Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bosintang]

[littlelisa]

I disagree. I can't really say all that much about education there, having never been to Asia yet, but I certainly disagree about your foreign Asian teacher statement. I had many teachers from Asia, as I did an unofficial minor in East Asian Studies at McGill. I found them to be very organized and excellent teachers. I have never had an asian teacher who was disorganized or who was not a good teacher. In fact, it was the opposite. Of the six Asian professors (5 Chinese, 1 Indian) I've had, only one was not considered to be among my best teachers (the only other non-Asian teachers who I consider to be on this list are one each from Egypt, and Canada). Even that teacher who I don't consider to be a great teacher was still a good teacher, and he was very organized. I've also never heard that stereotype before.

My experience with Asian teachers is that they were very strict, made you work hard, but were very nice too, and made you learn a lot. That's only my own experience, though. I realize it could be different for others.

I imagine a lot depends on hiring decisions of the particular university here.

The hagwon thing and study schedule is because so much depends on their placement on standardised tests. Before, from what I understand, the few who did extra study outside of public school had a real advantage, so more and more started studying. Now, since everyone does, it's more like a disadvantage if you don't go to a hagwon. I think I've heard that once you've gotten into a university, things become a lot less stressful.

[Jizzo T. Clown]

I was having a conversation with my boss yesterday about the education system in Korea. I said that it seems the reason hogwans are so ubiquitous is because the public school system is failing to prepare kids for university entrance exams. He agreed with me.

And I can see it too. On several occasions my coteacher would take the reins in class (and I commend him for it) but would teach a wrong grammar point--e.g. I was teaching "Are there any___?" and he would turn around and tell them "Are there some___?" I do my best to gently correct the mistake by saying, "Yeah, yeah. Are there any."

I think that Korean teachers (probably not Chinese teachers) know that there are problems with their education system but they are basically powerless to change it. We have our own problems with unrealistic standards in the US with Bush's legislation, but that's another story...

I also don't see any real results from the students'' hellish school days. If they're in school for 10-12 hours, what time does that leave for creativity? Maybe they believe that all that extra time put in will yield greater results, but all that happens is that they are taught more but retain less, and for a shorter period (after exams all that "knowledge" presumably disappears).

An example of this is when I went to TESOL back in March. I was in sessions for 8 hours every day for three days. When I got back to my job, I had a million ideas, none of which I implemented. In hindsight it would've been better to focus on one at a time--too much is overkill.

[Jeremiah]

Korean learners, at school many work so hard and of course they have this asian understanding of working so hard and getting it beat into them. Perhaps its damaging for mental stability with some people if you work so hard, but really western schools sees so many kids goof around and do not even a fraction of what asians do.

Korean education system, the school system they work so hard and do so many hours and then they clearly burn themselves out or not stimulated as much at uni. Korean universities are so low down the uni rankings and it seems like uni students do less than school student, depending on course but seems like the majority it is a regression.

[some waygug-in]

Whether or not some Asian proffessors back home were organized or not, that is beside the point.

Many Asians do study in Western Universities and or in Western-run schools in Asia, so you really have to take into account where a person studied before you could even begin to make any kind of assessment based on their performance.


By and large from what I've seen and from the people I've talked to who worked at schools and universities here in Korea, educational standards seem very low. I talked to a university teacher yesterday who was telling me how things work ..... the administration told him to boost everyone's grades ..regardless..... in other words, nobody fails unless they didn't attend the class.

Back home, it didn't matter what class I took (required or not), if I didn't do the work...I would fail.

I hope other subjects require more effort on the part of students than the average university English class.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

I only had one Asian-born teacher in my two-and-a-half decades as a student and I sure didn't follow Miss Wong very well. My classmates and I never did seem to grow tired of making jokes about learning things the Wong way.

[dmbfan]

[jvalmer]

My first Asian-born teacher was in University. Basically, in university all the professors do the same thing, they present the material. It's the student's job to absorb the material, it's not profs job to pamper a bunch of 18+ year olds to do their homework. Going to University is a privilege, not a right.

[VirginIslander]

Look at it from a different perspective.

For example, a teacher can be very effective and creative, but there is an inverse relationship between his or her efficacy and creativity and the number of students in his or her classroom. How effective can anybody be with 40 kids in a class, two who are mentally retarded?

Also, what is the purpose of education generally and Korean education specifically? Historically, the purpose of education has been to prepare individuals for their roles in society and the latter for roles in Korean society. In that sense, Korean Education is very effective. Work, work, work.

[littlelisa]

[TOMODACHI-KID]

bosintang:

Your observations of the "Asian Learner" may be based on your own experience, solely on particular individuals, which is just that. However, you have to be careful of stereotypes. I understand where you are coming from but, you shouldn't combine all "Asian Learners" into one classification, which you are doing. Sure, there are "bone-heads" out there, but it's cross-cultural, man...

Also, take in consideration your way of teaching and/or learning--do you think your way is God's gift to students; that is, so exceptional as to cause "oohs and awes" from those who come in contact with you? Your learning capabilities--are you ever so flawless...come on now.

Next time, be critical of yourself (even though I get what you are saying), since in the overall scheme of things, it's all about YOU and the ways you can help a STUDENT grasp concepts in a fun, lasting way, where that STUDENT can walk away from the classroom with, as I had mentioned, a solid understanding of an aspect from your assignment or lecture--this is what's it's all about...eh?

Share your knowledge of your teaching practicality....your "Asian" counterparts will be honored.

[bosintang]

I actually wrote the OP slightly tongue-in-cheek. Slightly; hoping it would spawn a bit of conversation about differences between Western and Eastern learners. There are differences. The book "Geography of Thought" is a good primer for anyone interested.

Still..I'll keep it in the context of Korea this time rather than generalising all of Asia, but I really don't think Korean students are taught good attitudes about learning, and they are definitely not taught good study skills, despite being taught to show good attitude towards their education. In Korea learning is studying, an endurance marathon of how much you can stress your body and fill it up with temporary knowledge, rather than a lifelong process of solving the world around you. The Korean learners taught in this manner eventually end up Korean teachers and parents, and so the cycle continues.