieve an educational status
is going backwards in humanity because we are constantly learning and growing
with technology. But in all honestly, if it were to get to this point, I don’t think it
would be easy at all to bring in proper education because of the amount of
poverty levels as well as funding it takes to train a citizen to be a teacher and or
bringing in teachers from different countries. By bringing in a new teacher from a
different country, they need to be able to speak their native languages because it
would be almost guaranteed that the citizens do not know any other language.
Also, if the poverty level is so low then many children will be required to stay
home and take care of the household. In the end, by educating its peoples, the
country will drive into the ground and need help from surrounding countries.

Question 4 - How does education in other countries compare to the system of

education in the U.S. from your observations?
One of the students that takes us along the journey in a different country, was
Kim. Kim was sent to Finland, and she said the biggest difference was the
‘inexplicable stretches of luxurious freedom.’ The schools provided long breaks
and endless freedom. With that being said, the parents of the students, trust
them much more. In Finnish high schools, one had to write a 3–4-page essay
describing how they got their answer as opposed to the United States where their
tests are primarily multiple choice. On the other hand, in Korea, Eric explained
that “Korean parenting, by contrast, were coaches. Coach parents cared deeply
about their children, too. Yet they spent less time attending school events and
more time training them, quizzing them on their multiplication tables while they
were cooking dinner, and pushing them to try harder. They saw education as one
of their jobs (Ripley 110).” By reading the book and looking at the quotes above, I
personally feel that school is technically these kids' jobs. Instead of focusing on
sports or having fun with friends like kids from the United States, these students
live and breathe school.

Question 5 - Name some populations that are denied a good education? For
example, we all know based on experiences in this class that women and girls
are denied a good education in parts of the world (sadly). What are other
groups of people that are denied a good education?
- Poor; unfortunately, there are a lot of young children (lots of females)
whose parents can’t supply a good education, so they do not even go to
school. They stay at home and try and supply for their family
- Race; even in 2021 many people are judged off their ethnicity. It has been
proven that Hispanics and African Americans have the lowest average test
scores.
Question 6 - Reflect on the topics we've discussed throughout EDUC 200 –
name some things you could now do differently in your future class because of
the information learned in this course.
I want you to be self-reflective (think about your thinking) – tell me what you
could do in your future class to make it better based on items we've learned
about with regard to different educational systems around the world?
It could be things like helping diverse learners, or perhaps being more aware of
students who may live in rural areas of your district and don’t have access to
technology (these are just some ideas I had).
If I were able to go back to high school, I wish I were to pursue going to a different
country to study abroad for my first year of college. Being able to experience new
cultures and education styles would be such an amazing opportunity like the
three students, Kim, Eric and Tom got to experience throughout the bestseller
“The Smartest Kids in the World” by Amanda Ripley. I feel that if I were able to do
that then eventually, I would become a very well rounded and become more
culturally aware teacher. By doing this it will also allow me to be more empathetic
to different socioeconomic backgrounds.

But because I cannot go back in time, I think the best I could do to become a more
culturally inclined teacher is by traveling. It would be kind of interesting to go to
different schoolhouses and to volunteer and see how different each one is from
the others. As a teacher, I never want to judge a person, or have them worry
about being judged because of their socioeconomic background. I also would
want the students in my classroom to think the same by getting the kids involved
in food drives, clothes drive and different fundraisers to help the families in need
in the community. For the students that do not have access to technology, I can
bring them in at recess or even after school to allow some time to use the
technology needed for that given lesson. This would allow a fair opportunity to all
the students in my classroom.

(Questions 7a through 7e) Let’s say that you are the ruler of your own country -
think about some of the factors/conditions that go into having a great
educational system. And please have a little fun with these questions, too.

Question 7a - What would be the name of your very own country? What would
be the name of the capital of your country? Make something up! Have fun, be
silly.
This question was honestly the hardest to come up with. If I were to name my
own country, I would incorporate my last name because I would want my
heritage to be involved in my country. I think I would name my country something
like McAllitopia. Since I named my country after my last name, it would only be
logical to name the capital after my first name...Christylandia. I feel like they are
very stereotypical names, but I like them because it has a part of me in both the
capital as well as the country name.

Question 7b – What would the population of your country be? Big or small?
Come up with a number. Why did you choose that number? For example, would
you want an incredibly large population, say over 1 billion or perhaps you want
a very small population, under 1 million? Tell me why you chose the population
size you decided up.
I would want the population to be on the smaller side. An ideal population size
would be around 700,00 people. 700,000 sounds like a lot but growing up in
overpopulated California where the overall population is 40 million people, I
would prefer it to be smaller. After moving to Star, I have found that I am a much
happier person when I am driving, and shopping through smaller crowds as
opposed to California, which is what I would want for the citizens of my country.
Plus, it is kind of nice to know the people that share the community with you and
nice to know you have each other's backs.

Question 7c - Do they have access to technology (very briefly tell us about

technology in your country)?
Yes, my citizens will have access to technology, but it would be very limited. I
would want it limited because I personally feel that the current generation is
lacking common sense and basic knowledge due to the influence of so much
technology. We rely on our phone to provide an answer for us constantly. For
example, one of my friends couldn't answer how many inches are in a foot
without looking at her phone. That just goes to show how our lives revolve
around technology to tell us about an answer for everything. By limiting
technology, hopefully, it will increase the average IQ of a person which will lead to
a higher educational status as a country. Although, I still think they should have
access to a computer strictly for the fact to write papers and emails and when it
comes to phones, each household would have, one if not two, landlines per
household. The computer will help you keep your work/school organized and the
landline would make it easier to communicate with your friends and family, which
I think is very important because since I moved out of state and had to keep in
contact with my best friends. The moral of this answer is that I want my country
to be very similar to the late 80’s-early 90’s in that there is technology but not so
much so that it is altering out thought processes.

Question 7d – Would your country be mostly rural? Urban? Suburban? A

combination? Why?
In my country, I want it to be a combination of a rural as well as a suburban area. I
would want it to be this way because I know that everyone has a personal
preference with what type of area, they live in. I have personally grown up in a
suburban area of southern California and then moved to Star. Some people my
age love the small town feel and others do not, they prefer the more populated
areas. I want people to enjoy where they are living and not feel locked down to
the same boring environment. By doing this, I also think that it will attract
different types of people and personalities, creating diversity throughout my
country. I would like it to be like where I lived in California strictly for the fact that
everyone was the same distance from the beach as well as the mountains. This
would help create a more fun and diverse environment.

Question 7e- Come up with at least 4 more facts/factors that would have an
impact on your country’s educational system. Think about conditions/factors
that have led to the creation of great educational systems around the world.
Now, what condition/factors would you like to see in your very own country?
1. I want my countries education system to be superb. I would like to have
education centers all around the country, supplying help whenever possible
to different socioeconomical environments. I don’t want people to think
that they can’t receive a good education because they are poor.
2. Like Finland, I would allow children to have more freedom. Children need
to make mistakes to learn. That is a huge reason as to why I believe that
Finland has the highest PISA score.
 3. I would also want to have a very prestigious and gorgeous university. I want
people to strive to end up there and to be motivated enough to get into the
university to further their studies.
4. I would make sure that my countries poverty levels are low and have
programs to help people out to make ends meet. By having a low poverty
rate then people can focus more on their schooling.
OPTIONAL – If you would like to draw an outline of the country in Word (using
tools found in Word), include some clipart and/or freehand then insert that
picture of your country and place it here, please do so. This is optional of
course, but I love seeing how creative students can get! Only do this if you have
some free time.