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EDUC 200 - SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENT

Task 1. Big Picture Questions

Question 1 – Name 4 countries that have a great educational system. Based on what you learned in this course, what are 3
similarities that these countries have in common? What are some factors that have helped these countries to excel in the area
of education? 
China, Singapore, Japan, and South Korea are all countries that have a great educational system. On the PISA 2018 science,
reading, and mathematics scores China scored, 1,736, Singapore scored 1,669, Japan scored 1,560, and South Korea scored
1,559. These countries ranked the highest scores out of 26 countries. They are also all located in Asia, Asia believes in the idea of
global competence, this allows students to investigate the world recognize perspectives, communicate ideas, and take action.
The last thing these countries have in common is their students chose to go to private school over public school. Asia has a
97.44% enrollment rate on private schools.
 
Question 2 – Based on what you’ve learned in this course, do you think the top performing countries are influencing other
countries? Describe how the countries, which are listed highest in terms of PISA scores, are having an affect on other
countries. 
I think to an extent the top countries are influencing other countries. You don’t see most American high schoolers studying past
9 PM. While reading the book we learned that most of those countries had their students sleeping in class since they studied so
late. I think with China being the top country they are influencing other countries in Asia, maybe some in Europe. I don’t see
America changing their ways when it comes to education.  
 
Question 3 – Do you think that countries who pay little or no attention to educating its citizens can/will have a negative
impact on the world in the future? Support your answer.  
The countries who pay little to no attention to educating its citizens could have a negative impact on the world only because
these children aren’t getting an education then. Or better yet getting a proper education in their adolescent years. This leads to
uneducated adults who can’t teach their children because they never actually got an education themselves.

Question 4 - How does education in other countries compare to the system of education in the U.S. from your observations?
From my observations I think the education in other countries is a lot stricter than what we have in the U.S. While reading our
book this semester we learned how hard these students’ study for just the PISA test, most of these countries are studying well
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past school ending. In the U.S. most students aren’t found doing this, rather they participate in after school activities then get to
homework after dinner or the next morning, some even get it done while in class.

Question 5 - Name some populations that are denied a good education? For example, we all know based on experiences in
this class that women and girls are denied a good education in parts of the world (sadly). What are other groups of people
that are denied a good education?
Lower class and the poorer population of communities are denied a good education. This is mainly because they can’t afford it.
Most of the time they must work at a very young age to help support the rest of the family. For the most part these children go
to school for the first couple years but very few within these communities continue with their education.

Question 6 - Reflect on the topics we've discussed throughout EDUC 200 – name some things you could now do differently in
your future class because of the information learned in this course.
I want you to be self-reflective (think about your thinking) – tell me what you could do in your future class to make it better
based on items we've learned about with regard to different educational systems around the world?
It could be things like helping diverse learners, or perhaps being more aware of students who may live in rural areas of your
district and don’t have access to technology (these are just some ideas I had).
Things I want to do differently in my class now after taking this class would be how I set up my classroom based on needs. I
always wanted to have my classroom be a safe place but after this class I almost want to do journals of some kind with my class.
This would give them the option to turn them in but make them write every day. They could share anything, and I would
understand each student based on their stories and what they choose to tell me. I think this could help me teach different skills
as well that aren’t included within the curriculum already.

(Questions 7a through 7e) Let’s say that you are the ruler of your own country - think about some of the factors/conditions
that go into having a great educational system. And please have a little fun with these questions, too.

Question 7a - What would be the name of your very own country? What would be the name of the capital of your country?
Make something up! Have fun, be silly.
The name of my country would be Malangia, I think it sounds very pretty. The name of the capital of my country would be
Aphrodite. She is the goddess of love and beauty.
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Question 7b – What would the population of your country be? Big or small? Come up with a number. Why did you choose
that number? For example, would you want an incredibly large population, say over 1 billion or perhaps you want a very small
population, under 1 million? Tell me why you chose the population size you decided up.
I want my country to be nicely populated. I am thinking probably 3 million people because Idaho has about 2 million and I am
thinking a bit more than that

Question 7c - Do they have access to technology (very briefly tell us about technology in your country)?
Yes, they would have access to a little more advanced technology than we have here. My country would have flying
transportation open to the public, kind of like flying cars? Not 1000 times more advanced than we are now but a little bit.

Question 7d – Would your country be mostly rural? Urban? Suburban? A combination? Why?
My country will be mainly rural with the main cities being urban. I don’t have a huge country, but I want a lot of farmland and
land of my population to feel safe because they don’t really have neighbors. But they have the option to go to a few big cities for
whatever their needs are.

Question 7e- Come up with at least 4 more facts/factors that would have an impact on your country’s educational system.
Think about conditions/factors that have led to the creation of great educational systems around the world. Now, what
condition/factors would you like to see in your very own country?
I want my education system to be all private schools. Whether they be low-income private schools or the higher income private
schools I want everyone to have the opportunity to a great education. I also want there to be scholarships through academics,
sports, etc. this will allow all students to have the opportunity at a higher income school while not having to pay such high fees. I
think the education system will be based on a committee of previous educators; they must have at least 10 years of experience
in the classroom to make decisions on changes in the educational system. I will also have the population vote based on their
beliefs and what they want done in the classroom, let’s say there will be 7 total on this committee (one for each ‘state’). This will
impact the system because the committee is previous teachers who know what the students need and how to support the
teachers. By having the population vote they will be given the opportunity to have some say in discissions. My country will also
have universities, there will be some that are again low-income but some that are higher income, all students can attend on
scholarship. This again ensures all students who are wanting a continued education get that option regardless of their income. I
would also like to see all my teachers continuing training both withing the school system that are provided (free) and those that
are chosen outside the classroom (both free and paid). This will ensure all teachers are aware of the best ways to teach their
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students. I will also encourage observations of other teachers throughout the year, certain teachers can apply with a video of a
full day and the committee will choose the best teachers to have virtual observations during their class time.

OPTIONAL – If you would like to draw an outline of the country in Word (using tools found in Word), include some clipart
and/or freehand then insert that picture of your country and place it here, please do so. This is optional of course, but I love
seeing how creative students can get! Only do this if you have some free time.