America. The land of the free and home of the brave. With the largest economy around the world and with the third largest population in the world, the Unites States of America stands tall and proud behind some of the greatest achievements in human history. Neil Armstrong, 1969, first American and first man to ever walk on the moon. Jonas Salk, 1952, discovered a vaccine against polio. The Wright brothers, 1903, flew the first airplane. These are only some of the great Americans that changed not only the world but also history. These discoveries were made by geniuses that worked and studied hard. But around the world there are also many other men and women who study and work as hard to not only make the world a better place, but also to make their own country stand tall and proud in front of all other countries. So what is the secret to all of these achievements? Education is the secret. Some of the obstacles of students’ success, like government corruption and the uneven distribution of power, have played a role in students’ academic achievements’, however, these obstacles seems to not have affected the results of academic success when compared to countries like the USA that, even though facing some of those problems, too, are not nearly as affected as other countries. European ways of teaching have been found to be most effective not only by those who deeply studied the learning process but also by those who are in charge of ranking educational systems around the world. The US might have the largest global economy, but it fails to make the top ten best educational system around the world. How can this be? The answer is not found in the realization that other people in other countries are smarter than people in the US; the answer is found in the way the American education differs from European ways. This differences are not only found in the different way of testing scholars but are also found in the way new material is approached to students and in the correlation between social class and school achievements. It is in the best interest of The United States of America to make their educational system more similar to the European educational system.
Although greatly underestimated, as the University Of Michigan states, the correlation between social class background and school achievements in the United States, seems to play a main role in the US’s educational system, but it does not seem to play a role in other countries. In the USA, the cultural differences and the stereotype created around race and gender interfere with the outcome of students’ academic success. This phenomenon, however, does not occur in countries like Belgium, Sweden, Italy and Finland, which, according to the International School Science Achievement Data show a much lower correlation between social class background and school achievements. The division of school districts, therefore, of neighborhoods, limits the child’s perspective towards his or her abilities and towards those of a different background. Those coming from a poor background have the misconception that because they are “not as advantaged” they are not expected by society or by the school to do as well as those who live a more comfortable life. This preexisting thought not only subconsciously limits the child’s ability to apply himself at school, but it also gives a greater weight to this stereotype, which will serve as an excuse for both teachers and students-To teachers because they are going to justify their student’s failure with the student’s poor background, and to students because they are going to justify their failure by blaming the school, the teacher, and the situation in general. In both cases the person in subject is absolving one’s self from any fault, when in fact the fault is to be given to both. From a different perspective, however, there is not much of a difference. From those from a more favorable background, students often justify their success not as fruit of the hard work of their parents, teachers, and community but as the result of their hard work and their intelligence, both qualities that (according to the believers of these stereotypes) someone from a poor background may not possess. Teachers too, when working with people from this kind of background, are not going to give credit to the student’s hard work and intelligence as factors to the student’s success, but are going to glorify their own teaching abilities and the countless opportunities given by the school and the parents’ well founded background. These approaches predisposes the teachers’ way of teaching and thinking, lowering not only student’s expectations but also the course level. In European countries, such as Italy, such a separation is not existing. For example, when newlyweds in America, have intention to expand their family, the choice of where to buy a house is greatly influenced by both the school district and the neighborhood. Italian newlyweds chose the house based on other factors not including the fame or achievements of the nearby school. The difference in factors contributing to the decision of where to buy a house is found on the fact that the Italian Government (like other European governments) does not limit the parents’ school choice by forcing them to compromise between a house in a dream location and a house in a good school district. The doors of all public schools in Italy are open to everyone, not only to those living nearby. The combination of students coming from different backgrounds creates a standard course and expectation level followed by all teachers. This “combination of backgrounds,” however, has caused some doubts on whether students will be able to get along or if this collaboration causes more problems than it solves. This question is easily answered by all of those hundreds of thousands of students that, since never exposed to the stereotype that current American generations are exposed to, never even had such a problem when being assigned a classmate of a different background. These mixed classrooms have created equal opportunities to not only those students from a poor background but also to those from a richer background, who during their school years might have slightly be advantaged by those “highly successful” school districts but are now realizing that in the reality of adults such favoritism does not exist. This way of structuring classrooms has given results to European classrooms because it creates a stereotype free environment that gives all students equal opportunities. The current structure of the typical American classroom is too well controlled in some aspects and way out of control in others. This unbalanced distribution predisposes the mind of thousands of kids whose brain could have been used to create brilliant inventions that could have given reason to this country to once again stand tall and proud in front of everyone else. Therefore, in order to achieve the true goals given by the founded fathers of this country, the Unites States should try to structure its classrooms like the successful way European countries have been structuring theirs.

Learning through memorization is a learning method greatly used in American classrooms. However, American and foreign psychologists and researchers have greatly challenged the effectiveness of this process after studying and seeing the much higher learning skills of those students who have been exposed to European ways of teaching. The way material is approached to students in European countries develops, in the student’s thinking process, a much higher problem-solving skill utilized in not only science classes, but in all school subjects.  The main difference between these two different approaches is seen in the way teachers develop the beginner-student thinking process when applied to a problem solving question while the material is being taught. In Alex Kozulin 2003 book, Vygotsky’s Educational Theory in Cultural Context, Kozulin, an academic coordinator at the International Center for the Enhancement of Learning Potential, describes the original and developed idea from one of the first developmental psychologist to study socio-cultural development of the mind: Len Vygotsky. Vygotsky believed that higher mental processes “are mediated by psychological tools such as language, signs and symbols…these tools… having been acquired by children….through interpersonal communication with adults and more experienced peers…then function as mediators to the children’s high mental processes.” (Kozulin 65) Vygotsky also believed that if full potential of these tools was to be acquired “mindless memorization” (Kozulin 67) is useless. His belief was supported by many different studies like Davydov’s study (1990). This study involved the analysis of sixth grader  that “having memorized the concept of a right-angled triangle, did not recognized as such a right-angled triangle when it was presented to them with the right angle at the top (they called it an acute-angled triangle)” (Kozulin 65). In classrooms, teachers often require students to mentally memorize scientific rules, concepts, definitions and theorems; this pure verbal knowledge approach is nothing but a “meaningless nontransferable procedures” (Kozulin 69). Meaning that the memorized concept can only be applied under the circumstance presented when memorized. After studying this phenomenon Dr. Bruer, president of the Cognitive Studies for Educational Practices, states, “Many students don’t know why the math procedure they learn in school work. Students leave school having the computation skills to solve standard problems but lacking the higher-order mathematical understanding that would allow them to apply their skills widely in novel situations.” This statement is supported by numerous other scientists of the field like Dr. Davydoc, Dr. Galperin, Dr. Talyzina, Dr. Elkonin and Dr. Aidarova. All of the listed scientists developed the idea that in order to avoid what Dr. Bruer previously described, students need to acquire skills that enable them “to answer “why” questions to substantiate the way in which they have solved a problem, and to defend the results obtained.” To achieve this approach in student’s problem-solving process, psychologists Brown and Campione (supported by further studies from the Technology Group at Vanderbilt) developed the idea of guided discovery approach. According to this learning technique, knowledge “should not be taught to students but rather should be constructed by students themselves in the course of discussions, sharing their personal experiences  and carrying out some kind of research activity… the role of the teacher is to guide and orchestrate students’ discovery processes” (Kozulin 74). This approach has not only increased the students’ ability to acquire and transfer knowledge (which therefore increased learning motivational skills), but also improved the students’ planning and monitoring activities skills. These improvements were not only reflected on the students’ grades, but also reflected on the students’ writing skills. When student were asked to answer questions like “what did I learn today?” students exposed to this approach did not just simply state bullet points of learned facts, but elaborated a more complex paragraph including themes not necessarily related to the subject studied. In America, American and foreign psychologists, refer to pure verbal learning as a “meaningless nontransferable procedure” (Kozulin 69) that does not benefit the student. However, the educational system in the US still enforces this learning technique, that numerous time, has been proven to be an unprofitable way to teach students. European countries, however, enforce this discovery learning approach, which positively advantages its students. This radical difference in the way material is approached to students, shows how European approach is a far better option than the current American approach.

Another factor that differs the eastern and western educational system, is the way students are tested. While Europeans grade their students based on the knowledge that they know, Americans evaluate its students by grading them on the teacher’s standard of what the student should know. In an Italian classroom, students are given a maximum of about 2-6 tests per year per subject; while in the US each teacher gives about 20 test per year per subject. Why such a big difference in numbers? The reason why Italian students are not given as many written tests, is because the educational system in Italy believes in oral “interrogations” being the best way to assess students. At the beginning of class the teacher randomly selects a student and “interrogates” him. This process involves orally exposing the material learned the day before. Based on the accuracy of the information given and on the promptness of the student when asked questions, the teachers give a grade to the students. Through this process, even though terrifying to the eyes of those who have not been exposed to this kind of assessment, students not only develop higher thinking organizational skills but also learn skills like exposing, convincing and debating an audience. In America the way students are assessed is through multiple choice testing. Such a test is a written questioner, in which the student is presented with a question to which he/she has to answer. This kind of tests limits the students’ thinking skill, because by letting the students answering questions on the main ideas of the material taught, that person does not answer the question based on the understood concept but based on the memorized concept. This way of testing is, therefore, unfair; because the student is not actually being tested on their understanding of the lesson, but is being graded based on his/her memorization skills. The student is not in any way asked to prove that they understand how all of these concepts are tied together, but is asked to memorize dictionary vocabulary and concepts to pass a test. The importance of understanding a concept is based on the mind’s ability to make connections between things learned in one subject and things learned in another subject. These philosophical connections, if able to be made, can open a person’s mind enabling them to create new revolutionary thoughts and theories. As mentioned earlier Italians test their students, too. However, the way they test their students is very similar to the oral evaluation. The student is given a piece of paper and pen, and in a limited amount of time the student is expected to write and answer questions by writing a full composition. This kind of evaluation is once again based on the students’ knowledge, not on some standard made by some unknown person. The American assessing method, therefore, is not only an invalid way of testing students but it is an emotional killer for all of those students who, even though work and study hard, cannot get the desired results, not because of an intelligence issue but because the skills taught to them go against the most natural and effective way of learning: learning through the understood concepts. This explanation of student failure, however, is mostly justified in the teachers’ mind as the student not being capable of learning the material the teacher is supposed to teach. According to the National Center for Education Studies 64.3% of the teachers strongly agreed that the main cause of the students’ failure is based on the students’ learning deficiency.  As a result of this evidence it is safe to say that, European ways of testing are not only fairer than American ways but are also more beneficial in the long run.

  Endless benefits will come if the American Educational system is made more similar to the European Educational approach. Some of the unfairness and holes in the American system previously highlighted are free of any criticism towards the current way of teaching. However, as research is made and improvements applied, many systems in the USA improve, but education is the one system that is often left behind. It is useless to highlight the benefits of education, for the importance of education has been widely proven to be essential. However, in today’s society it is too often underestimated. The government will listen only if its people are talking. The voice of many Americans are blocked by the ignorance surrounding knowledge about the educational system. Actions such as talking to the school district about a professional development class for school teachers (so that teachers may be more educated about contextual socio-cultural and historical characteristic of students) or encouraging interactions between sports clubs and churches and school clubs (so that kids from different neighborhoods can interact in an environment where people from different background can integrate and become a community) or actions as simple as maybe talking to other parents about sending letters to the College Board (so that maybe this standardize testing may change the format of multiple choice test at school). Just little actions like the ones listed can give a purpose, a voice that can inspire others to take actions and make the US a better place for future generations. This country has already done great with the current education, but thinking of the improvements that such education could have in a country already great, exceeds men’s expectations.