...East and West

...remember chatting with my colleagues differences between teaching and learning approaches in the West and East. Western education emphasizes more on active learning that involves students’ active participation in class and group discussions...students are often given more freedom to express their creativity...they are not afraid to be different or make mistakes...most teachers look at students' mistakes positively as the way to learn...they also love to give compliments...given when students score well in their tests...even when they didn’t do so well in their studies, teachers still give their compliments...but as a way of encouragement...in contrast, Eastern education adopts a more passive learning approach...first students have tons of school rules to follow...then plenty of homework to do after school...students are often criticized whenever they fail to achieve the expected results...hmm two different philosophy…most teachers in the East believe criticizing serves as a motivator to the students to work hard...remember my daughter told me one day after school…she said her teacher threatened to throw her out of the class window when she disagreed about the subject discussed in class (her 3 years experience in the UK made her a bit vocal)…why the teacher was so angry? she asked me...i'm just trying to give my opinion...so what shud i do abah? i guess i'll just keep quiet next time...otherwise she'll throw me out of the window he3...don't get me wrong but like the Western approach, i also believe criticisms would lower down students’ motivation and discourage creativity...remember one of my professors in UKM used to tell us...A is for God, B is for me, so the best grade you'll get is C...but of course he's only kidding...cheers