Eastern education and Western education
Westerners are more assertive and creative, while Easterners are more conservative and reserved, which is the consequence of the different education systems.
The most important thing in Eastern education system is conformity. There are a swarm of rules for students to obey in the school. Many of them seem to have nothing to do with one’s study such as “no makeup or nail polish is allowed”. However, they are formulated to make students concentrate all their efforts on study. Girls aren’t even allowed to wear long hair in my middle school and high school, because teachers just think it as a waste of time. The students must have greatest respect for teachers. The students have to do what teachers ask them to do. Always all the students in the same class are taught in the same way and have to do the same huge amount of homework, which is in conflict with Confucius famous saying ”The teacher should teach differently according to every student’s condition.” Most teachers aren’t willing to admit their mistakes, for the fear that they would lose face. Not to mention admit their ignorance of something like Socrates. Socrates wish to investigate with
Menon’s help that they may both find out what virtue is. In the east, teachers may be extremely angry when students point out their mistakes. As the result, few students have the courage to query and refute their teachers’ idea. Therefore, many eastern students lack creative thinking.
Eastern teaching method is quite different from that of western education system.
When Socrates and Menon talk about virtue, Socrates asks Menon to say what virtue is. Then Socrates raises a lot of questions about Menon’s description of virtue, and lead Menon to understand how he ought to answer. Color is an emanation from figures, and is symmetrical with sight and perceptible by sense. Socrates uses this example to show Menon how to give a general description of virtue. In the eastern education, the teachers may first give students the general description of virtue and leave students some exercises about listing a swarm of virtues or judging whether something is virtue or not. I think under the eastern educaton system students learn mostly by following teachers’instructions, at least before they go to universities. The eastern students are more cautious about their answers. They always tend to give precise answers. They usually hesitate when they face a question that requires them to estimate. I have done a multiple choice about comparing the heat energy of a cup of hot coffee and a tub of cold water without enough conditions. I chose “cannot determined” as my answer just like all my classmates do. But our teacher told us that