2013-2014學年第二學期課程論文英美社會與文化EnglishTitle:TheCharacteristicsofAmericanEducationandImplications專業班級：英語2班學生姓名：莊玥學生學號：201235272014年7月11日說明該課程論文選題要圍繞美國教育的特點以及對中國教育的啟示來進行；字數限制在1,500-2,000字，用英文撰寫；論文寫作格式要統一，包括：封面，正文結構，參考文獻格式，A4紙打印；頁碼等；嚴禁抄襲，嚴禁直接從網上下載，一經發現即判不及格。

TheCharacteristicsofAmericanEducationandImplicationsZhuangYueIntroductionTheAmericaneducationaldevelopmentistheprocessofceaselessself-developmentandinnovationprocess,istheformingprocessofdiversificationandawiderangeofsocialparticipationprocess.InAmerican,everyoneshouldhavetheopportunitytoreceivethebesteducation,andtodeveloptheindividualtalentsandabilities.Whatevertheyarepoororrich.ThecharacteristicsofAmericaneducationTheeducationalsystemEducationalsystemAgeCoursePrimarySchoolKindergarten4Kindergarten567Grade1ElementarySchool8Grade29Grade310Grade411Grade5SecondarySchoolMiddleSchool12Grade613Grade714Grade8HighSchool15Grade916Grade1017Grade1118Grade12CollegeandUniversity19Grade1320Grade1421Grade1522Grade16GraduateSchool23-2.1EarlyChildEducationThefirstyearatschooliscalledkindergarten.ItisrequiredofallAmericanchildrenenrolledintheAmericaneducationsystem.Thesecondyearatschoolisconsideredthefirstyearofprimaryschoolandisreferredtoasfirstgrade.InAmerica,thewordgradehastwomeanings:Thefirstisthescoreachievedonanexamorinacourse,andthesecondisayearofeducationinprimaryorsecondaryschool.Primaryschoolmostcommonlyconsistsoffiveyearsofeducation,referredtoasfirstthroughfifthgrades.Inprimaryschool,courseforchildrenincludereading,writingandtherearealsocourse(suchashistory,geography,andcivicsofgovernment),science,art,andmusic.Studentscanalsolearncookingandmanualskillssuchascarpentryandsewing.2.2SecondaryEducationUponcompletionoffifthgrade(thelastyearofprimaryschool),AmericanchildrenenrolledintheAmericaneducationsystemadvancetosecondaryschool.Secondaryschoolmostcommonlyconsistsofatotalofsevenyears,referredtoassixththroughtwelfthgrades.Theninththroughtwelfthgradesaremostcommonlyreferredtoashighschool.Uponcompletionoftwelfthgrade,Americanstudentsareawardedacertificatecalledthehighschooldiploma.IntheAmericaneducationsystem,studentsmusthaveobtainedahighschooldiplomabeforetheyareadmittedintocollegeoruniversity.ForeignstudentswhowouldliketoattendanAmericancollegeoruniversitymusthavecompletedcourseworkthatisequivalenttowhatistaughtatanAmericanhighschool.ForeignstudentswhowouldliketoattendanAmericanhighschool,needtoconsiderhowthehighschooltheyselectwillgivethemaccesstothebestcolleges.Inmosthighschools,inadditiontogeneraleducation,thereisalsovocationaltrainingforspecificoccupations.Throughthiskindsoftraining,studentsmayobtainenoughskillstoworkassecretaries,orautomobilemechanics,etc.HighSchoolEducationForalongtime,Americahasledtheworldinhigher,education,quantitativelyatleast.TheaggregatenumberofU.S.institutionsofhighereducationis,atlastcount,3,280.Thisfigurerepresentsoneinstitutionforevery75,000Americans.Slightlymorethanhalfofallinstitutionsofhighereducationareprivatelysupportedmanyofthembyreligiousgroups.InAmericancollegesanduniversities,avastarrayofsubjectsisoffered.Thestudentcansampledifferentfieldsofknowledge,butheusuallymajorsinonefieldduringlasttwoyearsofcollege.Ifhewishes,hemayobtainprofessionaltrainingattheundergraduatelevel,forexample,inaccounting,teaching,journalism,ordramatics.Certainstatecollegesspecializeintrainingagriculturalexpertsandengineers.Mostimportantly,theyworkintensivelywithstudentswritingthesisordissertations.Guidingmaster'sandPh.d.candidatesthroughthefinalwritingandexaminationstagesoftheirprogramsmaybeseenasanextensionoftheteachingact;nevertheless,ittakesupmuchfacultytime.Herethefacultymemberbecomesbothcriticandeditorofmanuscriptswhichmaybeseveralhundredpagesinlength.CollegeandUniversityStudentswhohavecompletedhighschoolandwouldliketoattendcollegeoruniversitymustattendwhatisreferredtoasanundergraduateschool.Theseareschoolsthatoffereitheratwo-yeardegree(calledanassociatedegree)orafour-yeardegree(calledabachelorschool)inaspecificcourseofstudy.Thatcourseofstudyiscalledthemajor.Whilemostschoolsthatofferafour-yeardegreewilladmitstudentswhohavenotyetchosenamajor,allstudentsarerequiredtoselect(ordeclare)amajorbytheirsecondyearatschool.Studentswhocompleteanassociatedegreecancontinuetheireducationatafour-yearschoolandeventuallycompleteabachelordegree.Thereareovertwothousanduniversities,collegesorotherhighereducationinstitutionsintheUnitedStatesofAmerica.Theterm“college”referstoaninstitutionrequiringasecondaryschoolcertificateforadmission.Acollegemayormaynotbeapartofuniversity.Auniversitymayhavemanybranches.Aboutaquarterofallthecollegesanduniversitiesareprivate.Everystatehasatleastonepublicuniversity.Buttheacademicprogrammersaresimilarintheseprivateandpublicuniversities.TherearethreetypesofinstitutionsofhighereducationintheUnitedStatesofAmerica.Thefirsttypeisthetwo-yearcollege,originallycalleda“juniorcollege”.Nowitisnameda“communitycollege”,whichservicesasabridgethatconnectssecondaryschoolsanduniversities.Thesecondtypeisthefour-yearcollege,oftencalleda“liberalartscollege”ora“collegeofartsandscience,”whosecurriculumisconfinedtohumanities,socialandbehaviorscienceandnaturalscience.ThethirdtypeistheAmericanuniversity,whichisaninstitution,morecomprehensiveandcomplexthananyotherkindofUShighereducationalestablishment.Manyuniversitieshaveoneormoreprofessionalschools,suchasmedicine,dentistry,law,veterinarymedicine,etc.Andtheymayhaveavarietyofresearchunitsinvariousfields.Therearethreewaysofdividinguptheacademicyear.Thesemestersystemdividestheyearintotwoequaltermsofabout16weeks.Thequartersystemconsistsofthreetermsofabout11weekswiththefourthheldduringthesummermonth.Thetrimestersystemhasthreeequaltermsofabout15weekseach.Therearetwokindsofmaster’sdegree.Thefirstrequiresadissertationpaper,whichcountsforacertainnumberofcreditsthatusuallyconstitutepartofthedegreeprogram.Thesecondkinddoesn’trequireadissertationpaper,butcreditsarerequiredintheprocessofstudy.Anoralorwrittenexaminationmayalsoberequiredforthedegreethatdoesn’trequireadissertationpaper.Studentswhohaveobtainedabachelor’sdegreecancontinuetheireducationbypursuingoneoftwotypesofdegrees.Thefirstisamasters’degree.Thisisusuallyatwo-yeardegreethatishighlyspecializedinaspecificfield.Studentsaresometimesadmittedtoamaster’sdegreeprogramonlyiftheyhaveabachelor’sdegreeinacloselyrelatedfield.However,therearemanyexceptionstothis,suchaswithstudentswhowanttopursueaMaster’sinBusinessAdministration(MBA)degree.Studentswhowanttoadvancetheireducationevenfurtherinaspecificfieldcanpursueadoctoratedegree,alsocalledaPhD.APhDdegreecantakebetweenthreeandsixyearstocomplete,dependingonthecourseofstudychosen,theabilityofthestudent,andthethesisthatthestudenthasselected.Thethesisisaveryintensiveresearchpaperthatmustbecompletedpriortoearningthedegree.ItisalwaysrequiredofstudentspursuingaPhD,andmaysometimesberequiredofstudentspursuingamaster’sdegree(dependingontheschool).CertaincoursesofstudyareonlyavailableatthegraduateschoollevelinAmerica.Themostnotableofthesearelaw,dentistry,andmedicine.Studentswhowanttopursueadegreeinoneofthesefieldsmustfirstobtainabachelor’sdegree.3.ImplicationsonChineseEducationHavesaidsomuchabove,wecanseethatAmericaneducationhavelotsdifferencesbetweenourChineseeducations.First,theFederalgovernmenthasnopowertomakelawsinthefieldofeducation,sotheydon’thavetothinkofthebenefitsofthegovernment,whattheyshoulddoisjustteachingandtellstudentsrightfromwrong.HoweverinChina,ourschoolsareinfluencedbythegovernment,so,theteacherhavetotellusthepositivethingsinsteadthefactaboutourgovernment.Second,unlikeChina,thereisnoentranceexambeforewegotothehighschoolinAmerican,sothattheAmericanchildrencanenjoytheirchildrenhoodandtraintheinterestsoneveryfields.Whenwearebusyonourexam,theyaremakingtheirplanforthefuture!TotheChinese,althoughtheyhadbeenworkinghard,theywaspoorinindependence.Whatwecanseefromtheparentsandchildrenintheindulgencewasthattheywerecontentwiththestatusquoandmoreconservativelikethedoctrineofthemean.Inturn,thesecharacteristicsmaketheChineseeducationmoreoriented.Ofcourse,italsohasgreatinfluencefromtheancientimperialexaminations.Chinesestudentslearnthowtogetintotheuniversityandthenfindagoodjobfromschoolinsteadoflearningtherealskills.Studentsseldomlearnthetrueskillfromthebooksbutlearnthowtodealwiththeexam.Theteacherwasforcedtoforcethestudentstocompletetheirhomework.4. ConclusionInshort,AmericaneducationmodedonotfitforChineseandChineseeducationmodeisnotgoodfortheAmericansatthesametime.