Arvanitas 1

Nicholas Arvanitas
Heidi Dixon
English 1000
November 11, 2015
Research Report
Introduction
What does it mean to be smart? When asked this most students gave a variety of answers
saying someone smart is someone who makes wise decisions, or someone knowledgeable.
However when the same students were asked if schools do a good job defining whos smart, the
answers were a little less than desirable. Statements such as Tests dont measure intellect, and
Some kids arent good test takers, were made.
For my project I really wanted to resolve this issue. However, in doing this I didnt want
to take the typical approach of talking about the disadvantages of standardized testing. I agree
with the majority of the students that testing doesnt always capture the intelligence of someone.
Yet we still have to measure intelligence somehow, and at this moment we dont really have a
better alternative.
Instead for my project I wanted to take a different approach. I decided to research how we
learn. I studied how we teach and how receptive we are to the information taught. Specifically I
looked into which educational philosophy is more efficient in the process of learning. Are
methods better in Eastern cultures like Japan and China or here in the US? I researched which of
the two methods helped students become more like their definition of smart. At the end for my
project I want to put together a presentation to talk about what changes students and teachers can
make to become more efficient in their learning and teaching.

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Literature Review
In my library research one of the most helpful resources that I found was the book
Moonwalking with Einstein, written by Joshua Foer. In the section I read it explained this
quick study. It states that In his 1890 book Principles of Psychology, William James set out to
see whether a certain amount of daily training in learning poetry by heart will shorten the time it
takes to learn an entirely different kind of poetry. He spent more than two hours over eight
successive days memorizing the first 158 lines of the Victor Hugo poem Satyr, averaging fifty
seconds a line. With that baseline established, James set about memorizing the entire first book
of Paradise Lost. When he returned to Hugo, he found that his memorization time had actually
declined to fifty-seven seconds a line. Practicing memorization had made him worse at it, not
better. In the same chapter it goes on to say that further research was done, and the results were
similar. This discovery later led to an educational reformation headed by John Dewey. Dewey
was quoted for saying I would have a child say not, I know, but I have experienced. This
experiment strongly supported my thesis that learning through questions and activities (typical
methods in the US) are more efficient than lecturing and memorization of facts more commonly
practiced in Eastern cultures. However, it did raise questions in my mind of why then we have
classes (like History) that rely heavily on lecturing and memorization in schools.
A short article that I read entitled 6 Differences Between Teaching Chinese Kids and
American Kids, proved to be very helpful in my research also. For this article the author talked
to different teachers that had taught both in the United States and in China. This article
summarized the main differences teachers saw in students from both countries. In this article it
mentioned how the Level of Dependence, is different in students from both countries. Saying
that in the research done, it was found that American kids were generally better at thinking on

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their own, while Chinese students were more focused on rote-learning and repetition.
Another trait that the author mentioned was that with the Confucius mindset, Chinese kids
were taught to work hard, persevere, and respect, but often they sacrificed their sense of selfworth was swallowed in their ambitions. In schools in the US teachers noticed that self-esteem
played an important role in developing social and psychological skills,, and therefore
constantly strived to build up and encourage their students. The downside with this however is
that less pressure is put on achieving 100%, with kids in the US.
Last I read the peer-reviewed article Increasing Math and Science Achievement: The
Best and Worst of the East and West, which comes from an encyclopedia. In this article I found
various statistics about teachers in Eastern Countries. It stated that in China teachers are often
ranked by their teaching performances and seniority, and that these ranks determine not only
salaries but also social status and reputation. It is from teachers like this that strong atmosphere
of respect and discipline permeates in Asian schools. The expectations are much higher for Asian
students, which causes them more stress. Most of their spare time is spent with studying and
going to tutoring.
Methodology: Field Research
For my interview I interviewed Heidi Peterson, a Japanese girl in my English class. I
wanted to interview her because she has had the chance to attend school in Japan and now be
here studying college in the U.S. I asked her questions about the differences she noticed in both
schools, and how she was effected by the different teaching methods.
I started by asking her why she chose to attend college. I learned that she had just seen it
as simply the next step in life. I think thats what most students see college as, and I see it as a
possible reason of why students arent getting 100% out of their education. Next, I had the

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chance to ask her various questions about what learning was like in Japan versus the US. I
learned that with History and English class in Japan, its much like the US. They go into lots of
detail and have open discussions. However, when it comes to subjects like math her teachers
were very formal. Math is lots of notetaking and lecturing, she told me. During our
conversation I also learned about something I had never heard of before. Heidi said that in Japan
after they get back from classes at school, they go to a different place called Cram School. In
regular school they cover lots of material, and go really fast and dont explain much, she told
me. Cram School is where lots of people go after school to understand the information more.
Cram School is a tutoring service that you pay for. Only unlike the US, its very normal for many
kids to attend these tutoring places after classes. I then asked her if she thought it was fair that
kids should have to pay extra money to understand things that if taught right, should be
understood in school. She replied with a simple No, stating I dont wanna learn like I robot. I
want to understand. I dont really care about grades that much. I feel like tests care more about
getting the correct answer than actually being smart.
As our interview came to a close there were a few more memorable quotes that Heidi
said. Why learn something youre going to forget, she asked. After I finished each course, I
forget instantly about the subject. But when I truly learn something it sticks. I still remember it.
What I could take away from my interview with her that day is that Japan still has classes that
they teach in a more traditional manner. And the students notice it, and dont agree with the way
the subjects are taught. When Heidi talked about instantly forgetting a subject after finishing the
class, she was saying that for both American and Japanese schools. When she said that it made
me think of what are schools and students still missing to retain the 100% of the information
taught.

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I also had the chance to pass out a survey to my English class. I thought theyd be a good
resource because all of them are currently students. What I got out of the survey were many
different opinions about what they expect in schools and answers to self-evaluating questions.
The most useful information to me was their opinions of what can we change in schools here,
both in students and teacher, to be able to retain all of the information we are taught. I found that
generally what students want is something more personalized to their learning. Many asked for
more hands on learning activities and less lectures. My classmates asked for teachers who are
more understanding to the different ways students are taught. I loved this, and I think it goes
along with John Deweys quote of wanting to hear kids say I have experienced. Though I think
its easier for some classes to do this than others.
Conclusion
When I originally set out to do my project I wanted just to discover which culture had a
better method of teaching. As Ive gone through my research steps though, Ive found out that
even though the educational practices used in the US are more favored, both sides are not
perfect. Even though students are generally more satisfied in the US, they still see school as
something monotonous and arent inwardly driven to learn. After my research my project has
become less about showing why teachers should use Western Educational Philosophy and more
about searching for something better in every way.

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Works Cited
Arvanitas, Nicholas. Educational Philosophy Field Study. Survey. 5 Nov. 2015.
Foer, Joshua. Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything.
New York: Penguin, 2011. 157-164. Print.
Petersen, Heidi A. Japanese and American Schools. Personal interview. 5 Nov. 2015.
"Increasing Math and Science Achievement: The Best and Worst of the East and West." Phi
Delta Kappa. 3rd ed. Vol. 87. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2005. 219-222. Print.
Jude Tan, Marvin. "6 Differences Between Teaching Chinese Kids and American Kids."
Linkedin. 12 June 2014. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.