Korean Job Discussion Forums

[the_beaver]

I occasionally read comments on this board which relate a belief in the lack of creative and critical thinking in Korea. I've heard similar comments from co-workers and other people throughout my time in Korea (even from Koreans themselves).

Personally, I haven't noticed any less creativity or critical thinking in Korea than I have elsewhere. I'm curious about your thoughts and stories on this.

[bucheon bum]

how many debates have you gotten into with Koreans? Just curious.

I don't know about creativity though, since I lack in that dept. as well .

[kimcheeking]

I think Koreans can be creative, but not in an original way. they can take someone elses idea and modify into something else. Maybe better, maybe Korean, maybe worse.

Critical thinking, IMHO, is sorely lacking. I've only met 2-3 koreans in my time who could think critically about anything. Look at the blind acceptance of fan death. If you could critically think, would you accept that the fan removes the oxygen?

[the_beaver]

[bucheon bum]

yes, but here is the difference beaver: disucss the nature and coffee issue with fellow westerners and chances are they won't blindly support those notions of natural being always good and coffee being bad for everyone. If you present the facts, a reasonable person will see the falicy in that statement and acknowledge it.

Obviously there are some blokes who won't and will still insist that you're wrong. No society is empty of close-minded people. It just seems, to me, that Korea has more than its fair share of that kind of person.

And like i said in some other post, I think a lot of it has to do with the education system. Western teaching is based on questioning everything. This has been going on since Socrates. Meanwhile Korean (and East Asian for the most part) education is based on the Confucian system, which is, to paraphrase, "Father/elder knows best, don't question, just learn it." Out of that grew the rote/memorization system that we see today.

[the_beaver]

[mokpochica]

I think that kids are naturally very creative, but they can 'grow out' of it if they are not allowed to express their creativity or let it flourish. I think I was more creative as a child (growing up in the U.S.) than I am as an adult. I think that some Korean children grow out of the creativity thing even faster than kids at home--maybe because they aren't allowed as much time to just freely do what they want in an unstructured environment.

Structure is almost always provided by adults, and often adults supervise kids to do what they want, in an adult way. I guess this is kind of natural, because it is probably the more quiet, controlled, and fast way of accomplishing a task, but it is likely not the most creative way. I think this happens in every country--especially when you have a system where one adult is teaching many children. Maybe it stands to reason that the more kids that one adult has to teach, the more 'adult' those kids have to behave in order for the adult to have some measure of control over the class. Can an adult really have a structured environment, abounding in creativity if they are responsible for preparing 45 kids for a science test?

I've found that many of the students I've taught, regardless of the country, have had difficulty with things like creative writing assignments. However, I think that kids at home seem a bit more likely to just get stuck and not turn in anything--or turn in something they've spend a lot of time and thought on late. My students in Korea often blatantly copy off of a more creative neighbor. Sometimes I'll have 5 kids that turn in the same paper, presumably thinking that I won't notice or won't care.

Anyway...my $0.02.

[Zyzyfer]

I judge creativity from my students in a very basic manner. I give them some exercise, and, if it requires them to think on their own about the answer, I might give a few hints about possible answers. 9/10ths of the class uses what I used as an example.

[kiwiboy_nz_99]

Coffee is a diuretic, has a dehydrating effect, can coat the assophagus with cafine, raises your heart rate ... I mean, sure, people drink it all thier lives and show no dramatic health problems. But you would be pushing it to say it's "healthy" ... that said, I can't live without the shit ...

[Ghostinthemachine]

I can't really judge creativity my experience so far has been too limited but I did have an experience today that reflects what Zyzyfer said

[the_beaver]

[Hank Scorpio]

[On the other hand]

Bucheon Bum quote: And like i said in some other post, I think a lot of it has to do with the education system. Western teaching is based on questioning everything. This has been going on since Socrates. Meanwhile Korean (and East Asian for the most part) education is based on the Confucian system, which is, to paraphrase, "Father/elder knows best, don't question, just learn it." Out of that grew the rote/memorization system that we see today.

Uhh, I think this is a somewhat idealized take on the history of western education you're giving us here, Bucheon Bum. Socrates might have been a big fan of debate and critical thinking, but I seem to recall that a good chunk of the Athenian population didn't share his enthusiam. As well, wasn't rote memorization the preferred teaching style in Europe and North America prior to the ascension of the Deweyites in the middle of the last century? My understanding is that many aspects of the current Korean system were originally imposed by the Japanese, who themselves copied it from the Prussians.

[kimcheeking]

[kiwiboy_nz_99]

The current system here does not come from the Japanese via the Prussians. Japan was inhabited by a movement from Korea and owes a lot of it's culture to Korea. Though being a small island it has also experienced significant variations. The root of the Korean language is Mongolian, suggesting the initial inhabitants were from there. However wave after wave of Chinese invasion brought much of the culture, particularly the confusionism which in my opinion shapes the wrote learning, conformist, authority worshiping style that so limits Korean thinking. In fact it is said that confusionism became more rabbid and fundamentalist in nature in this part of the world than even in it's place of origin. And the current learning style dates back at least to the Chosun Dynasty.