I recently had a conversation with an Indian immigrant colleague about differences in our educational system. I recalled a conversation I had with a computer programmer from Bangladesh when I worked as a NASA-Clear Lake City contractor years ago. He sheepishly admitted to being the black sheep of his family, having stopped his education with an M.S. degree, the only one not to hold a PhD or an M.D.
My current colleague admitted this esteem for education is common among all the countries in the region. He explained that respect for educators is culturally ingrained from the start. Students rise to their feet when a teacher calls on them. I related some of the arrogance I witnessed during my years of college teaching: an undergraduate student calling me by my first name, ignoring my repeated insistance on Dr. or Professor Guillemette; another whom used me as a reference without asking me; a group of students whom threatened me when I rejected their advance demand for an assignment extension (I had given them 3 weeks to do something I had personally coded in less than half an hour); a student whom I politely questioned after a group project presentation saying he thought my suggestion was rather stupid; one student responding to an assignment specification of a maximum of 2 pages, double-spaced, with inch margins with his effort: 5 pages, single-spaced, no margins; and the coup de grace: a computer output submitted with a thick muddy tire track across the top.
Even employers can be unenthusiastic. My first IT job was a programmer/analyst position in the property casualty division of a well-regarded insurance company; my supervisor (hired to his position after me), without a college degree (not uncommon a few years back), felt threatened by the fact I already held a Master's degree. After I left, he placed into my position a guy still working on his undergraduate degree in evening classes. When I left academia in a bad job market, I found recruiters dismissive of "ivory-towered academics whom can't function in the real world" and willing to consider only paid DP experience during my years as a professor. It got to the point that to this day, I have buried my education credentials on the last page of my resume, and most co-workers are unaware I hold an earned doctorate.
I did recognize that other cultures value education. Art Jago, an organizational behavior professor back at the University of Houston, told his colleagues he had been treated like a king in Europe. I mentioned in a post I wrote around Christmas that in my experience, Asian and Mexican students were noticeably more polite and attentive with a good work ethic.
I asked my Indian friend how he regarded American education; I asked this question in particular because his oldest daughter is approaching school age. He was tactful but firm that the general opinion of many Indian immigrants is that American teachers give out simplistic, trivial assignments. I didn't get a direct answer on whether he plans to send his daughter to a private school, pay for supplemental classes, etc.
I was curious: why is it we see so much more emphasis on education outside the US? Why do American students routinely fall in the middle of the pack, despite huge resources for public education? My friend laughed. He noticed that things have changed somewhat over the past few years with the booming outsourcing market, but for the most part students are in training from the get-go in a high-stakes meritocracy for a limited number of slots in India's top universities. For parents and their children, making the right university can mean the difference between a comfortable life--and, as he termed, "no life", a dismal day-to-day existence. Hence the parents will do whatever it takes to give their children a shot at a better life.
I do hope that Americans start anticipating what it means for their children to succeed in a globally competitive economy. I do not deny there are some good high schools and colleges out there; some of my nephews and nieces have had access to advanced courses not offered when I went to high school. But low-cost computers and the Internet can bring quality education beyond our shores. The idea that you can muddle your way through school with mediocre grades and below-par communication and math/science skills and live a comfortable life is increasingly unlikely. It's insane that we're still running on an agrarian school calendar. Parents need to insist on rigorous schools and standards and high expectations for their kids.
