Hats off to D.J. Mathews and her article of April 26 ("Public school teachers deserve credit for what they do") on the value of teachers. The subtext concerning standardization vs. encouraging individual students' development reminded me of something I experienced while teaching in an international school in China. 

There were no SOLs at that school. I happily returned to some of the teaching methods I had used in Virginia before such examinations intruded on my professional life. In the Chinese school next door, education remained focused on rote memorization. But interest was growing to change that, to find out how Americans are so innovative. And how we educate our young appeared to be one of the keys.

An instructor from that national school visited us and observed several different classes. He remarked that he was astonished to see so many of our students raising their hands with their own observations and questions. This Chinese teacher further noticed that some discussions prompted the teacher to make students think about something only remotely connected to the lesson. The reply from the American teachers was, yes; we are big on the thinking thing.

Americans are good at innovation and bold ideas because we have teachers who encourage thinking and instill self-esteem in their students.

The irony here is that while Chinese educators were beginning to explore the American way of teaching, back in Virginia, the trend continued to move the state's education system closer to China's.

Mathews is right. Teachers deserve recognition for what they do. They do make a significant contribution to the nation. But what I love about American educators is they do what they do regardless of the lack of recognition from the rest of the world. The success of each child in the classroom is the goal. All else is just noise. 

Steve Bailey, 

Richmond