Culture in American High Schools and Universities

Introduction

High school is the institute which provides education to a child, mostly till the twelfth grade. In Asian countries, high school usually ends on grade ten and then the student moves to a college for further studies but in the West, things operate slightly differently when it comes to education. High school goes up to grade twelve and then the student goes to college for the next four years to get a bachelors degree. After that, it is two years of university to complete eighteen years of education.

Difference between cultures of high school and universities

High schools in America have their own set of culture and norms. In high schools, every student is provided with a locker where he keeps his books. The timings vary but are mostly from 8 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon. Students attending high school do not go there just for the sake of studying but also go there for the extra curricular activities and other forms of activities that are conducted on a daily basis. High school has events and extra curricular activities happening on a daily basis that keep the students occupied and also add to his learning and improvement. Students participate in dozens of events ranging from sports to parties to CSR activities and social/community services. This helps the student become a street-smart person who knows about the norms and functions of the world. A person who is well-versed with text books but does not know how things operate in the real world finds it difficult to deal with people in the world and usually struggles. In high school, classes are usually fixed in an annual curriculum set by the Principal and students advance to a higher grade each year depending on their annual performance in class and their involvement in extra curricular activities. The level of participation in extra curricular activities and how well they perform also impacts their annual grades and performance.

University life is a completely different ball game. It has only four years of education and during those four years, the focus is more on the mental grooming of the students rather than their extra curricular activities (Kerr, 2001). University is where students choose their career paths and decide what they want to specialize in and then they are taught subjects related to that specialization. Universities also conduct extra curricular activities but those are slightly different from the ones conducted in high school and the purpose of those activities is also to teach the students practical implementations of the coursework they take.

In universities, students can choose their own subjects and grading is done per semester and per subject. It is possible for a student to fail in a subject yet still advance to the next semester and retake the subject. Students choose their own classes, subjects, instructors and even timings. This flexibility allows students to focus on their studies together with their jobs. Students in universities mostly have jobs to make their ends ...