2 Million Minutes

Response
Andy Li
EDUC 275
Bjork

In the film 2 Million Minutes, the filmmaker contests that

United States is not adequately preparing its students. Schools, he
argues, need to prepare students to compete with those from
Americas

competitors.

Comparing

the

American

educational

experience with ones from China and India, 2 Million Minutes argues
that students in America are not as economically competitive as their
Chinese and Indian counterparts, and thus risking Americas future as
the leader in the global economy. The film calls for the need to
increase the economic competitiveness in American schools and
become more like the education that is found in India and China.
2 Million Minutes argues that the academic expectations for
students in American are lax in comparison to the expectations of
Indian and Chinese students. In the film, Indian and Chinese students
are pushed to pursue high goals, such as attending Peking University,
and expected to figure out career goals at a very early age. These
pressures and expectations appear to be nonexistent in American
education, where students are encouraged to explore on their own and
take time to realize what they wish to pursue. The filmmakers suggest
that the American mindset will act as a poison to Americas position in
the global economy and that Americans need to pressure and expect
more from their students.
However, I do not think that this path is one that Americans
should pursue. One reason is that imitating the Chinese or Indian

education mentality is potentially harmful. It is normal that we push

students to achieve a certain level, but when we pressure too much,
there will be unhealthy effects. Though Chinese students achieve very
high on international tests and are pressured to excel, China currently
searching for a solution to the issue of stress of its students. The
excessive amount of work placed upon Chinese students has led to
high rates of stress and unhappiness (Post, 2009, 20). It may be
important that America needs to be on equal footing with India or
China, but the risks associated with imitating this approach are
detrimental to the health of students.
Chinese and Indians students are often encouraged to excel and
aim high, resulting in their students working very hard to achieve their
goals. However, this results in students learning that goals that may
perhaps be outside of their reach are the only acceptable products of
their hard work. In 2 Million Minutes, a Chinese student who was very
talented in math studies everyday and works very hard. However,
when he received his acceptance to Peking University, he was
disappointed because he got into the less prestigious math program.
Though the student was able to get into the school of his dreams, this
mentality of not accepting anything other than the best can be
disastrous. Parents of Chinese students say that education can become
an escape from their current social status, and thus must risk
everything on the line in order to move ahead socially. But, what if the

student does do well enough to get into a great university despite all
his hard work? The student would think that all his efforts were futile
and the life he will be leading now is a failed one. However, American
students are taught differently. In the film, though the American
student was the valedictorian of his class, he did not try to overreach
and apply to Ivy League universities. Instead, he pursued schools like
Purdue, which are still excellent schools, but less competitive to get in.
Americans are taught that it is okay to not reach for the top, because
there are a lot of options and routes available to them. They are able to
move past their failures and reroute their paths to reach their intended
goals.
Despite the range of educational opportunities available in the
United States, the filmmakers of 2 Million Minutes strongly depicts
American education as weaker than the intense curriculum offered at
China and India. Despite being one of the best high schools in America,
Carmel High School academically-speaking is not as intensive as those
found in other developed countries. However, one cannot generalize
the quality of an education system solely on the high school level.
Though the U.S. may appear to not emphasize high school education
as much as China or India, it focuses most of its resources in its higher
education. Even in the Moderated Discussion say that college-level
education is of a higher standard in the United States than in India

despite India producing the most engineers out of any other country in
the world (Post, 2009, 22).
I also found the films criticism of a well-rounded student
disheartening. The filmmakers assert that emphasis on a wellrounded student sacrificed the potential academic achievements that
he or she can reach. However, the filmmakers appear to forget another
important goal of education teaching students social skills. Rather
than simply push students to do their best in school, they are
encouraged to pursue hobbies, extracurricular activities, and part-time
jobs during their high school years. A purely academic achievement
push for students will not teach them how to socialize in the real world
and at work space once they graduate from college. Despite acquiring
an intensive learned knowledge, one will not be able to fully utilize
their productivity without these social skills.
Although I do admit that Americans can take some things from
these foreign education systems such as raising competitiveness to a
certain degree in its high schools, I do not think that this fear of
losing to India or China should be considered so drastically. Rather
than framing education reform on economic competitiveness, I believe
it is wiser to approach reform through a more introspective look in the
USs education system. Americans should think about how the
American education experience is affecting its students. This more
introspective look into the system will frame reform around the health

and benefits of the students in mind, rather than the race to nowhere
found through the push for a more economically competitive education
in America.

Reference:
Post, D. (2009). Moderated Discussion: 2 Million Minutes. Comparative
Education Review, 53(1), 113-137.