[ExI] focus

[SR Ballard]

>
> For example, I would wager that in prestigious prep-schools such skills
> ARE taught from an early age. However for those students in diploma-mill
> public schools, rote-learning and teaching to the test are the rule of the
> day.
>
> Stuart LaForge


The worst part is that they're starting to move away from rote memory, but
without replacing it with anything. For example I never had to learn the
dates of various historical occourances. This leads to all kinds of
confusions about history. Also, they've removed geography in the 3 states
where I went to school, so no one knows where anything is, and which famous
cities are in which countries. Some school districts are also trying to
move away from rote memory of even things like the multiplication tables.
Many science and math teachers will now provide formulas used during tests
for the students instead of having them memorize what they are.

 > I still want to know about China and their students.  I repeat from an
earlier post:  they have as many students studying English as we have
people.

Well, I only have annecdotal evidence, but it seems they absolutely treat
the classroom as a unit, teaching it as a unit. But based on the Chinese
tourists I met while in Japan, the following article puts its pretty well,
at least as far as math education. I can't speak about other subjects with
any degree of knowledge.

https://qz.com/939208/more-children-in-the-west-are-being-taught-math-using-chinas-fabled-slightly-brutal-mastery-method/
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