Three final posts about South Korea

I came back yesterday.  Goodbye kimchi, hello läx and dill!  I know I have written a lot about my/our experiences there.  Maybe it is the educator in me, that compels me to share all this fun and interesting information, but I can't seem to stop!  So I will share three insights, such as they are, on three final, totally unrelated subjects.  I was going to put all this in one long post, but the subjects are so varied, I will post them separately.

Students

First of all let me write that the teens that I see on the street, and I see a lot of them, appear to be happy healthy children.  There are always flocks of teens, in school uniforms, sitting in coffee shops (which by the way are everywhere!), shopping, walking around etc..   For a little background, here is part of an article on Korean history [ from : http://www.koreana.or.kr/months/news_view.asp?b_idx=695&lang=en&page_type=list  ].

For Koreans, who had acquired a keen appreciation for the importance of education through the painful experience of colonial rule, the war taught them that modern education could well mean the difference in your very survival. The mandatory military service was postponed for university students during the war and the post-war reconstruction period as well, while English-language competency and modern education were essential to open the doors to employment opportunity and social advancement. Indeed, material wealth could be destroyed or looted during war, but education was a “secure” asset, as well as a pathway to social status and economic prosperity. Education has thus determined the fate of entire families. It could be said that the passion for education among modern-day Koreans can well be attributed to the lessons learned from the Korean War.

South Korea now ranks high marks on educational standards.  Pearson ranks them at #1, with the U.S. being # 14, and Sweden coming in at #24.  http://thelearningcurve.pearson.com/index/index-ranking    But there is good and bad to everything.  One issue is that the education itself is based more on rote memorization than on critical thinking.  The second is that these kids are in school and/or studying all the time.  (See this excellent, brief article: http://www.bbc.com/news/education-25187993).  When I say all the time, I am talking about ~ 13 hours a day M-F, and then weekend classes and studying too.   Americans who work in SK schools have told me that the students are typically sleep deprived (I have seen several sound asleep in restaurants).  One teaching assistant told me one of her teenage students was proud of her (the students own) nosebleed because the student saw it as proof of her strong efforts!).  The pressure is all about getting into college.  Once in college, the pressure is relaxed.  Sadly, South Korea has a high teen suicide rate, and almost 40% of the suicides are linked to stress over education.  My Mother has often said, "Everything in moderation".  I think she has a point.