I see a variation on this article, several times a year.
I can't speak for other cultures, but the US has a fundamental mindset that all but worships "exceptionalism." We like mavericks, rule-benders, and exceptionally talented individuals. Being attractive, and having a winning [public] persona is also very helpful. Sometimes, good actors can use attractiveness and persona to cover up for a lack of accomplishment and substance, and often, people of great substance, are ignored, because they are not attractive, have "problematic" personalities, or are not particularly good at self-promotion.
I remember watching a documentary that compared the k-12 educational systems of the US, Germany and Japan. They looked at how high-performing students were treated, and how that affected their peers.
The US would concentrate on high performers, often to the detriment of their peers.
Japan would make high performers coach their peers.
They seemed to decide that Germany had the best approach. I don't remember exactly how that went (I remember extremes).
I'm a damn good engineer. Am I "10X"? I don't know, and don't care. I'm not in competition with anyone else. I get done what needs getting done, and I always have a ton of stuff I don't know, and still need to learn.
Another thing about the US culture (I was not raised in the US), is that it is highly competitive. We can't just be good at something; we need to be better than someone else.
That seems exhausting, to me.
I'm not competitive at all. I have worked on high-functioning teams, my entire career, and was never interested in competing with my teammates. The team competed against other teams, but that wasn't really anything that concerned me.
> The US would concentrate on high performers, often to the detriment of their peers.
This is, at best, half true. The high performers might get the most attention from certain teachers (esp. in middle class and upper middle class schools), but systemically they are ignored.
1. The general idea in education circles is that the higher performers “will do fine” without any additional attention, so they don’t need much help. As such, very little research attention is focused on them.
2. Gifted education is a joke in the US. Almost completely ignored.
3. Most honors classes are also a joke in that they are often regular classes with more busy work.
4. AP classes are sometimes good, but it’s often easier just to take an actual college course if your school allows it. Same or less classroom time and much less busy work.
5. School administrators are evaluated based on performance metrics. In almost all cases it is more beneficial and often easier to improve the low performers than it is to improve the high performers. This is largely due to the metrics that have been chosen for evaluation.
As for Japan, that observation is very true. That said, most of the talent mismatches disappear starting at high school and sometimes junior high school due to tracking (of which I am a fan).
> The US would concentrate on high performers, often to the detriment of their peers.
That's very interesting. This is anecdotally very contrary to my experience in middle-class public school, and my sister's experience as a teacher in a lower-income school.
Was the doc shot pre-NCLB? Is it simply a matter of variance across a large country, and my viewpoint is biased?
I don't remember. It was a long time ago. In my experience, this is exactly what happened, in my schools (I attended US public and private schools, after 5th grade).
I saw it from both perspectives. I was very smart, and did well, when I applied myself. I could also be a nightmare slacker.
I can't speak for other cultures, but the US has a fundamental mindset that all but worships "exceptionalism." We like mavericks, rule-benders, and exceptionally talented individuals. Being attractive, and having a winning [public] persona is also very helpful. Sometimes, good actors can use attractiveness and persona to cover up for a lack of accomplishment and substance, and often, people of great substance, are ignored, because they are not attractive, have "problematic" personalities, or are not particularly good at self-promotion.
I remember watching a documentary that compared the k-12 educational systems of the US, Germany and Japan. They looked at how high-performing students were treated, and how that affected their peers.
The US would concentrate on high performers, often to the detriment of their peers.
Japan would make high performers coach their peers.
They seemed to decide that Germany had the best approach. I don't remember exactly how that went (I remember extremes).
I'm a damn good engineer. Am I "10X"? I don't know, and don't care. I'm not in competition with anyone else. I get done what needs getting done, and I always have a ton of stuff I don't know, and still need to learn.
Another thing about the US culture (I was not raised in the US), is that it is highly competitive. We can't just be good at something; we need to be better than someone else.
That seems exhausting, to me.
I'm not competitive at all. I have worked on high-functioning teams, my entire career, and was never interested in competing with my teammates. The team competed against other teams, but that wasn't really anything that concerned me.