The first serious glimpse I had of the higher education system in the US was when I read the book A Beautiful Mind [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Beautiful_Mind] by Sylvia Nassar. This book was the biography of John Forbes Nash Jr, the super brilliant mathematician who won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1994 for his insightful models in Game Theory.
Despite reading the book more than a decade earlier, I remember the discussions related to who’s who of the early 20th century Mathematics world, including the super-human Albert Einstein. The life of Nash in Princeton and MIT were both surreal and inspiring. Of course much before that experience, I had the opportunity to read an easy-paced book – Surely, you must be joking Mr. Feynman, the eminently readable jokes and pranks of Richard Feynman in 1965, which included his student days. He was another Princeton alumni. Much later I read Iacocca brag about his exploits in college. In another crazy coincidence, it turns out that he too, went to Princeton.
For more than one hundred years now, America’s higher education institutions have systematically acquired, promoted and retained talent. That is precisely the reason why they have had a head start over all other nations. This built upon the general enterprise [USA citizens worked hard where Europeans started to ‘enjoy’ life] and large tracts of arable land – huge agriculture produce leading to both lower domestic prices levels and surplus to drive export income – gave the foundation of 100 odd years of global supremacy. It is a bit suspect now, but I am sure the country has enough education and character to make the right moves to get the juggernaut back on a roll. [Now, America is in a bit of a vulnerable position only because of its huge spending to protect its geo-political standing is a bit shaky. Note: America’s military spend and doles are more than the country’s GDP].
I had read about the luminaries that were products of the US higher education, system, I had also browsed many of them @ www many a time, for a variety of reasons. But even then, when I visited the universities at Boise & Pocatello as well as some of the colleges at Twin Falls and Idaho Falls [relatively minnows to the famous biggies], I clearly understood the difference in the blink of an eye. Terrific infrastructure to help students focus on the areas of interest, a variety of extra-curricular activities to participate in– thus people have an opportunity to become well-rounded human beings and develop multi-dimensionally. Flexibility in education – curriculum/cross-disciplinary courses and entry/exit – encourage people to join. Above all, I expect the quality of faculty would probably be above the global average because the best of talent congregate here. A combination of these various elements makes the perfect package for a great experience. I was wondering if smaller universities are so good, how would the better ones be. I got my answer at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor – I thought the chemistry was amazing. I get a similar buzz when I go to JNU [in New Delhi, India]. But Ann Arbor is almost a university city and the buzz spreads far beyond the few hundred acres. Great second hand book shops, university memorabilia, well-maintained public places, the awesome stadium, nice hang-outs, museums, multi-cultural/multi-racial/global student population, a stellar alumni, the list goes on - all together they create an urge to go beyond the ordinary. That I think is the difference – the eagerness to make the experience worthwhile and stand-out at the end.
Visiting the universities/colleges was a great experience and I really cherish the moments. But what really amazed me was the primary school education. The quality of facilities that small schools of 300/400 students have, and that too, public schools – was just staggering. For example, the schools at McCall and Hailey [interesting two very wealthy counties] had between them their own music band, TV production studios, a state-of-the-art carpentry workshop, stadiums, sculpture labs, well endowed culinary kitchens, fabulous gyms and a host of other opportunity to learn and reach one’s fullest potential at a very early age. Additionally, the county / governance is very sincere and well meaning, always focusing on quality improvement.. I would like to share my experiences I had at a Blaine County [in Idaho, which has the Valley district under it] board meeting. The seriousness and professionalism that I saw in the meetings was commendable. I felt that the county was in capable hands. The point that I am trying to make is that – if students get such an environment – it will very difficult for them to not live up their potential, if they want to. For those students that are indifferent, – there are a variety of targeted and sponsored programmes. No wonder the higher education system is that good. The feeder system is excellent.
Just as a thought, it might be a good idea for the US to encourage international students to join high school education [of course not subsidized], that may give a global exposure earlier on, and more importantly, to increase competition – especially at the higher classes to mitigate the risks of falling standards [which some experts are fearing]. Of course there are people with a strong point of view – that the system is getting too applied and there is a need to improve the theoretical base, both at a student and teacher level. And that students / teachers elsewhere are more knowledgeable. I would guess experts have their own good reasons.
Just to compare with India – most of the popular / prestigious schools [below class 12] in India are privately run, while the higher education institutes are run by the government. In US, it is exactly the opposite – almost all of the high-ranking universities are privately -run; while almost all the schools are public. Does the key to the empancipation of the Indian education system lie here? The other things that strike me – using a German example this time, --primary teachers earn high salaries, many of them who earn more than university professors. Whereas in India, the university professors earn far more than schoolteachers. So naturally, the teachers in the primary education system in India are from the bottom of the pyramid. This is something that needs correcting.
My visit to schools, colleges and universities were a good advertisement for the US educational system. As I anyways have a special interest in education – I really enjoyed spending time in these hallowed portals, and in the process, internalized many a thing from there. I look forward to participating in the US education system more directly in the future.
Bhubaneshwar
Jun 28, 2011
Despite reading the book more than a decade earlier, I remember the discussions related to who’s who of the early 20th century Mathematics world, including the super-human Albert Einstein. The life of Nash in Princeton and MIT were both surreal and inspiring. Of course much before that experience, I had the opportunity to read an easy-paced book – Surely, you must be joking Mr. Feynman, the eminently readable jokes and pranks of Richard Feynman in 1965, which included his student days. He was another Princeton alumni. Much later I read Iacocca brag about his exploits in college. In another crazy coincidence, it turns out that he too, went to Princeton.
For more than one hundred years now, America’s higher education institutions have systematically acquired, promoted and retained talent. That is precisely the reason why they have had a head start over all other nations. This built upon the general enterprise [USA citizens worked hard where Europeans started to ‘enjoy’ life] and large tracts of arable land – huge agriculture produce leading to both lower domestic prices levels and surplus to drive export income – gave the foundation of 100 odd years of global supremacy. It is a bit suspect now, but I am sure the country has enough education and character to make the right moves to get the juggernaut back on a roll. [Now, America is in a bit of a vulnerable position only because of its huge spending to protect its geo-political standing is a bit shaky. Note: America’s military spend and doles are more than the country’s GDP].
I had read about the luminaries that were products of the US higher education, system, I had also browsed many of them @ www many a time, for a variety of reasons. But even then, when I visited the universities at Boise & Pocatello as well as some of the colleges at Twin Falls and Idaho Falls [relatively minnows to the famous biggies], I clearly understood the difference in the blink of an eye. Terrific infrastructure to help students focus on the areas of interest, a variety of extra-curricular activities to participate in– thus people have an opportunity to become well-rounded human beings and develop multi-dimensionally. Flexibility in education – curriculum/cross-disciplinary courses and entry/exit – encourage people to join. Above all, I expect the quality of faculty would probably be above the global average because the best of talent congregate here. A combination of these various elements makes the perfect package for a great experience. I was wondering if smaller universities are so good, how would the better ones be. I got my answer at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor – I thought the chemistry was amazing. I get a similar buzz when I go to JNU [in New Delhi, India]. But Ann Arbor is almost a university city and the buzz spreads far beyond the few hundred acres. Great second hand book shops, university memorabilia, well-maintained public places, the awesome stadium, nice hang-outs, museums, multi-cultural/multi-racial/global student population, a stellar alumni, the list goes on - all together they create an urge to go beyond the ordinary. That I think is the difference – the eagerness to make the experience worthwhile and stand-out at the end.
Visiting the universities/colleges was a great experience and I really cherish the moments. But what really amazed me was the primary school education. The quality of facilities that small schools of 300/400 students have, and that too, public schools – was just staggering. For example, the schools at McCall and Hailey [interesting two very wealthy counties] had between them their own music band, TV production studios, a state-of-the-art carpentry workshop, stadiums, sculpture labs, well endowed culinary kitchens, fabulous gyms and a host of other opportunity to learn and reach one’s fullest potential at a very early age. Additionally, the county / governance is very sincere and well meaning, always focusing on quality improvement.. I would like to share my experiences I had at a Blaine County [in Idaho, which has the Valley district under it] board meeting. The seriousness and professionalism that I saw in the meetings was commendable. I felt that the county was in capable hands. The point that I am trying to make is that – if students get such an environment – it will very difficult for them to not live up their potential, if they want to. For those students that are indifferent, – there are a variety of targeted and sponsored programmes. No wonder the higher education system is that good. The feeder system is excellent.
Just as a thought, it might be a good idea for the US to encourage international students to join high school education [of course not subsidized], that may give a global exposure earlier on, and more importantly, to increase competition – especially at the higher classes to mitigate the risks of falling standards [which some experts are fearing]. Of course there are people with a strong point of view – that the system is getting too applied and there is a need to improve the theoretical base, both at a student and teacher level. And that students / teachers elsewhere are more knowledgeable. I would guess experts have their own good reasons.
Just to compare with India – most of the popular / prestigious schools [below class 12] in India are privately run, while the higher education institutes are run by the government. In US, it is exactly the opposite – almost all of the high-ranking universities are privately -run; while almost all the schools are public. Does the key to the empancipation of the Indian education system lie here? The other things that strike me – using a German example this time, --primary teachers earn high salaries, many of them who earn more than university professors. Whereas in India, the university professors earn far more than schoolteachers. So naturally, the teachers in the primary education system in India are from the bottom of the pyramid. This is something that needs correcting.
My visit to schools, colleges and universities were a good advertisement for the US educational system. As I anyways have a special interest in education – I really enjoyed spending time in these hallowed portals, and in the process, internalized many a thing from there. I look forward to participating in the US education system more directly in the future.
Bhubaneshwar
Jun 28, 2011
French schools Switzerland-Education has no bar on age and culture. It is true especially in case of ESL schools. ESL schools are dedicatedly involved in providing language courses for every person of any age, from juniors and teens to those who have even crossed their fifties. It is true that people at their 50s can study with ESL schools.
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