Preview of what will hopefully/eventually be sent to the Foster website for publication. I'll post the link here when that happens. I think it still needs edits, but for now, enjoy my thought provoking, opinionated article. There are no pictures, I'm sorry, your normal programming will return next weekend.
Ok, so I’m not “failing” Finance per say, C’s get degrees as
they say, but I know I’m not alone in looking at my own grades with an
extremely critical eye. Many of us students spend our days and nights stressing
and pulling our hair out over a number typically below 4 that we have deemed to
be “a measurement of our future success and self worth as a student”. Recent
trends in American Education and Societal values that I have experienced
involve a high focus on grades. Before I left to study for half a year in
Singapore, I heard more than once from people back home say, when talking about
education on an international level, “Well, the rest of the world, like Asia,
is getting smarter than us and we need to revamp the education system and get
smarter so we can keep up!” (I’m paraphrasing, but you get the idea) This talk
is being echoed in American Congress, most recently brought up over the
proposition for universal preschool education, as presented by Obama. And while
I do agree with the whole “revamp” part of this statement, there is something
we need to keep in mind. What is our definition of “smart”?
Years and years of public school have trained me to start
off the second paragraph with a quote from Miriam-Webster, stating the
“dictionary definition of smart”. But I’m not going to do that. I Googled
“Intelligence” instead. And what I found was insanely vague, something about
learning and stuff. But it doesn’t really matter what a dictionary says about
intelligence and learning, because it is defined differently across the world.
A brilliant book that I recently read excerpts from (I’m not going to lie and
say I read it all) written by Jin Li titled Cultural
Foundations of Learning: East and West, has some great insight on how the
two cultures view education and the learning process very differently. (There’s
a great NY Times article on the book if you’re looking for a quick summary,
Google “The Learning Virtues”)
Jin Li says that Westerners define learning in a cognitive
focus; learning is what you do to “understand and master the external world”.
Easterners on the other hand take a moral focus and “see learning as an arduous
process you undertake in order to cultivate virtues inside the self”. In
elaboration, Westerners approach material with active learning and curiosity
over certain subject matters. The Western concept of the “Eureka!” moment where
you gain sudden understanding is very different from Eastern ideas of the arduous
and ongoing process of understanding. Easterners tend to focus on the learning
process itself as a source of virtue and morality alongside “intellectual”
materials.
But if I learned anything from B CMU 301, it’s that personal
experience provides much better ethos than quoting someone else. I am currently
in Singapore studying for a semester, and with Singapore being a strange influx
of Western themes into a very Eastern culture, I’ve seen this cross-cultural
education focus create some interesting situations. For example: my Finance
grade.
First off, for those who aren’t aware, I was surprised to
see just how much Eastern students study. It was frightening at first, and
while I used to love the curve (it carried me through Financial Accounting) now
it has become a thing that I fear greatly. But after talking to some students
here, they say they study not because they need to understand the material, but
because it is a part of the time and effort commitment they have made to the
class and the learning process. Which is a lot different from why I study.
Furthermore to explain our different mentalities; one day in
Finance the professor mentioned that our next exam would have more long
response questions as opposed to quantitative problems. This was met with a
small cheer from the Western students that was drowned out in a sea of sighs
from the Eastern students. After some discussion, we found that most of the
Western students felt much more comfortable with essay questions and short
answer problems that focus on cognition and application of big ideas and
problem solving. In contrast, the Eastern students were much more inclined to
formulaic and qualitative questions that relied on strong base knowledge and
memorization. Pulling us back on track to our coursework, the TA then asked
what the difference was between public stocks and bonds. For those who don’t
know, there are a lot of differences that you could say. The interesting thing
is that the Eastern students jumped to the formulaic differences and the taxation
details, where as the Western students focused on the different impacts they
had on both the company and the shareholder. The trend showed up again:
formulaic vs. cognitive.
While most of these observations are solely meant to be thought provoking, they do not hold a political or cultural inner message or preference. And while I believe no one person who reads this is ever going
to be in a position to alter the course of American Education, there are a few
take-away points that I'd like to mention just to get those wheels turning as you go through your life. And I’m not above
standing on a small internet soapbox to preach an opinion that, while not
universally correct, has important themes that we should focus on when thinking
about education; being it that of ourselves or others.
Take-away Number One: If you are planning to study abroad
cross-culturally either way, keep this in mind throughout your studies and your
time there. It’s great to learn another way to approach education and I’ve
learned a lot while I’m here. And while this observation isn’t universally
constant, it is widespread that you may run into it and it could cause problems
if you are not ready for it.
Take-away Number Two: Take a class that involves creativity!
Or please, engineers doodle in your notebook or something (Take that creative
design class, I hear its good). I’m a little biased as a
marketing/writing/music focus, but I’m telling you that a creative outlet of
some kind can help you a lot in your learning process. Plus it can lower the
stress level that we all face when struggling to keep up that all-important-but-not-actually-life-threatening
GPA. And for the love of all that is holy, stop cutting arts programs from high
school schedules. (Or college for that matter) Do me a personal favor and take
an art class or something. I don’t care if you or your parents think it’s a
waste of time, at least doodle in that Accounting book before you keel over out
of sheer boredom. (Come on, even you accounting majors can’t think its that
interesting)
Take-away Number Three: The last take-away is the most
important, and has to deal specifically with business. Western students and
business leaders should focus less on trying to play ball in another culture’s
court. Asia’s high educational dedication and standards should not be this new
bar that we have to reach. It’s a cultural difference that has existed long
before we ever realized it in the current generations. American business
students, I want to talk to you for a second. (Sorry everyone else, I love you
all the same)
Business Week posted on their website a list of the “100
most globally recognized brands”. These represent the top companies of the
world that have projected their ideas globally into all cultures. One of the
most prudent trends that I found in their data was that 51% of these companies
were based in the US. 51%. Out of the entire world, America houses more
globally recognized brands than all other countries combined. I see this number
and I wonder; why are we trying to compete in a game of test scores when we
boast some of the most innovative and entrepreneurial minds in the world today?
Rather than focus on boosting that GPA, come up with a brand new idea. So
please, fellow business school students: don’t enter the professional world
expecting to use that test score you got, or that definitely-less-than-four
number you have on your transcript. If we’re talking meta, (and we are, because
I’m writing this) play to your strengths, don’t try to conform your education
or your professional endeavors to compete in an area you are weak in.
The grade does not make you "smart", that's not what smart means. We define "smart" just like we define graduation requirements and standardized testing. It's why those tests don't always work, and it's why GPA's aren't a measure of worth. Should you still study? Yeah, probably. Is getting good grades great? Yes. Is getting bad grades a reflection of your self worth? No. Calm down.
When thinking about how to make education better (whether it's the entire system, or your own personal education) fostering creative ideas is a part of Western culture, and straying to far from that could be what's making us "fall behind" in some peoples eyes. American business leaders, scientists, and creative thinkers have a
history of innovative and powerful ideas that have gone on to make a name for
themselves on the international level. And students, you’re not going to be counted among
them by worrying about your Finance grade.
This article was written as self-administered validation and
therapy and also includes insights to some of what I have learned in my time
studying in Asia. I’m going to go study now.
I will be back to my usual posts next weekend, have a great week! Until next time!
I will be back to my usual posts next weekend, have a great week! Until next time!
This is very insightful Chris! Between the "Eastern" and "Western," does each group get frustrated with the other? For example, Westerners don't study enough and goof around too much, or Easterners are too serious and destroy the curves. (correct these generalizations if need be, haha.)
ReplyDeleteHope you are doing well! See you in probably a month!
Haha, well its not that one goofs around too much and one is more serious. The reason in my experience as to why the Easterners have been destroying curves is because they're used to the style, where as we are not. Each group gets frustrated, but not because one is "dumb" or "smart" or anything like that. Westerners are frustrated when Easterners know the equations in, out, and backwards, but couldn't explain the "why" or the "because". And Easterners get frustrated when Westerners can talk a lot about the concept and the why's and how's, but don't remember the equations and memorized facts. Just my experience though.
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