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Ilsanman
Joined: 15 Aug 2003
Location: Bucheon, Korea
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 Posted: Sat Aug 13, 2005 5:57 am Post subject: Misconceptions |
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Kids have misconceptions.
As teachers (most of us are), is it our place to tell them they are wrong?
The dilemma I came across was that telling some students they are wrong could come across as bashing. I bash Korea as well as the best of them, but not to the kids.
Some kid told me Korea is famous all over the world for being smart.
I was going to say 'Not Korea, that's Japan', but I held it back. |
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stalinsdad
Joined: 25 Jan 2003
Location: Jeonju
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| Posted: Sat Aug 13, 2005 6:01 am Post subject: |
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| You should watch "Korea Today" on Arirang(was on this morning) it is the biggest BS i've ever seen on KTV. You've got that fat western woman just agreeing to whatever her Korean masters spout. I want to kill her lollolol |
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waggo
Joined: 18 May 2003
Location: pusan baby!
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| Posted: Sat Aug 13, 2005 6:07 am Post subject: |
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| When I was a kid I thought my country was greatest at everything....I remember watching TV with a guy called Johnny Ball banging a drum and singing about all the great things the world can be thankful to Britain for. I jumped up and down on the sofa celebrating every bronze medal Great Britain got in the "dressage" at the Olympics!!...But..I grew up and stopped doing that.(still do it for the gold medals though!). |
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denverdeath
Joined: 21 May 2005
Location: Boo-sahn
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| Posted: Sat Aug 13, 2005 6:12 am Post subject: Re: Misconceptions |
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| Ilsanman wrote: |
Some kid told me Korea is famous all over the world for being smart.
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You should've asked him where he got the idea and to provide some examples to support his hypothesis. They did get number 1 on some test scores a couple of years ago...I think the sample included middle or high school students or something. Also, tell him to be a little careful about making generalizations. |
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Gopher
Joined: 04 Jun 2005
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| Posted: Sat Aug 13, 2005 6:15 am Post subject: Misconceptions |
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| Ilsanman wrote: |
| As teachers (most of us are), is it our place to tell them they are wrong? |
I think this is kind of a moot point. No one can defeat nationalism with mere reason or rationality. The Koreans especially, of any age, will not be receptive to whatever it is that you're thinking of saying to them.
We probably can't really relate to it so well, because our situation is totally different. But as a point of comparison, I grew up in the southwest United States and was mostly convinced that Britain was cooler than the U.S. -- and that goes for some friends too. We of course new little or nothing of England, except that James Bond, Eric Clapton, Duran Duran, and Def Leppard, and others, like the Human League came from there. We watched the Young Ones on Mtv and laughed our asses off. There was even a phase where we wore the British flag t-shirts that the Def Leppard drummer wore. When we played Axis and Allies, everyone wanted to be Britain -- it was boring to be the U.S....
In any case, I've never seen anything like that in any of the countries where I've lived. Most peoples and cultures seem to focus exclusively on their own nationality and harbor hostile, resentful, or at least love/hate feelings towards other nations. |
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waggo
Joined: 18 May 2003
Location: pusan baby!
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| Posted: Sat Aug 13, 2005 6:22 am Post subject: Re: Misconceptions |
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| Gopher wrote: |
| Ilsanman wrote: |
| As teachers (most of us are), is it our place to tell them they are wrong? |
I think this is kind of a moot point. No one can defeat nationalism with mere reason or rationality. The Koreans especially, of any age, will not be receptive to whatever it is that you're thinking of saying to them.
We probably can't really relate to it so well, because our situation is totally different. But as a point of comparison, I grew up in the southwest United States and was mostly convinced that Britain was cooler than the U.S. -- and that goes for some friends too. We of course new little or nothing of England, except that James Bond, Eric Clapton, Duran Duran, and Def Leppard, and others, like the Human League came from there. We watched the Young Ones on Mtv and laughed our asses off. There was even a phase where we wore the British flag t-shirts that the Def Leppard drummer wore. When we played Axis and Allies, everyone wanted to be Britain -- it was boring to be the U.S....
In any case, I've never seen anything like that in any of the countries where I've lived. Most peoples and cultures seem to focus exclusively on their own nationality and harbor hostile, resentful, or at least love/hate feelings towards other nations. |
Yeah...thats funny coz we had it the other way round.
I really looked out of place wearing my Don Johnson Miami Vice suit and T-shirt down our High Street. |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Sat Aug 13, 2005 6:48 am Post subject: |
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You have to be careful with this sort of thing. When I was a newbie I made a girl cry because I insisted S. Korea is small and the US is big.
No doubt the kid was refering to those math and science tests where students are ranked every year. S. Korea always does well in those. |
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Qinella
Joined: 25 Feb 2005
Location: the crib
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| Posted: Sat Aug 13, 2005 8:50 am Post subject: |
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In my experience with talking to people from the US, Korea isn't really even thought of by them. Some people think it's Japan or Hong Kong. But those who do know about Korea typically mention that they are smart and go to school a lot.
So your student's statement is probably right, but would be more accurate if a qualifier, such as "when Korea is known at all".
There's no reason to tell the student s/he is wrong. We may be older, more educated, more liberal, etc. than your student, but that's exactly the point. Your student is a child! Just let it ride. .. who cares? They'll have plenty of time later, after their brain completes development, to ponder difficult philisophical concepts like nationalism. |
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peppermint
Joined: 13 May 2003
Location: traversing the minefields of caddishness.
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| Posted: Sat Aug 13, 2005 3:17 pm Post subject: |
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| You could just gently modify it to say that Asian people are thought of as smart- less bruising to the national pride, and still true. |
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Ilsanman
Joined: 15 Aug 2003
Location: Bucheon, Korea
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| Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2005 7:31 am Post subject: yes |
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I always hear about those test scores, but after having a huge national scandal about cheating on tests, I don't believe them.
Why not give them a common sense test? |
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Paddycakes
Joined: 05 May 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2005 10:38 pm Post subject: |
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Yeah, Koreans are really "smart" because they do well on standardized tests.
This means they're really good at memorizing for the most part, and thinking in a very mechanistic way. It also means they probably have teachers who are very good at teaching to the test.
These tests do not measure creativity, the ability to doubt or question or a whole host of other factors or aptitudes that one needs to succeed in the world.
These kinds of tests are meaningless, and I feel embarassed for any country that takes excessive pride in them, Korean or otherwise. |
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Wrench
Joined: 07 Apr 2005
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| Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2005 11:23 pm Post subject: |
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| If they were so smart then they would master englishee very quickly. |
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sheba
Joined: 16 May 2005
Location: Here there and everywhere!
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| Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2005 2:02 am Post subject: |
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Most people back home know NOTHING about korea... I didnt know anything either until after I decided to teach abroad...
When I chose Korea, I had to convince my parents that Korea wasn't still at war, that they have one of the largest eceonomies in the world, and that they have modern facilities (yes, including computers and phones). Most people also asked if I could speak Chinese...
It seems to be drummed into Korean kids just how important and superior Korea and their 4 seasons are.... but on a world-wide basis (and I may be generalising here) Korea seem reatively unknown.
Feel free to correct me if Im wrong.... |
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Gopher
Joined: 04 Jun 2005
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| Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2005 4:17 am Post subject: |
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| Qinella wrote: |
| There's no reason to tell the student s/he is wrong. We may be older, more educated, more liberal, etc. than your student, but that's exactly the point. Your student is a child! Just let it ride. .. who cares? They'll have plenty of time later, after their brain completes development, to ponder difficult philisophical concepts like nationalism. |
I would say just the opposite.
If you were going to attempt to explain something to Koreans about their nationalistic claims, the only time you'd be able to get through to them would be in childhood, when they're still open to and listening to new ideas.
The older they get, the more petrified their nationalism will become. I don't think I've noted too many older Koreans pondering the merits of nationalism...
On the issue of standardized tests...in Chile I noted an extreme tendency to cheat on tests. I knew it, the administration knew it, the other teachers knew it, the students knew it. One scandal involved a pricipal selling college entrance tests to high school seniors. Each and every time I gave a test, I discovered knew and improved, and very very sophisticated cheating scams -- writing, hand signals, coughing, mascara on the back of a hand run through hair...I once vented frustrations to an unsympathetic priest who did admit, though, that it is common for those in seminary and theology school -- that is, future priests! -- to cheat on exams.
...and the Chileans, of course, compare themselves favorably to others with respect to performance on standardized tests.
I think that cheating and corruption are so internalized in some cultures that it's scary. |
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Yu_Bum_suk
Joined: 25 Dec 2004
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| Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2005 5:50 am Post subject: |
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| Pick a country like Denmark and say, 'no, Danes are renowned the world over for being smart ... they're so good with languages, they invented lego, they do well on tests, blah blah blah'. Of course the kids will say 'Denmark, what is that?'. Then turn around and say 'Americans know and care as little about Korea as you do about Denmark'. |
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