Differences Between The Education Systems example essay topic

Everyone has a different upbringing and with that comes a different education. I had a major change in my education two years ago. Only two years I moved from Germany, where I had done all my schoolwork in German to New Zealand, where I had to do my schoolwork in English and hardly knew anyone. I had to cope with doing my sixth form certificate in English, as well as jump one and a half years to be with the same aged people.

A well rounded education is the first step towards a society that reflects the foundation of knowledge it is built upon. A well-rounded society depends on past knowledge and achievements, current success and future aspirations, which leads to a well-rounded education. Looking back this was a step too big for me and it would have been more comfortable to start in fifth form, but one always knows better afterwards and anyway I learn by making mistakes. The school in Germany I had come from was a private Waldorfschool, which is quite different to the public education system. I feel very privileged that I was able to go to such a school and also go to a normal state school in New Zealand, which did not only broaden my understanding of education, but also let me experience the differences between the education systems. It would be a lie to say that the pressure to achieve in school and to adjust to all the cultural differences was easy, because I honestly found it difficult.

But I made the best of the situation, even though I struggled immensely to adjust to the new school system, new language and make new friends. It did not really help that I didn't find any friends who I couldn't really talk to in the first year, because I was concentrating so hard on passing my school exams. This year I have settled in, coping with the change and slowly even getting marks that show the effort I put in to all my work. I have learnt a lot from the hard times last year, which have added to my well-rounded education. Despite the difficulties of the emigration, it is very interesting to see the differences not only in the education system but also the cultural side and how people think on this side of the world.

In my opinion there is more to a well rounded education than just being academically bright or very sportive, I consider a well-rounded education to be the balance between, culture, academic success, sports, humanitarian services and communication. I have had the privilege to receive a well rounded education from my parents. I did not only receive this great education by living in two different countries, but by my parents encouraging me to get involved in sports and cultural activities. I have grown up with speaking two languages and over the last two years even learnt how to do my schoolwork in different languages. My parents have encouraged my to play sports for my physical as well as mental well being, play the violin and dance for my creative side, work hard and do well in school and interact with different age groups to learn communication skills. All these different actions have contributed to my character.

I believe I have received a very good well-rounded education with open minded parents encouraging individual thinking and thinking "out of the square". I feel a typical characteristic of a successful, well-rounded education is a person that can make up his own mind without following the crowd, believing what everyone else does. The Waldorfschool I went to in Germany I believe made a huge contribution to my well-rounded education. This school is known for its development of human beings with strong characters. I believe this was achieved along with other features by " forcing" us do things we were not particularly good at. This gave us a great feeling of accomplishment once achieved and trained our perseverance.

I believe our society has given up on training perseverance, as one can see the school system. If a child in here does not do well in one subject, this subject is dropped the following year to ensure good marks at the end of the year. I think this is a minus point for a well-rounded education that every school tries to offer. According to the definition of the dictionary education is the process of acquiring knowledge and understanding, which really means that our education never ends, because we do not only receive education in school and university. We are being educated always everyday and everywhere. In fact many academically educated people think most less academically educated people are inferior to them; but as a matter of fact the less academically educated people will have a lot more practical survival knowledge than the academics.

In my opinion it is almost only possible for a western, first world born child to receive a well rounded education, since the information and education one receives living under a dictator will always be propaganda to prevent the nation from knowing any other way. If I was born in a slum in India my parents could not have afforded a good and well rounded education as I have received and still am receiving here, for which I am very grateful. When I look at the different education systems all around the world, there will always be some point I don't agree with and others that I think is great and learn from the positives. Every human goes through a point in life, when things aren't going the way one would like them to go. These are really the times when one can learn the most, even though it will seem hard at the time to see the good. If we humans would learn from every mistake we make, we soon would have a lot less crime and ruined families.

The war in Iraq would have been solved diplomatically and saved many lives and Mugabe in Zambezi would not be a dictator. Unfortunately it does not lie within the human nature to admit mistakes and learn from them. Also if we could learn from mistakes, we would long ago have a perfect education system for every nation. We would have taken all the negative downsides of education systems to make a perfect good system that would suit every learner.