The British Education System

Journal Entry 2

I have always been highly interested in higher education. I began researching colleges and universities in 6th grade, applied to universities across the United States, worked with a college consultant, and read more college and university guides and websites than I can count. The path that led me to Azusa Pacific University was long and not at all the one that I had expected to follow. I decided at age 12 that I wanted to attend Yale or Harvard, and my entire middle school and high school careers were spent working to achieve this goal.

I have had mixed feelings about my decision to attend Azusa Pacific University since I began my studies there two years ago. While I love the vibrant energy of the campus and the college’s emphasis on faith integration, I have questioned the method of teaching in many of my classes and yearned for the mental stimulation, academic challenge, and depth of learning I had expected to receive from an institute of higher education. One particular course in my major required no more than reading a few chapters from a textbook, completing occasional worksheets, two informal group presentations, and four tests and quizzes for which complete study guides were handed out at the beginning of the term. The class itself was structured wholly around the use of PowerPoint slides, which followed the outline of the textbook completely. I spent every day in class wondering why I was wasting my time listening to the same exact information that I had just read in the textbook.

With my background and interest in colleges and universities, I was particularly excited to hear the “British Secondary and Higher Education” lecture. The Oxford tutorial system both intimidates and exhilarates me. I am looking forward to being able to dialogue with a professor about a topic in which we both share an interest. To me, this is the purpose of professors and university courses – to discuss what has been read, to share opinions, to hear insight, and to be challenged to think beyond the words on the page. A phrase that stood out to me from today’s lecture was, “Brits emphasize the difference between school and university; universities teach you how to think.” I have sometimes felt that college in the United States is nothing more than four additional years of secondary school.

I was also intrigued by the British system involving A level study, beginning at age 16. In the United States, we have little opportunity to study subjects in which we hold a particular interest until we reach college. At this point, American students often spend a year or two frantically taking an array of course to try to discover their major or career path. I myself have had five different majors since beginning college. British students apply to specific programs of study before beginning university, saving time and money. I love their idea of finishing secondary school earlier and spending two years in university preparation, exploring specific subjects of interest in depth. It seems to me that the British education system is much more efficient than the American system and teaches students how to use their minds to think rather than to memorize the thoughts of others.