Mirror for Americans

What is the explanation for American students’ comparatively mediocre academic performance? A Mirror for Americans finds part of it in how they are taught in primary schools. Comparisons with East Asian teaching are supplied by 50 years of research findings. Grove asks not that we copy East Asian teaching approaches, but that we use them as a mirror to gain insights into typically American approaches and their underlying values, which are handicapping our children’s learning.

In A Mirror for Americans, Cornelius Grove again shows his chops as scholar, carefully reading, digesting, and explaining, in a compelling way, what we know about teaching and learning in Asian cultures, and how what we know about other cultures can impact our understanding of our own education system. As one of the researchers whose work is included, I can say that Grove gets it right. I urge anyone with an interest in schools, teaching, and learning to read this book., In this clearly written and engaging book, Cornelius Grove deftly navigates the voluminous research on differences between East Asian and American schools, extracting valuable insights into why students in the former consistently outperform those in the latter on international tests. One key finding: East Asian schools are neither “student-centered,” as American schools strive to be, nor “teacher-centered,” as many believe. In fact, Grove says, they are “knowledge-centered,” focusing on the content to be learned rather than assuming students can figure it out for themselves, perhaps at some later point. While Grove realistically concedes that the East Asian model can’t simply be transplanted to the United States, he uses the research to highlight assumptions about learning that Americans need to re-examine if they want to provide all students with a meaningful education., Reviewing decades of research, Cornelius Grove provides a clear reflection in A Mirror for Americans that compels us to honestly look at how education has been done in the U.S. He asks us to think if American education can benefit from East Asian values, which apparently serve many children well. Readers may be surprised how this book breaks many myths of American education and points to ways for us to reimagine a better education for all.

Cornelius N. Grove’s mission has been to explain to Americans the historical and cultural reasons for their children’s comparatively mediocre performance in schools; his books The Aptitude Myth (2013) and The Drive to Learn (2017) are now followed by A Mirror for Americans. With a doctorate in education from Columbia University, he is the author of entries on pedagogy across cultures in two new encyclopedias, and founder of the intercultural consulting firm Grovewell LLC.