Education and Cultures Collide in the US (2/5)

August 2, 2010

The reason that Swan earned those A’s is because my wife is Chinese, who grew up in China during Mao’s era, and I did not grow up in an America dominated by the self-esteem, political correctness cult, which many in the US still worship. To me, learning means work while feeling good and having fun is not important.

The reason for our daughter’s success is that the Chinese value gaining an education above other ethnic groups.

To prove my point, I’m going to use statistical information from two schools.  The first is Las Lomas High School in Walnut Creek, California. Although the law says this data must be made available to the public, it isn’t easy to find unless you know where to look.  Since I taught in California’s public schools for three decades, I know where to find it.

First, you must access the Las Lomas High School “School Facts and Accountability Information, 2008–2009″. Once on this page, scroll down to find the list of high schools in this district. Click on the link for Las Lomas High School. When the Las Lomas page opens, scroll down again and click on “School Accountability Report Card (SARC)”.

Look under Subgroup Test Scores and discover the ethnic/cultural break down that shows the number of students tested and the percentage who were proficient or advanced.

Hispanic/Latino 51% of 92 students
African American  60% of 34
Filipino 71% of 35
White/other 80% of 782
Asian American 84% of 123

The reason why I look at these scores by ethnicity is that each ethnic group is a subculture and has unique differences. The data shows that most Hispanic/Latino values gaining an education less than the others.

These STAR Test Results show comparable stats for proficient or advanced for English Language Arts 2008-2009

Hispanic/Latino 52%
African American 62%
Filipino 69%
White/other 80%
Asian American 84%

For Las Lomas, scroll further, and look at the API Changes by subgroup: Three-Year Comparison and you will discover that the Asians had a gain of +34 for 2008-2009. Why, after all, they had the same teachers in the same school?

Return to Education and Cultures Collide in the US (1/5)

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

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Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Education and Cultures Collide in the US (1/5)

August 1, 2010

When I finished posting the Chinese Crossbow and other Inventions, I wondered why the Chinese were so successful at coming up with so many innovations while the West had to wait centuries.  To answer that, I thought of a long debate I had with an “old” friend.

He and I had an e-mail debate last year about education in the US until I was sick of hearing his opinion that vouchers would fix the problem. To him, the American public schools were broken. The whole mess was the fault of the Teachers’ Unions and the public schools should be replaced with schools run by the private sector like Wal-Mart.  Imagine Wall-Mart running thousands of schools and being paid from our taxes.

In my opinion, the “old” friend was wrong. America’s schools are not failures. The problem with kids not learning is cultural and socio/economic. To make my point, I’ll use Asian culture as an example.

When I said that Swan, my daughter, had earned straight A’s since kindergarten, this “old” friend said that was a fluke. It was not a fluke.

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

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Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Chinese Crossbow and other Inventions (4/4)

August 1, 2010

The Chinese invented rockets long before anyone in the West did. By the 15th century, the Chinese had mass rocket launchers that fired hundreds of rockets in battle. In one battle during the Ming Dynasty, more than one-hundred rocket launchers were used capable of launching 32,000 rockets in an instant.

The Chinese also invented one of the most dangerous weapons on earth—the landmine. The first landmines were invented in 13th century China.  The triggering mechanism for these weapons was kept a secret until the 16th century. Then this concept was used to create the first musket.

During world war I, armies used colored flares to send messages. The Chinese invented this signal method in the 13th century.

The most important contribution to warfare took place during in the 6th century BC— The Art of War by Sun Tzu. Today, American generals study this Chinese book for fighting wars.

Some might ask, if the Chinese were so advanced in waging war, why not conquer the world?  The answer—they had no desire because they were satisfied with what they had in China.

Ironically, the Mongols (Yuan Dynasty 1277 – 1367) conquered China using the weapons that the Chinese had invented.

Return to the Chinese Crossbow and other Inventions Part 3 or start with Part 1

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of The Concubine Saga. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.

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Chinese Crossbow and other Inventions (3/4)

August 1, 2010

The first firearm was invented in China about one thousand years ago. It was made of bamboo, fired pebbles and had a range of about thirty yards.

Bamboo is strong, flexible and hollow in the center. It was perfect for the first crude gunpowder weapons.  Over time, bamboo was replaced with bronze, and the pebbles became cast-iron chips or pellets. In fact, the first bronze handgun dates to 12th century AD. It was about a foot long and weighed eight pounds.

From these early weapons came cannons.  Long before the rest of the world knew anything about heavy artillery, the Chinese were making strong, mobile cannons from bronze. Since the Chinese already had repeating crossbows, the next step was repeating cannons along with exploding artillery shells.

During the Ming Dynasty, in the 14th century, the Great Wall was equipped with more than 3,000 cannons. In Europe, the first cannons were still being developed. The Chinese also invented the hand grenade about a thousand years ago along with grenade launchers—the bow powered grenade.

A computer analysis demonstrated that China’s largest cannons could fire more than a third of a mile.  It would take centuries before Europeans could match the weaponry of China.

Go to  hinese Crossbow and Other Inventions – Part 4 or return to the Chinese Crossbow and other Inventions Part 2

______________

Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of The Concubine Saga. When you ove a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the love tory Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.

To subscribe to “iLook China”, look for the “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar, click on it then follow directions.

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Chinese Crossbow and other Inventions (2/4)

July 31, 2010

The invention of gunpowder did not come from weapons makers but from alchemists. Chinese alchemy has a long tradition that is interwoven with other areas of learning.

There was no clear line between alchemy and politics.  In Chinese, the word for politics and finding a cure meant the same thing.

All Chinese alchemists had sulfur, charcoal and saltpeter. They just hadn’t combined them. Since saltpeter is white and many other powders used by China’s alchemist were white, there was a simple test to make sure.  If a small amount of the saltpeter were heated in a charcoal fire, there would be a purple flame.

The first account of the discovery of gunpowder comes from about 850 AD.  Soon after, they envisioned new kinds of weaponry.  By the 11th century AD, there were gunpowder weapons—crude rifles, cannons, etc.

The first gun or “fire lance” was produced in 905 AD. The next innovation was to add bullets to the fire lance.

Go to Chinese Crossbow and other Inventions – Part 3 or return to the Chinese Crossbow and other Inventions Part 1

______________

Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of The Concubine Saga. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.

To subscribe to “iLook China”, look for the “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar, click on it then follow directions.

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Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

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