It can't be emphasised enough how psychologically different Anglo children (INCLUDING the Welsh live with it) are from East Asians. This could be due to biology (the East Asian IQ distribution is a bit higher at the mean but much more clustered around it) or 'culture', to whatever degree it's separable from biology (more emphasis on consensus than on expressive individualism, different 'learning styles' and so on).
To take an example of a 'cultural difference': the complexity of East Asian writing systems (Japanese and Chinese anyway, in that order) means that chilluns MUST learn them grindingly by rote and repetition. This early accustoms them to learning *other things* in a similar manner. Anglos have the 'advantage' of no such preparatory phase.
The point is that East Asian-style schooling WILL NOT WORK for the vast majority of Anglos. It's insane to expect, in a totally left-brained fashion, that it will.
One way to tell is just to look at East Asian countries: soulless concrete jungles. European countries were built BEFORE all the education and all the stuff from a 100 year ago. So what exactly is the point of all this education, progressive or rote?
Yeah E Asian cities tend to be ugly (I'm told; I haven't been there) but cities like Peking and Koyoto were beautiful in their time. I suppose Dengist/post-war development put paid to the--completing the work that American bombers started, in the case of Japanese cities.
But look at most European cities now: where they haven't been turned into 'heritage' zones, they're ugly too. I wouldn't imagine that the architects and masons who raised them to their former glory did so without any kind of training.
But if it's over-schooling and credentialism you're getting at, I completely agree.
Traditional architecture is slowly returning to European cities. If you travel anywhere in the world, pretty much anything that looks decent is traditional European architecture. European cities remain the most beautiful and not 'heritage zones' which is a total misrepresentation, even if many cities have been uglified with modernism it's nothing compared to the complete soullessness of Asian cities. Btw. your argument about writing fails because I can read Korean and it's an alphabet language but Koreans are way more robotic and insufferable than the Chinese. Japanese have aesthetics but it's very limited and if you go to Tokyo University it's basically European architecture. I seriousl doubt that Beijing was every beautiful. I saw some of the old city and as with Koreans even their royalty basically lived in wooden shacks.
As enjoyable as ever and agree with central thrust but I think you under-estimate how much the kids benefit from and enjoy the Michaela culture. Visit or watch the doc and the kids are not automatons but full of vim and wit. KB's is more a radical response to runaway liberalism and the concomitant collapse of norms than a mere craving for East Asian disciplinarianism.
I’m afraid that my interpretation of Michaela, which comes from people with direct knowledge of the system and not from the documentaries, is much more negative. I agree that it is partially a response to ‘runaway liberalism’, and perhaps it is the only way to make some children function in a school setting, but there seems to be little evidence that it is intellectually satisfying for those who are already intelligent and well-behaved.
Real UK Sinophilia hasn't been tried, the above was actually good and the new Sinophobic turn of the US/UK is rooted in Boomer Cold War analogies and flawed theories of history/protectionists pining for manufacturing jobs instead of ending the lie of levelling up.....
It can't be emphasised enough how psychologically different Anglo children (INCLUDING the Welsh live with it) are from East Asians. This could be due to biology (the East Asian IQ distribution is a bit higher at the mean but much more clustered around it) or 'culture', to whatever degree it's separable from biology (more emphasis on consensus than on expressive individualism, different 'learning styles' and so on).
To take an example of a 'cultural difference': the complexity of East Asian writing systems (Japanese and Chinese anyway, in that order) means that chilluns MUST learn them grindingly by rote and repetition. This early accustoms them to learning *other things* in a similar manner. Anglos have the 'advantage' of no such preparatory phase.
The point is that East Asian-style schooling WILL NOT WORK for the vast majority of Anglos. It's insane to expect, in a totally left-brained fashion, that it will.
One way to tell is just to look at East Asian countries: soulless concrete jungles. European countries were built BEFORE all the education and all the stuff from a 100 year ago. So what exactly is the point of all this education, progressive or rote?
Yeah E Asian cities tend to be ugly (I'm told; I haven't been there) but cities like Peking and Koyoto were beautiful in their time. I suppose Dengist/post-war development put paid to the--completing the work that American bombers started, in the case of Japanese cities.
But look at most European cities now: where they haven't been turned into 'heritage' zones, they're ugly too. I wouldn't imagine that the architects and masons who raised them to their former glory did so without any kind of training.
But if it's over-schooling and credentialism you're getting at, I completely agree.
Traditional architecture is slowly returning to European cities. If you travel anywhere in the world, pretty much anything that looks decent is traditional European architecture. European cities remain the most beautiful and not 'heritage zones' which is a total misrepresentation, even if many cities have been uglified with modernism it's nothing compared to the complete soullessness of Asian cities. Btw. your argument about writing fails because I can read Korean and it's an alphabet language but Koreans are way more robotic and insufferable than the Chinese. Japanese have aesthetics but it's very limited and if you go to Tokyo University it's basically European architecture. I seriousl doubt that Beijing was every beautiful. I saw some of the old city and as with Koreans even their royalty basically lived in wooden shacks.
oh sorry
welcome
As enjoyable as ever and agree with central thrust but I think you under-estimate how much the kids benefit from and enjoy the Michaela culture. Visit or watch the doc and the kids are not automatons but full of vim and wit. KB's is more a radical response to runaway liberalism and the concomitant collapse of norms than a mere craving for East Asian disciplinarianism.
I’m afraid that my interpretation of Michaela, which comes from people with direct knowledge of the system and not from the documentaries, is much more negative. I agree that it is partially a response to ‘runaway liberalism’, and perhaps it is the only way to make some children function in a school setting, but there seems to be little evidence that it is intellectually satisfying for those who are already intelligent and well-behaved.
Real UK Sinophilia hasn't been tried, the above was actually good and the new Sinophobic turn of the US/UK is rooted in Boomer Cold War analogies and flawed theories of history/protectionists pining for manufacturing jobs instead of ending the lie of levelling up.....