Korean Job Discussion Forums

[warmachinenkorea]

I am going to write the White House a letter. Will it reach anyone? Who knows?

Education is the topic of course. A few months back Mr. Obama stated that he thinks Americans need to go to school longer. More time in the day and more days in the year. He directly compared Korea and the US systems. Yes the old agrarian in the US system needs to be altered.

I would like to know the pros and cons you have in mind. You may not be educational experts but you were students (consumers of education). Consumers always have ideas on the way things could be changed.

There will probably be more cons than pros but oh well. Any other systesm around the world that work and could be incorporated would be nice to include.

[Rusty Shackleford]

School choice. Kids don't need more school. They need better school. A govt monopoly on education isn't going to give us any of these things.

[redaxe]

Koreans have long summer and winter breaks too, don't they? Or is that only in college?

I've seen some articles claiming that in America, the biggest difference between the education of kids from wealthy families and kids from poor families is how they spend their time when they're not in school. They learn about the same amount during the school year, but the kids from wealthy families tend to retain what they've learned over the summer break because their parents push them to keep studying and preparing for the next school year, while the poor kids don't have that pressure, so they forget more over the summer and need to play catch-up in the fall. That's one of the big arguments in favor of year-round school, and I think it's pretty convincing.

But please oh god please Mr. President do not use government funds to start a bunch of hagwons in America!

[bluelake]

[Adventurer]

I am not sure if the answer is spending more time in school. It's not how much time you spend in the library or at school that determines how well you do. The Finnish don't go to school as much as Koreans and do better than Koreans in school. Yes, if you go to school more, you are more likely to learn more, but one could learn more if schools were more efficient. The focus shouldn't be the amount of time in school. Anyway, it would be horrible to be a teacher working for more days in a year.

[oskinny1]

WHat is needed are more technical high schools. Lots of the problems faced in schools are do to student interruptions. Many of these students see no point in learning French when they would much rather learning something mechanical or technical.

I teach at a very specialized high school now and every student is here knowing that they are learning things that they will 100% use in their future career, so there are very few disruptions.

[djsmnc]

I once wrote a letter to Ronald Reagan as a young boy. I received a a letter from the president, a sticker, and a book about the White House. I was thrilled at first but became jaded when I realized the letter was a mass reproduction with a printed signature. After years of drug abuse and self pity, here I am to tell the tale.

[nathanrutledge]

[martypants]

a hand-written envelope will put you on the top of the stack.

Especially if you sprinkle a little white powder on it

[peemil]

You should open with, "Dear Punks,"

Nothing like getting their attention in the first instance.