Nowadays, many parents send their children to study in Canada because Canada’s education level is leading in the world, so what is the difference between Canadian student education and test-based education?
The difference between Canadian education and test-based education: Classroom
In test-based education, teachers prefer to help children make a summary, and students need to listen and accept it. If some students do not blindly obey and raise their hand to challenge the teacher’s “standard answer”, they consider this a challenge to the teacher’s authority.
I’m sure many students have had an experience of a teacher calling on them to answer a question and they penalized them for not answering it correctly. As time goes by, students’ interests in learning wanes, and their confidence in themselves go away.
In Canada, teaching style is more discussion and debate-style, with teachers encouraging students to be creative by speaking freely and even acting out characters from the book’s plot. Students will exchange their opinions with their teacher, and who actively takes part in class discussions will be rewarded with high marks.
The difference between Canadian education and test-based education: Homework
In test-based education, students’ assignments are repetitive, reciting uniform answers. Teachers use the tactic of “memorizing questions” and emphasize the accumulation of quantity of repetitive. The focus on “basic skills” does not include the development of students’ creativity and thinking skills.
In Canada, the amount of homework is small, but it’s time-consuming to do. For example, in literature class, the teacher will ask students to write a poem, and after writing the poem, also draw a picture and color it according to the content of the poem. There are also many assignments that are submitted in the form of essays. The aim is to develop students’ creativity and thinking skills.
The difference between Canadian education and test-based education: Examinations
In test-based education, students’ path to higher education is determined by examinations all the way through, and there is a lot of competition in the mid-term exams, senior high school exams, college exams, and even elementary school.
In Canada, they enroll students at the elementary and secondary levels, and the overall grade consists of five components: attendance, assignments, classroom presentations, and percentages of midterm and final grades. Application to universities may vary depending on the region, but universities place more emphasis on performance and accumulation.
The difference between Canadian education and test-based education: Quality-oriented education
Canada is promoting quality-oriented education in test-based education, but with limited success. Students spend a lot of time memorizing poetry, calculating formula, solving mathematical, physical, and chemical questions, memorizing English words, etc.
Students use Canadian paper money and coins in games; they know fire rescue and alarms; they know how to balance meals, and they know how to cook, sew, build, and they develop versatile players with great hands-on skills in games, etc.
The difference between Canadian education and test-based education: Hardware and software
Universities in test-based education only look at your high school entrance exam results. Many outstanding students, due to not doing well in a major, will miss the opportunity to get into the university.
Canadian universities look more at the soft power of the student when it comes to admissions. The university is a declaration system, first-class universities with 85 points or more in each subject, second-class schools with 80 points or more, can apply at several schools at the same time, or perhaps these schools all send a letter of acceptance, students then decide which school to go to according to their situation. Canadian admissions officers don’t prefer students who only take exams, so they consider all aspects of a student’s qualities, such as organizational skills, creativity, communication skills, etc. Don’t assume because a student’s grades are high enough, he or she can apply to a top Canadian school.