Продолжение раздела «Cultural Reader», информационные материалы о Соединенных Штатах Америки.
Перейти в начало — The United States of America (Общая информация о США), American Climate (Климат в Америке), American People (Американский народ), Main Cities of the USA (Основные Города США).
Следующие статьи - American Holidays (Американские праздники).

American System of Education

Americans have always believed in education, but in a special American way. The schools’ first job was to turn millions of foreign children into Americans. Since they came from dozens of different countries, this was not easy. Schools had to teach the children to speak English, to love their new country, and to learn how to live in it. American schools were the ’melting pot’ in which the differences were forgotten. They were the ladder up which the poor could climb to a better life. Getting started on a successful career was the main aim. Most American parents still care less for book- learning than for a practical education that will help their child to findajob.

The ’right to education’ has also meant that school system must provide for the needs of exceptional students, for example the blind, the deaf, and the persons with other physical or emotional handicaps. It is not at all unusual for school districts to provide instruction for children who are confined to the wards of hospitals or criminal justice facilities.

But perhaps most important of all is that American education never stops. If an elderly person wants to learn Italian art, or chess, he or she can go to the nearest college and take a course in it. And millions of people are doing just that.

However, many Americans arc worried about their public schools. They see serious problems of violence and failure. They see too many children who never learn to write properly and too few college graduates who can speak a foreign language. The absence of national curriculum makes it difficult for children to transfer to new classrooms when their family moves from one city to another.

In recent years a Department of Education has been organized in Washington, D. C., but its function is still sharply limited. Perhaps in the future there will be a greater demand for flic- construction of a national curricular framework. And if this demand develops, the American system will experience a major transformation.

Nevertheless, we shouldn’t forget the great successes of American education. Its best universities are among the best anywhere. American philosophers and economists are world- famous, and American scientists win more than their share of Nobel prizes.

Следующая статья о США - American Holidays (Американские праздники).