Very interesting. Could it be that relative affluence is enough to lower young people's drive for capitalist striving? I have a few white, native born students who are serious students, but most are not. My foreign students (admittedly a more selective group) have much more drive.
On Tue, Jan 01, 2008 at 10:38:07PM -0500, ravi wrote: > > From the read and weep (with laughter, if you prefer) department: > > http://tinyurl.com/2hdzgr > >Japan is suffering a crisis of confidence these days about its > >ability to compete with its emerging Asian rivals, China and India. > >But even in this fad-obsessed nation, one result was never expected: > >a growing craze for Indian education. > > > >Despite an improved economy, many Japanese are feeling a sense of > >insecurity about the nation?s schools, which once turned out > >students who consistently ranked at the top of international tests. > >That is no longer true, which is why many people here are looking > >for lessons from India, the country the Japanese see as the world?s > >ascendant education superpower. > > > >Bookstores are filled with titles like ?Extreme Indian Arithmetic > >Drills? and ?The Unknown Secrets of the Indians.? Newspapers carry > >reports of Indian children memorizing multiplication tables far > >beyond nine times nine, the standard for young elementary students > >in Japan. > > > >And Japan?s few Indian international schools are reporting a surge > >in applications from Japanese families. > > > > --ravi -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu michaelperelman.wordpress.com
