A woman studies in Chennai, Tamil Nadu
Carly here, India correspondent for Our Kids Media. My apologies for the delayed update – my schedule has been running on Indian Standard Time. That means if I plan on getting to a computer on Saturday – it happens two weeks later.
It’s been two weeks now in India, but it feels like ages more. The culture, the sounds, the smells, the tastes, the streets are all very new to me. And I’m learning a lot about life back at home by stretching my boundaries so far.
One thing that has become quite apparent to me is the fortune of us in North America to be taught how to think critically. I’ve been lucky enough to speak with several school administrators and students and engaged in some meaningful discussions about the type of education children receive here. In India, students learn how to memorize, study, pass exams. They are sponges for knowledge. But ask them to think abstractly, or “out of the box” and that’s where they’ll have trouble.
As a former journalism student, my education was based on the ability to ask questions, research, and look for the larger picture. The absence of that kind of inquiry seems incredibly odd to me.
Critical thinking is a large part of the private school curriculum – not only how to pass tests but how to apply useful life skills to the world outside the classroom. India has been making leaps and bounds in the fields of technology and science, but perhaps next they should look towards expanding the minds of their students.
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