True Story 7.06
Asian Indian challenged, then disillusioned, at a U.S. college
The setting for this story
Educated at primary and secondary schools in India, Gopal was living his dream when he began his freshman year at an American college. But his dream didn’t totally work out. Gopal explains.
A story of misaligned minds7
The system of education in India had shaped and drilled my mind into tight command of the fundamentals of the English language and the social and material sciences. I was well prepared.
At my American college, I sensed that my mind was expanding. Instead of the rigors of retention emphasized in India, my brain-power was being unleashed. I experimented with leaps of logic. Sometimes I expected a professor to redirect me to “think by the book.” Instead, I found encouragement. Exciting days! My professors loved questions and valued innovative ideas so long as these were guided by deliberate intelligence. My mind got more encouragement in one month that it had received during all my years at school in India.
Then one day a professor asked me to deliver an oral report to the class. You can be sure that I put my best efforts into crafting this, for I wanted to make a good impression. The day came. Finally the moment came. Full of anxious anticipation, I went to the lectern to address the class.
Whoa! I was stunned by the almost theatrical lethargy, even sleepiness, of my fellow students. One had his boots on the table. Another, munching, scrutinized an empty wrapper. A latecomer was disrobing. A poetic soul was gazing dreamily out the window. During all the time I’d been in the audience with them, I’d been so focused on the professor that I hadn’t noticed.
Gopal’s question
What accounts for my disillusionment? What’s different about American and Indian schooling?
Critique of story 7.06
Many practitioners of international and comparative education recognize this truism: The most advantageous education that any young person can have is to attend primary and secondary schools anywhere but in the U.S., then attend university in the U.S. This was the path that Gopal followed.
What have those practitioners observed over the years that led to this truism?
Primary and secondary schools in many other nations feature relatively knowledge-focused teaching, so students emerge well trained in the basics of the foundational subjects and even in some advanced applications. As Gopal said, his Indian education had “shaped and drilled” his mind. Does this rigorous training come at the expense of students’ freedom of expression? Yes.
The reason it’s advantageous for overseas students to relocate to the U.S. for post-secondary studies is that, because they’ve been securely grounded in each subject’s fundamentals, they are admirably prepared to unleash their energy, imagination, and extensive knowledge in American colleges and universities, which usually give students considerable leeway to pursue their interests. Students from abroad sense their minds, shaped and drilled in the fundamentals, being released to explore, analyze, expand, and imagine in ways that were routinely discouraged in their home countries. They are ready, willing, and fully able to seize this opportunity.
Gopal will soon realize that he wasn’t disillusioned by a lack of opportunities at his U.S. university, but by his American classmates’ seeming lack of interest in embracing those opportunities.
For thought
A fair generalization about U.S. secondary and, especially, primary schools is that they trend amply toward learner-focus. What is a fair generalization about U.S. universities and colleges? Do they trend toward learner-focus or knowledge-focus? Have a look at the Six-Indicator Classroom Culture Spectrum (Chapter 6, Figure 1). Considering each of the indicators, how would you categorize the institution that awarded you your bachelor’s degree or equivalent?
Related stories
Stories 1.14, 4.12, 4.15, 10.01, 10.05, 10.10, 10.15, and 10.18 all describe cases in which a student or trainee from abroad experiences challenges in adapting to our American culture of learning.
Go to Chapter 1 Quick-Links | Go to Chapter 4 Quick-Links | Return to Chapter 7 Quick-Links | Go to Chapter 10 Quick-Links
Endnotes:
7 Mathur, 111–12, 146–48.
Full citations are available at misalignedminds.info/References.