Major differences in Western and Eastern Education in Europe
Have you ever wondered how different is the education in the West and East Europe? What distinguishes them from one another? After gaining my bachelors in Bulgaria and pursuing a second master degree in the UK, I can frankly say that only through experience someone can see the difference and set them apart if you have studied in both institutions, you practically had the best of both worlds.
In this article, we will try to draw a comparison between them and try to resolve the mystery once and for all.
The origin — the two educational systems have profoundly different origin, while Western Europe has its roots in Athens, Rome and Judeo Christianity, Eastern Europe has been influenced by Islam, Confucianism, Taoism and Mahayana Buddhism (I am a bit surprised by that!). Consequently, Western Education follows the way Plato and ancient Greek thinks, as a result, they value independent learning and critical thinking while on the East passive learning is a more acceptable method.
In general terms, Western education emphasizes on understanding (meaningful learning), whilst Eastern education emphasizes on memorizing (rote learning).
In-class discussions in the West have been driven by ongoing communication between the students and the teacher, there is a constant flow of dialogue, that stimulates both problem solving and communication skills. On the other hand, in the East, the full responsibility of what the students can learn and to what extent they understand the material depends on the teacher as there is no a dialogue between the two sides and quite often the questions asked in class are answered by the teacher himself. Of course, this is a highly speculated model as in today educational environment in the Balkans many schools and universities are changing their teaching methods, adopting more modern once and trying to “think out of the box” when it comes down to classroom activities. Nevertheless, in general, the West and the East can represent two sides of a coin, completely different from one another.
Perception of education:
In the West:
· Education is a cultural necessity for developing a stable society
· Understanding the material, critically evaluating
· Open discussions
In the East:
· Memorizing the material
· Highly competitive
· Focus on examination and grades
Attitude towards the students:
In the West:
· Creativity and independent thinking are highly encouraged
· Mistakes are treated in a positive manner — the students are not afraid to do mistakes as they can learn from them and do better next time
· Complementing the students when they perform well or excel
In the East:
· Strictly followed rules
· Conformity is encouraged
· Criticism is used as a way to encourage students to perform better
Criticism :
Even though that the education in the West provides opportunities for creative thinking, taking responsibility and analytical skills, in some cases the teachers may use this as an excuse to avoid teaching the material, avoiding further clarification on the subject for the sake of independent learning. On the other hand, on the East where the students are seen as receivers of the knowledge and the teachers as main providers, that can lead to a hostile environment for the students as they fail to develop independent thinking or taking initiative, they may depend on someone to “hand them” the rules.
Nevertheless, according to the Eurostat statistics, only around 35% of the population in the UK and Romania speak a foreign language, while in Bulgaria (50%) half of the population speaks another language, in Germany 78%. That is a relevant example of how the perception of education can be refuted and how every case is specific and stands on its own.
All in all, both education systems can be improved, for better or for worse they offer different alternatives and perspectives.
