Education has been called American' s religion. Today more than 56 million Americans are attending school. The widely different educational systems and possibilities are as difficult for an outsider to understand as anything about American life.
【F1】
Differences in American schools compared with those found in the majority of other countries lie in the fact that education here has long been intended for everyone—not just for a privileged elite.
Schools are expected to meet the needs of every child, regardless of ability, and also the needs of society itself. This means that tax-supported public schools offer more than academic subjects. 【F2】
It surprises many people when they come here to find high schools offering such courses as typing, sewing, radio repairing, computer programming, or driving training, a-long with traditional academic subjects such as mammals, history and languages.
Students choose their curricula from a large "smorgasbord"(大杂烩)of courses, depending on their interests, future goals, and level of ability. 【F3】
The underlying goal of American education is to develop every child to the utmost of his or her own possibilities, however great or small these may be, and to give each one a sense of civic and community consciousness.
【F4】
Because there is no national religion and because there are so many different backgrounds and origins among the people, schools have traditionally played an important role in creating national unity and " Americanizing" the millions of immigrants who have poured into this country from its earliest days.
Schools still play a large role in the community, especially in small towns.
【F5】
The approach to teaching may seem unfamiliar to many, not only because it is informal , but also because there is less emphasis on learning facts than is true in the systems of many other countries.
Instead, Americans try to teach their children to think for themselves, to delve, to explore, to develop their own intellectual and creative abilities. Students spend much time learning how to use resource materials, libraries, statistics, and computers. Americans believe that if children are taught to reason well and to research well, they will be able to find whatever facts they need throughout the rest of their lives. Knowing how to solve problems is considered more important than the accumulation of facts.