SilkRoad
Lay the coin on my tongue
- Joined
- May 26, 2009
- Messages
- 3,932
- MBTI Type
- INFJ
- Enneagram
- 6w5
- Instinctual Variant
- sp/sx
I am Canadian, but I work in England for an organisation which offers qualifications relating to speech and drama. They also have an international presence as they offer examinations around the world.
My opinionated boss - and others in the company, to be fair - have been heard to express the opinion that "America is the only country in the world that does not have an educational system based on examinations." The received wisdom seems to be that any and all tests at any level in America are based on multiple-choice. This is one rationale given for the fact that we haven't particularly succeeded in having a presence in the US. Apparently Americans just aren't interested in exam-based qualifications because they don't believe in exams.
I know that there is a majority of Americans on this board, so I thought I'd ask for your opinion if there is some truth in this. I would have thought that the Canadian and US educational systems were fairly similar - but actually I'm really not sure. My exams in Canada were sometimes multiple-choice, but especially at higher levels, it was usually a mixture of multiple-choce and free answers. It is also 15 years since I graduated from high school and more than 10 since I finished university.
As much as I love Europe, I think it is also worth noting that (sadly) the average European loathes Americans and think they're all uneducated, ignorant, and fundamentally annoying and dumb. So there are a lot of weird stereotypes about America and Americans going around. I find myself sometimes in the odd position of being a Canadian who ends up defending Americans against the vitriol that Europeans like to heap on them.
I would really like to know what you guys think about this, though I'd also really like something more nuanced and informative about the educational system in the US than "well of course all Europeans hate us"
My opinionated boss - and others in the company, to be fair - have been heard to express the opinion that "America is the only country in the world that does not have an educational system based on examinations." The received wisdom seems to be that any and all tests at any level in America are based on multiple-choice. This is one rationale given for the fact that we haven't particularly succeeded in having a presence in the US. Apparently Americans just aren't interested in exam-based qualifications because they don't believe in exams.
I know that there is a majority of Americans on this board, so I thought I'd ask for your opinion if there is some truth in this. I would have thought that the Canadian and US educational systems were fairly similar - but actually I'm really not sure. My exams in Canada were sometimes multiple-choice, but especially at higher levels, it was usually a mixture of multiple-choce and free answers. It is also 15 years since I graduated from high school and more than 10 since I finished university.
As much as I love Europe, I think it is also worth noting that (sadly) the average European loathes Americans and think they're all uneducated, ignorant, and fundamentally annoying and dumb. So there are a lot of weird stereotypes about America and Americans going around. I find myself sometimes in the odd position of being a Canadian who ends up defending Americans against the vitriol that Europeans like to heap on them.
I would really like to know what you guys think about this, though I'd also really like something more nuanced and informative about the educational system in the US than "well of course all Europeans hate us"