“Build and Fly” – in India
I taught our “Build and Fly” session for 6th, 7th and 8th grade at Chiragh Grammar School. I started off by asking how many of them knew what an engineer did. We always ask this question when doing sessions in the US and usually we get 1 or 2 children (regardless of age) saying that an engineer fixes cars. In this class no one said anything. I started prompting and asking if they had heard the word engineer and everyone said yes. I think its indicative of the general Indian 
education system (which is changing though) that doesn’t encourage too much analysis. I also think that maybe the drive to become engineers and doctors is not as prevalent in the lower income levels as in the middle class.
Anyway I explained that all engineering is redesign (Paul Yarin’s definition) and we moved on. The average designs were pretty similar to what we see in the US and students were just as scared of trying new methods and making mistakes. We had roughly the same percentage of students with unique airplane models. The only difference was that they 
were all way more docile, innocent and respectful. This enabled the learning and teaching to be really easy and meaningful.
I wonder if there is a way to make children analytical, give them the ability and freedom to question and still have them be respectful and innocent. Maybe there is some middle ground.
You bring up a critical issue. How to balance classroom discipline with creative thinking and learning. How to balance proper respect for authority vs blind obedience to authority figures. My experience observing schools both in the U.S. and in other countries is that students in U.S. schools fall somewhat too far on one side of that spectrum whereas students in most Asian countries, like India, Japan, or China, fall far on the other side.
But the truly interesting question is to ask what is the end result of these two educational styles? Are graduates of the U.S. education system actually more inventive and creative than their counterparts in more docile and respectful cultures? The conventional wisdom says yes but somehow I doubt that continues to be the case in an increasingly connected world.
Today’s students can connect globally with their peers in online social media networks and collaborate on joint projects with students from different cultures. Exposure to such teamwork could bring out more creativity from all members of the team. Hopefully the result of such collaboration facilitates a synergistic effect.
Will the exposure today’s students gain through such collaborations change how they learn within the traditional classroom, independent of their culture?