2 Million Minutes Response

Andy LiEDUC 275

Bjork

In the film “2 Million Minutes,” the filmmaker contests that United States is

not adequately preparing its students. Schools, he argues, need to prepare students

to compete with those from America’s competitors. Comparing the American

educational experience with ones from China and India, “2 Million Minutes” argues

that students in America are not as economically competitive as their Chinese and

Indian counterparts, and thus risking America’s future as the leader in the global

economy. The film calls for the need to increase the economic competitiveness in

American schools and become more like the education that is found in India and

China.

“2 Million Minutes” argues that the academic expectations for students in

American are lax in comparison to the expectations of Indian and Chinese students.

In the film, Indian and Chinese students are pushed to pursue high goals, such as

attending Peking University, and expected to figure out career goals at a very early

age. These pressures and expectations appear to be nonexistent in American

education, where students are encouraged to explore on their own and take time to

realize what they wish to pursue. The filmmakers suggest that the American

mindset will act as a poison to America’s position in the global economy and that

Americans need to pressure and expect more from their students.

However, I do not think that this path is one that Americans should pursue.

One reason is that imitating the Chinese or Indian education mentality is potentially

harmful. It is normal that we push students to achieve a certain level, but when we

pressure too much, there will be unhealthy effects. Though Chinese students achieve

very high on international tests and are pressured to excel, China currently

searching for a solution to the issue of stress of its students. “The excessive amount

of work placed upon Chinese students has led to high rates of stress and

unhappiness” (Post, 2009, 20). It may be important that America needs to be on

equal footing with India or China, but the risks associated with imitating this

approach are detrimental to the health of students.

Chinese and Indians students are often encouraged to excel and aim high,

resulting in their students working very hard to achieve their goals. However, this

results in students learning that goals that may perhaps be outside of their reach are

the only acceptable products of their hard work. In “2 Million Minutes”, a Chinese

student who was very talented in math studies everyday and works very hard.

However, when he received his acceptance to Peking University, he was

disappointed because he got into the less prestigious math program. Though the

student was able to get into the school of his dreams, this mentality of not accepting

anything other than the best can be disastrous. Parents of Chinese students say that

education can become an escape from their current social status, and thus must risk

everything on the line in order to move ahead socially. But, what if the student does

do well enough to get into a great university despite all his hard work? The student

would think that all his efforts were futile and the life he will be leading now is a

failed one. However, American students are taught differently. In the film, though

the American student was the valedictorian of his class, he did not try to overreach

and apply to Ivy League universities. Instead, he pursued schools like Purdue, which

are still excellent schools, but less competitive to get in. Americans are taught that it

is okay to not reach for the top, because there are a lot of options and routes

available to them. They are able to move past their failures and reroute their paths

to reach their intended goals.

Despite the range of educational opportunities available in the United States,

the filmmakers of “2 Million Minutes” strongly depicts American education as

weaker than the intense curriculum offered at China and India. Despite being one of

the best high schools in America, Carmel High School academically-speaking is not

as intensive as those found in other developed countries. However, one cannot

generalize the quality of an education system solely on the high school level. Though

the U.S. may appear to not emphasize high school education as much as China or

India, it focuses most of its resources in its higher education. Even in the Moderated

Discussion say that “college-level education is of a higher standard in the United

States than in India” despite India producing the most engineers out of any other

country in the world (Post, 2009, 22).

I also found the film’s criticism of a “well-rounded” student disheartening.

The filmmakers assert that emphasis on a “well-rounded” student sacrificed the

potential academic achievements that he or she can reach. However, the filmmakers

appear to forget another important goal of education — teaching students social

skills. Rather than simply push students to do their best in school, they are

encouraged to pursue hobbies, extracurricular activities, and part-time jobs during

their high school years. A purely academic achievement push for students will not

teach them how to socialize in the real world and at work space once they graduate

from college. Despite acquiring an intensive learned knowledge, one will not be able

to fully utilize their productivity without these social skills.

Although I do admit that Americans can take some things from these foreign

education systems such as raising competitiveness to a certain degree in its high

schools, I do not think that this fear of “losing” to India or China should be

considered so drastically. Rather than framing education reform on economic

competitiveness, I believe it is wiser to approach reform through a more

introspective look in the US’s education system. Americans should think about how

the American education experience is affecting its students. This more introspective

look into the system will frame reform around the health and benefits of the

students in mind, rather than the race to nowhere found through the push for a

more economically competitive education in America.

Reference:

Post, D. (2009). Moderated Discussion: 2 Million Minutes. Comparative Education

Review, 53(1), 113-137.