President Lee Myung-bak yesterday called for more efforts to improve education as disputes are rising over elite high schools and university admission.
He also said he felt sorry to hear U.S. President Barack Obama praise Korea's educational system after their meeting last month.
"I felt sorry ... I am very dissatisfied (with our education)," Lee said during a policy report from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.
"There have been many changes but the changes have yet to be stabilized, causing much concern for the people."
The paper makes a very loose connection between the presidents: one is "dissatisfied" with South Korea's education sytsem, the other praised it. But as I wrote twice---on March 11th and March 22nd---after the first time Obama spoke kindly of Korean education, don't make too much of it. The local papers certainly went crazy over his comments in March, but if you take a look at them you'll see he only mentions Korea twice:
Now, even as we foster innovation in where our children are learning, let's also foster innovation in when our children are learning. We can no longer afford an academic calendar designed for when America was a nation of farmers who needed their children at home plowing the land at the end of each day. That calendar may have once made sense, but today it puts us at a competitive disadvantage. Our children -- listen to this -- our children spend over a month less in school than children in South Korea -- every year. That's no way to prepare them for a 21st century economy. That's why I'm calling for us not only to expand effective after-school programs, but to rethink the school day to incorporate more time -– whether during the summer or through expanded-day programs for children who need it. (Applause.)
Now, I know longer school days and school years are not wildly popular ideas. (Laughter.) Not with Malia and Sasha -- (laughter) -- not in my family, and probably not in yours. But the challenges of a new century demand more time in the classroom. If they can do that in South Korea, we can do it right here in the United States of America.
If you really think about that excerpt, you get the idea that he's not so much selecting South Korea for praise as he is saying "if a country most of you think is war-torn and backwards can produce smart kids, hell, so can we." However local media ran with headlines like "Obama Lauds Korea's Education of Children" and "Obama Cites Korea for Educational Excellence." One columnist read a lot into those two short mentions:
The Korean school system has all kinds of problems. Many Korean people are ashamed of their schools. Many students feel that their schools are ``hell'' even today.
However, President Obama admires South Korea's schools and their products, educated manpower. He praised the Korean students who are competitive among students in advanced nations.
Korean students' performance is known to be superb, especially in the fields of mathematics and science. American teachers are amazed at Korean students' math and science scores. Obama's recent statement is just a reflection of the American people's admiration of Korean schools.
Indeed it looked like some in the media---a media that is quite hard on Korea's education system---put words in Obama's mouth simply to discredit them for the sake of argument.
That's a Chosun Ilbo cartoon from March 12th, in which the Korean kids are telling Obama children not to believe their father's hype. Well, though he talked about spending more time in school, I don't think he even came close to suggesting American students spend twelve hours in a classroom, see their families not but on weekends, and live their young lives only for standardized tests. These suggestions would be quite foreign, actually, and probably wouldn't even occur to most Americans. There are postive aspects of Korean education, things that ought to be above politics and bad journalism.
From tonight's Herald article again:
When Obama asked about the strength of Korean education, Lee said parents' strong aspirations had made it possible for Korean children to receive good education. As a result the nation was able to develop its economy and pull out of poverty, he told Obama.
Lee also told the U.S. leaders that all Koreans want to learn English and thousands of young Americans teach the language here.
Since the conversation, Obama has mentioned Korean parents' strong educational zeal on three official occasions.
Here's what CNN.com said about it:
A conversation last week with South Korea's president apparently showed President Obama the stark difference between how Asian nations and the United States value education.
Obama said Monday that the U.S. needs to restore the nation's leadership in educating children in math and science to meet future challenges, and he announced a new Educate to Innovate Campaign.
He told how President Lee Myung-bak explained that demanding parents are South Korea's biggest education problem.
"Even if somebody is dirt poor, they are insisting that their kids are getting the best education," Obama recalled the conversation, sounding almost whimsical in describing Lee's biggest education problem as parents wanting excellent schools for their children.
In the U.S., a major challenge is to revive the interest, opportunities and abilities of students in math and science, Obama said.
Nothing in the president's comments in March or November indicate that he's remotely close to adopting some of the nastier things that go along with "zeal"---expensive cram schools, broken families, intense pressure to succeed---and unless you read his comments in March cynically, everything he's said so far about South Korean education has been positive and should be a source of pride.
19 comments:
On the surface it does appear that Koreans have a greater motivation towards education. However, being a middle school teacher in Korea, I can clearly see that what is accomplished in a 6 hour school day in Canada is far superior to what is done here. Here, quantity of factual retention over quality of thought and student display of information is praised. At home, the ability to use information successfully is honoured. The solution lies somewhere in the middle.
Superior in what sense?
brian i enjoy reading your posts but try to be more succinct ,,,
Sorry steve.
I don't think it's a matter of one country's education system being "superior" or "inferior" to that of another country. To say that, would be to say that education serves exactly the same cultural purpose in every country -- which it doesn't.
"Our children -- listen to this -- our children spend over a month less in school than children in South Korea -- every year. [...] If they can do that in South Korea, we can do it right here in the United States of America."
Those lines have always bugged the hell out of me. Perhaps it's just a matter of something looking worse in print than it actually sounded at the time, but still, it sounds an awful lot like he's appealing to some ugly emotions there.
People back home really need to get their collective heads out of their butts when it comes to education in northeast Asia. Basing your analysis of a foreign country's education system on observations of those who have fled it is absurd.
Northeast Asians haven't necessarily fled for educational reasons. They immigrate for other reasons as well. But there is no doubt that education is taken much more seriously and valued in Asia compared to North America.
Extra month of school my ass. Korean middle school third graders spend five weeks between their last exam and their winter vacations showing up to school and studying for no reason. Spending an extra month in school is one thing, but spending an extra month in school with absolutely no incentive to study is another.
In fact both school systems have a lot to learn from each other. The school I work at doesn't have much in the way of support staff. (Luckily we just got a school counselor this semester.) And massive projects are undertaken without much research into why or how to do accomplish what a desired result with no clear goals in mind (EPIK, GEPIK, and SMOE).
American schools, on the other hand should indeed focus more on math and science so to make students more competative.
It not the best comparison, but I TA'd for a freshman class in the States before coming to Korea and discussed frequently with one Japanese exchange student her challenges with US university. Despite a very strong handle on English she suffered in her ability to do research and produce. She always felt as if the teachers never taught what she needed to know.
On the other hand Korean students get plenty of "what they need to know," but are not as exercised in synthesizing or expanding on the information compared to US students.
Certainly, both school systems are at the extremes of different worldviews regarding education. Korean school require a high work ethic, but students have a difficult time expressing themselves in ways outside the formula they've memorized. US students could use more time in the classroom. And has anyone mentioned that Korean kids still get music, art, etc. that's been almost eliminated from US schools.
It'd be interesting to see a common ground between the two. Just my thoughts
3gyupsal, it's good that you bring that up. Students in Korea are off for a month in the summer, then off for nearly two months in the winter. Then you factor in the two or three weeks after the final where they just watch movies or rehearse for the school dance. They make up some of that time by attending a half-day on Saturday twice a month, but the public school experience is hardly rigorous for middle school students.
I do like the idea of "all year round" school, though it seems kind of un-American considering how we've come to accept the huge summer vacation as part of tradition. Then again, looking at where our country's at, maybe it's time to evolve past loafing and extended vacation.
Good points, Ross. We touched on some of those challenges in the post "Cutting out class-cutting?" In college one of my friends was a schoolteacher from Jeju studying for her Master's. However, not only couldn't she comprehend the English in the course material and that used to talk about it, she didn't know how to build a paper out of it. I started tutoring her and I saw that at times she just copied-and-pasted entire paragraphs into her essay. That might be okay for Korean universities, but there are different expectations elsewhere. So it's important to remember that both systems prepare their students in different ways.
It's a good point too about getting art and music classes. Also, schools have a ton of after-school activities students can do (are required to do at least one, I think), such as Hanja, or violin, or soccer, etc. Of course many students can't attend b/c they have hagwon, but it's nice to see it's there.
I still think a little extra time in school would help NAns, and I'm embarrassed when I compare how much time I wasted in middle school on TV and playing hockey compared to the studying my students here did.
I heard that for 2011, there will be no more Saturday classes in Korea, FWIW.
This article is truly Blian Golden Balls.
I almost stayed awake during the whole thing.
Keep up the good work.
Sparkling.
In Europa is the PISA test one of the major tools to compare the reading and other capabilities of student. Korea is often on top of the list with its students. But they need many hours more in a day, studying, to get the same result as Finland. And that's my concern since my children are attending school in Korea.
My co-teacher told me that Obama doesn't know what the hell he is saying when he praised Korean schools. (My co-teacher was heavily into Obama a year ago.) Obama's comments were just as uninformed as his comment about the Cambridge, Massachusetts police department.
I know my Korean students would prefer attending class in the USA over going to school in Korea.(They do tell me that they don't like the total focus on exams.) They think school in Korea is too rigid, too boring, too teacher-centered and too geared towards taking exams.
Korean math and science scores are high but with a price: boring teacher-centered rote-memorization pedagogy that does not take into account different learning styles and other things. Korean education does not foster creativity. America's strength is its creative and inventive people.
The stress over having every American child proficient in math and science is overblown. We have plenty of people who are good at math and science. We are third most populous country in the world and are able to produce more scientist than any other country. Every year we take more than our fair share of Nobel science prizes. And if we don't have enough people who are math and science whizzes, we usually steal them from other countries with offers of immigration.
The contention that EVERYONE has to be proficient in math and science is poppycock. I don't even remember the last time I had to use calculus or the physics I learned in high school. (And that was 25 years ago.)
If Mr. Obama wants to have the same results he will have to tell his big supporters--the teachers' unions--that they have to change their ways. (As a former member of the California teachers union, I know personally such a suggestion would not go over very well.) Parents would not go for it either. So what Mr. Obama said are just empty words and just another bow to others.
Doctrina constitutio Coreani dirum est.
What the fuck, why are there still people writing crap like this?
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2009/12/137_58270.html
hehe, my momz heard that and loves to quote that to me when i bitch about my job. "theyre working hard, so you can too!" i just yes, ma'am it! what else can we do.
i teach in an all-male Prvt HS, and I do love my students, what they learn and how they learn it, alot of wasted time, and when they dont HAVE to learn anything for some Xam, they dont even try, and the teachers as well. I dont blame them, its just the Korean mindset concerning learning. Education is a broad term, isnt it? I wouldnt trade our U.S. creativity, logic, and freethinking for anything. We may get Jerry Springer, but we also get shows like Numb3rs, you know? We have alot of brain power in the U.S., good economy or not, its still there. I know alot of the world envies that (its in other countries too, but I think in this context of education, its worth mentioning).
Anyway, the kids know it. They ask me about U.S. high schools all the time (they cant believe kids can drive at 16). Also, hs sports is baffling to them "where do they get the time?!?"
Hi. If any of you are interested in seeing a short documentary film on Korean national college entrance exam, check out this:
thekoreanexam.tumblr.com
It's a short film I shot in the summer of 2010, and I'm still in post-production, but it should be finished by March.
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