The speaker mentioned that our principles and standards are well-regarded in Asia (there I go again). Given how intensely critical we are of our own system, I didn’t write it in my post. I figured I must’ve misunderstood. Interesting to hear you confirm it.

the modern well-resourced public schools, they do exist…but that’s at the top of the food chain. just as there are not enough universities for the number of students who might like to get in, there are likewise not enough strong prep schools to help a student get into university. china and india have huge rural populations, and the good old one-room schoolhouse is far from extinct there.

most families in hong kong would love to have the money and the luck to land a seat at an international (read: western) school. at these schools, where i work, i don’t think the student population is so different from private independent schools in the states…except for the whole skin whiteness thing. my students are outside of the stress and high stakes of the public exam system, and while they are perhaps more respectful of teachers they generally don’t do much of their homework.

funny thing about asia is that many places are looking to western pedagogy as a model. hong kong is beginning a complete overhaul of their high school curriculum, adding in “liberal studies” and an extra year of university (giong from three years to four) in the hopes of fostering the creativity and thinking-outside-the-box-ness that is the hallmark of a western education and outlook.

…the times, they are a changing…