Hungarian Schools vs. American Schools

According to Doug and Lea Coppage, who teach in a Hungarian school and their daughter has been going to Hungarian school for several years now, Hungarian schools are quite different from American schools.

Here are some major differences according to the Coppages:

• American schools value critical thinking, problem solving, and creativity. Hungarian schools teach “rote” knowledge.
• American schools value self esteem and other individualistic traits.  Hungarian schools value competency and more group-oriented characteristics.
• American schools have trouble teaching actual content, and they make up for this by imposing batteries of minimum achievement tests.  Hungarian schools have trouble teaching things that apply to real life, and they do not attempt to compensate.
• In an American school, each student has an individual schedule, and they travel around to different teachers’ classrooms each hour.  In a Hungarian schools,  each class learns together in its own room,  and the teachers come and go according to the class’s schedule.

Sounds blunt and too black and white to me, and I could bring several examples where a Hungarian school or a Hungarian teacher does not fit this description at all…  still, I can not argue with the essence.  I know that the short description above comes from many years of experience and I also know that this family loves Hungarians.  This is where I decided to share their insight with you.

What are your experiences?

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