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The attitude of Asians towards education and their values contribute greatly to their outstanding performance in major global measurements, said János Setényi, Director of the Learning Institue, at a MCC panel discussion in Miskolc. The expert was asked by a university student Gábor Molnár about the recently published book "Learning from Asia in education" and what we should learn from Asians about learning and education.
Since the turn of the millennium, East Asian education systems have topped international rankings such as PISA and TIMMS. The big global measures - originally based on the Anglo-Saxon education systems - have changed a lot over the past decades, but the Asian lead has remained," says the Institute's director.
Europe faces global competition. We can't buy the best researchers like America, for example, and our notions of work are different from those in Asia," said János Setényi. Europe is the best, most comfortable place to live, he added, but the downside is that we don't put enough energy into work. Earning a lot of money with little work is the goal for young Europeans today.
Whereas in the 19th century European education was the wonder of the world, today it is Asians - largely thanks to traditional pedagogical methods - who are achieving these good results. The values they represent - their belief in education - are a major factor in this. In East Asia, even the lowest rung of society takes the education of their children very seriously, and that is the most important thing for parents. As Asia is very populous, hard work 'alone' is not enough to get ahead, learning is the fast track for them," the director stressed.
Western progressive educational methods are based on motivating students, but this is good if it complements the traditional elements, which also need to be retained," said the researcher, who also stressed that if young people do not learn to study and work hard, they will be at a great disadvantage later on, as they cannot grow up if they do not develop the ability to cope with difficulties.
An important element of classical education is the value system, i.e. the family's attitude to learning, which needs to be restored," Setényi said. The other pillar is knowledge and civic education, as a common culture ensures togetherness and mutual appreciation. This requires a cultural canon, a curriculum based on subjects that will keep the young people of the future together. And the third important element is performance: those who work harder must get ahead! But today everything is against this, young people see a different example in the media. There are no role models for children to follow. "Some learning is painful, but it gets better afterwards! Achievement is good, but burdens are necessary because the goal is to grow up," said the director.
János Setényi also stressed that many people from Asia come to Hungary to study. In particular, veterinary training, general medicine and music are areas where there is a lot of added value in our country. What is even more attractive to people from Asia is the European culture they want to learn here. He added that internationalisation in education is very important because we can learn a lot from each other.
At the end of the event, the audience could also get a taste of Asian culture: the staff of the Confucius Institute of the University of Miskolc gave a Chinese instrument demonstration and a tea ceremony.
