Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Boodleheimer]

i just got out of proctoring another midterm. at least 2 kids didn't even try to take the test. i don't know when they gave up on math, but it was probably a grade or two ago. and they'll just go on to the next grade and take the next math class with everyone else next year.

(did i mention it's multiple choice? and that the midterms never take more than half an hour to complete?)

please tell me one redeeming feature of the Korean education system.

[hubba bubba]

they pay us.

[mrsquirrel]

Lunch is free

[spliff]

[jlb]

uuuhhhh...they go to school for like 12 hours a day in high school?

[Ryst Helmut]

[thatwhitegirl]

You don't have to worry about Korean kids bringing a gun/knife to school and threatening you with it.

I'd say that was pretty darn good.

Also, the teachers get respect.

[granted, they carry big sticks]

[mrsquirrel]

[thatwhitegirl]

Not us...them. Those that carry big sticks and report to the parents.

[Boodleheimer]

[bassexpander]

Some of new, recent female uni grad teachers are quite attractive.

[spliff]

[pest2]

They dont fail students because of the face issue, again. Losing face is way too over rated as a factor in Korea... but anyway, as I understand it, the kids who fall behind have a chance to catch up by taking 'afternoon slow classes'. However, those student also have to sit in the regular low level class for their grade and subject. And then, some parents wont even let their slow student into the afternoon classes because, you guessed it, of the face issue.

One thing I do notice is that the kids help each other out more than western kids.

Another good thing would be that they pay teachers more money and offer more benefits for teaching relative to other jobs in the country.

Funding for Korean schools is much more equitable than it is in the USA. In the USA, property taxes for a given school district pay for schools in that district. In Korea, each school in a province gets more or less the same as any other school. Also, in the USA, the worst teachers -- ie ones with the least experience and worst uni credentials -- end up in inner city schools teaching the poorest kids. In Korea, the difference in quality between teachers in wealthy area schools and teachers in poor area schools is marginal at worst. Plus, teachers in Korea are forced to rotate around to different schools throughout their careers... Overall, assets available to public schools are distribute much much more fairly in Korea than in the USA...

However, the situation with hakwons and rich kids having access to more education throws the curve back out again...

[m8888888]

They apparently have very effective math and science education, because they're always scoring among the top in those areas.
It's particularly impressive because they aren't the richest country:

[yingwenlaoshi]

...