Korean Job Discussion Forums

[GoldMember]

This article is about education in China. Does it sound familiar?

http://the-diplomat.com/china-power/2011/07/02/how-china-kills-creativity/

[Squire]

It's a very valid article, but it's only in recent times this creativity drive was introduced in western schools. Fifty and a hundred years ago students were expected to know a lot more in terms of facts and figures, but were they any less creative than modern students? Arts, literature, music and scientific and technological advances in the 20th century would suggest otherwise. I think the modern education system in the west teaches too much creativity and not enough substance that should be a given after 11+ years of education

Also

[ttompatz]

Sir Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity | Video on TED.com

Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.


http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

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[Julius]

[vermouth]

[minos]

A much bigger problem is.....

LANGUAGE; all the best art publications,books, and newest trends(usually) are from western countries. The market for translated art/deisgn books are very small.

My friend studies physics are a grad student here. Almost all classes and textbooks are in english. Most medical books are in english only aswell.

In the west, you have access to everything. Here your access is very limited unless you speak english well and can pay high prices to import western art resources.

Trends take a LOOOOOONNNNG time to get here. IN photography(where I work here) they're still a few years behind despite it being such a huge hobby here.

Upon showing them some comparetively new equipment Americans use,; I always get a response like : WTF!/ We don't need no stinking _____! We got talent!"

[greasylake]

I always hear people talking about comparing western education to east Asian education and there are a couple of things I never hear mentioned. In North America a lot of emphasis is put on part-time/summer jobs and after school activities, especially sports. Those things, for the most part, just don't happen here. I learned more about life and in hind sight was prepared more for life from organized sports than the classroom. Having part-time jobs from the age of 11 (paper boy) taught me how to solve problems, make money, and how hard money can be to make. In the west many of us leave home at 18 for university, something that doesn't happen here nearly as often. A little less time in a hagwon and a little more time packing bags at the local grocery store or playing soccer on an organized team with a real coach against other organized teams with real coaches would help a lot of my students as they get older.

[jvalmer]

[Squire]

[Squire]

[Bruce W Sims]

I have come to believe that cultures, most especially Western cultures need to face-down their own particular prejudices about the nature and role of Education in Society. When I say this I am going beyond the usual arguements of a pragmatic Technical education versus the more ethereal "self-actualization" view that has been debated since the 19th Century. Rather, what I am speaking of is the nature of Education as a function of Business, both as an industry and a servant of the Business World.

I think many of us recoil at the characterization of the Chinese model in this thread. Are we brave enough to consider that Western culture, in its fashion, is producing the same result? As much as we Americans like to tout ourselves as a culture of "thinking-outside-the-box", the fact is that the overwhelming numbers of our schools and institutions encourage a minset of conformity and uniformity.

I hold that the nature of Education starts with the individual standing at the head of the class and revolves around the need to encourage creativity beginning in that classroom. In teaching English as a Second Language, for instance, the materials used may bespeak a structured approach reminiscent of the popular Cognitive Approach of the 1960-s, but the result I am seeking is wholly Comprehension based. Will this create friction with the people who require a stair-step progression of levels and evaluations with standardized testing? Probably. Right now we are dealing with exactly that issue here in the States, and the fact is that a big part of this reconciliation has been a major part of the teacher's challenges for years. We simply need to get used to it and pull together to share strategies for dealing with it. FWIW.

Best Wishes,

Bruce

[vermouth]

[vermouth]

[ontheway]

[Bruce W Sims]