Dear MEL Topic Readers,
What should schools to put first? Discipline or creativity?
Is that a matter of preference or priority? It seems that people’s preference on what should be emphasized in schools reflects aspects of culture, ideology and social order.
A recent research conducted in 19 countries shows that countries like Spain, Germany, and Canada prefer emphasizing creativity and independent thinking on education while more people in the UK, Kenya and Nigeria want to prioritize teaching academic basics. Interestingly, the US and Japan are pretty much evenly divided while China wants both aspects taught equally in schools.
The study also finds that such preferences seem to stem not just from the cultural background but also from the political stance. For instance, liberals seem to want students to develop creativity but conservatives think skills are more practical.
Another interesting finding is that the higher the education budget or weight is in a country, the lower the cost to keep the society in order.
Enjoy reading and thinking what priorities you’d set for education.
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