2013年關注全球教育趨勢必看的一本書！

　　《紐約時報》、《經濟學人》、《出版週刊》等各大媒體好評推薦

　　世界上許多國家的基礎教育都是透過解題來學習新知，同時也讓孩子習得在社會生存的原則與技巧。但是，為什麼有些國家近年來學習力大幅攀升，而美國學童的成績卻進步有限？在全球化的環境裡，孩子們又是如何看待「學習」這件事呢？



　　《Time》雜誌記者Amanda Ripley以一年的時間追蹤、記錄三個美國交換學生的生活，試圖解答眾人都很關切的問題：教育的未來。其中，15歲的Kim募集了一萬美金，自奧克拉荷馬州搬去芬蘭；原本在明尼蘇達州過著優沃生活的Eric，遠渡重洋到南韓；17歲的賓州少年Tom則是選擇前往波蘭。



　　在這一年中，作者見識到身經百戰的教育改革者、無精打采的殭屍學生，甚至還有年收入四億美元的教師。珍貴的異國經驗帶來開創性的視野，也揭示一個事實：部份國家在數十年前或許並沒有許多特別傑出的學生，但隨著時代轉變、教育政策的調整，情勢因此逆轉。而地球村的便利性讓選擇變得寬廣，卻也使整體教育環境更加嚴峻。（文�博客來編譯＿



　　How Do Other Countries Create “Smarter” Kids?



　　In a handful of nations, virtually all children are learning to make complex arguments and solve problems they’ve never seen before. They are learning to think, in other words, and to thrive in the modern economy.



　　What is it like to be a child in the world’s new education superpowers?



　　In a global quest to find answers for our own children, author and Time magazine journalist Amanda Ripley follows three Americans embed?ded in these countries for one year. Kim, fifteen, raises ＄10,000 so she can move from Oklahoma to Finland; Eric, eighteen, exchanges a high-achieving Minnesota suburb for a booming city in South Korea; and Tom, seventeen, leaves a historic Pennsylvania village for Poland.



　　Through these young informants, Ripley meets battle-scarred reformers, sleep-deprived zombie students, and a teacher who earns ＄4 million a year. Their stories, along with groundbreaking research into learning in other cultures, reveal a pattern of startling transformation: none of these countries had many “smart” kids a few decades ago. Things had changed. Teaching had become more rigorous; parents had focused on things that mattered; and children had bought into the promise of education.



　　A journalistic tour de force, The Smartest Kids in the World is a book about building resilience in a new world—as told by the young Americans who have the most at stake.