In a classroom in any country, the teacher teaches more than art or history or language．He or she teaches what is known as the“hidden course”－the culture of that country．

　　In a society such as the United States, people with different history, culture and language join together and they highly value individualism．Their education, as a part of the society, also values this greatly．Teachers try to make each student special．Students do not have to memorize a lot of information, instead, they work individually and find answers by themselves．There is often discussion in the classroom．At an early age students learn to form their own ideas and opinions．Their education encourages personal thought．The importance is placed on how to arrive at an answer and not simply to get the correct answer．

　　Inmost Asian countries, people have the same language, history, and culture．Perhaps for this reason, the education there shows society’s value in group goals and purposes rather than individualism．Children in China and Japan often work together and help each other on homework．In the classroom, the teaching methods are often very traditional．The teacher says, and the students listen．There is not much discussion．Instead, the students repeat rules or information that they have been taught in order to keep them in mind．

　　In many ways these differences come from different educational psychology．In western countries teachers are taught to nurture(培育)students．They make it easier for the students to learn for themselves．In the Orient, however, teachers often feel that their task is to pass knowledge to students, or the students can’t learn anything．

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　　When I entered college in the early 1980s, I had my heart set on being a first-grade teacher．I did all of my observations in others’ first-grade classroom．I interviewed for my first job in a first-grade classroom．At last the district offered me a job-as a fifth-grade teacher in an inner-city building, considered at the time to be one of our district's most difficult tasks．It wasn't the first-grade classroom after I had hoped for, but it was my classroom after I had made such great efforts!

　　I managed to deal with everything in first year successfully, while working to form relationships with my students was no easy thing, especially with Alexader．He had learning disabilities in both math and reading．The other children were sometimes unfriendly to him．He was a difficult child to get to open up, but I was determined to make efforts．

　　You can imagine my delight when finally, in late spring, Alexander raised his hand during the math class discussion for the first time ever．Thrilled, I immediately called him．

　　Well, you can imagine my surprise when he suddenly told a story about his grandma, who had a hole in her head．You see, we were studying fraction(分数)that day, and I had just explained that a fraction is “a part of a whole”．Alexander obviously didn't realize the difference between “whole” and “hole”．“Homophones(同音词)’’I told myself, “had better be tomorrow's English lesson．”

　　Acknowledging(承认)Alexander that day was exactly what he needed from me．We had suddenly developed a special relationship．Alexander felt such a connection to me after that, that he even went one step further．

　　I arrived at the school the following morning and was surprised to find Alexander and his grandma waiting for me．Grandma began by saying, “Alexander said he told you that I had a hole in my head．”I smiled nervously and said, “Don't worry．You know kids! They have great imaginations”Grandma replied, “You didn't believe him, did you? ”“No, of course not, ”I said．Well, just at that time, Grandma proudly showed the hole in her head．

　　I will never forget that day, and the lesson that I learned from being Alexander's teacher．

　　If a child ever again tells me about a family member with a hole in his or her head, I will believe him or her!

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