When comparing the education systems of China and the United States, there is a saying that has attracted widespread attention: the mathematics level of American junior high school students is equivalent to that of Chinese elementary school students, while the mathematics level of American high school students is equivalent to that of Chinese junior high school students.
This raises a thought-provoking question: why do so many important areas of innovation, such as computer graphics, often come from other countries instead of us?Does this imply a huge gap in the mathematical requirements of algorithms?
Some people have pointed out that the United States attaches importance to the educational concept of "losing at the starting point and winning at the end", while China pursues the model of "winning at the starting point and losing at the end". Basic education in the United States is based on in-depth research on children's psychology and physiology, while China's so-called successful basic education seems to deviate from the natural laws of children's development.
First of all, the "sensory processing" of child development has become the focus of attention in the international academic community. This concept emphasizes that only when children have good control over their bodies can they better perceive the world, capture and organize effective sensory input, and lay the foundation for intellectual development. Therefore, through sports, such as running, jumping, somersaults, swinging, climbing, slapping balls, playing football, etc., children can better understand and use their bodies, thereby promoting all-round intellectual development.
Secondly, education in our country seems to ignore the phased characteristics of children's development. There is a common misconception that it is easy for small children to learn things. In reality, learning for children is far from being as simple as adults think. Among the staged characteristics of child development, each stage of the task has its own uniqueness, and the early introduction of higher-order tasks can hinder the child's natural growth. Conversely, children in higher stages are seen as having an easy time performing elementary level tasks, which is consistent with their existing body of knowledge.
Finally, there is a mindset of elimination in the Chinese education system, which believes that unqualified students should be eliminated. This results in students having to devote a lot of time to exam-taking exams in order to avoid being eliminated. In order to select, these exams often use simple knowledge to produce extremely difficult questions. However, not being able to answer these difficult questions does not mean that you are disqualified from pursuing knowledge. The elimination mechanism not only increases the psychological burden of students, but also ignores their latent creativity and practical problem-solving ability.
Generally speaking, to optimize China's education, we need to pay attention to the phased characteristics of children's development and pay attention to the concept of "losing at the starting point and winning at the end". By strengthening the study of children's psychology and physiology, we can establish a more scientific education model, so that children can better grasp their own bodies, understand the world, and cultivate all-round development of intelligence in the process of growth.
At the same time, we should abandon the idea of elimination, give students more opportunities for development, and promote the transformation of education from "winning at the starting point and losing at the end" to a more sustainable and conducive to individual growth. Such an educational model is more likely to cultivate a new generation of talents with innovative and problem-solving skills, and provide a strong impetus for social progress and development.