So far from my experience there has been quite a few desk warming days in the Korean public school system. Today is one of those days for me. Unfortunately, next week I will have a few more desk warming days due to the three days of exams for the students. During this time, I get to lesson plan and get ready for the English summer camp, though these things are already mostly finished. Everything that will be on the exams has been covered so I was told that students will be given a few periods to study each respective subject. Studying is intense for most students in Korea who spend most of their waking hours focused on school related activities. On exam day, students come in for their exams and are done by lunch, in which they either go home or to their hogwon (private tutoring institute) and study more for their exams the following days.
Thousands of dollars are spent each year by parents in order for their children to attend these after school institutes and compete at the highest academics standards. It is ultra competitive here! I asked my students what time they study until, and I got a lot of 9's, 10,'s, 11's and even one 2:30a.m. Keep in mind, this is their daily regiment for many of them. Because of this, they are often tired in school which creates a vicious cycle. This is only at the middle school level. Once these students enter high school it is a whole new ball game. To get into many of the high level schools, students have to put many if not most of their hobbies, entertainment and recreations on hold. Personally, I beleive that students in South Korea have to put way to much effort into their studies. Start school 8:00 a.m and finishing at 11:00 p.m is more than a well developed adult can handle (at least it would be in my case day in and day out).
Fortunately, all this studying is paying off for South Korea on the international scale. In world ranking of all the OECD countries, South Korea is at the top in Math, Science and reading. They were ranked 1st in Reading and Math and 3rd in Science which made them #1 overall. Here is the link to compare the different countries for yourself: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2010/dec/07/world-education-rankings-maths-science-reading.
Canada ranked 3rd overall behing Finland. In Reading, Canada ranked 3rd, though in Math and Science it came in 5th place. The U.S on the otherhand only ranked 14th overall ( which is better than I thought it would be). There is a big divide between Reading and Math abilites in the United States. For Reading, the U.S are at the 14th spot. From there they plummeted to the 25th spot in Math before jumping back to 17th in Science. Whether this U.S academic gap has to do with teaching methods, social problems or some other means, it is clear that South Korea has gained the top spot, at least in part, because of the built in culture of study.
Thousands of dollars are spent each year by parents in order for their children to attend these after school institutes and compete at the highest academics standards. It is ultra competitive here! I asked my students what time they study until, and I got a lot of 9's, 10,'s, 11's and even one 2:30a.m. Keep in mind, this is their daily regiment for many of them. Because of this, they are often tired in school which creates a vicious cycle. This is only at the middle school level. Once these students enter high school it is a whole new ball game. To get into many of the high level schools, students have to put many if not most of their hobbies, entertainment and recreations on hold. Personally, I beleive that students in South Korea have to put way to much effort into their studies. Start school 8:00 a.m and finishing at 11:00 p.m is more than a well developed adult can handle (at least it would be in my case day in and day out).
Fortunately, all this studying is paying off for South Korea on the international scale. In world ranking of all the OECD countries, South Korea is at the top in Math, Science and reading. They were ranked 1st in Reading and Math and 3rd in Science which made them #1 overall. Here is the link to compare the different countries for yourself: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2010/dec/07/world-education-rankings-maths-science-reading.
Canada ranked 3rd overall behing Finland. In Reading, Canada ranked 3rd, though in Math and Science it came in 5th place. The U.S on the otherhand only ranked 14th overall ( which is better than I thought it would be). There is a big divide between Reading and Math abilites in the United States. For Reading, the U.S are at the 14th spot. From there they plummeted to the 25th spot in Math before jumping back to 17th in Science. Whether this U.S academic gap has to do with teaching methods, social problems or some other means, it is clear that South Korea has gained the top spot, at least in part, because of the built in culture of study.
woow! they really study!
ReplyDeleteinteresting link!
the education in the united states leaves much to be desired especially in public schools! the private education is a little better, but it is not accessible to all the us people, there are many foreign people in the private schools.
They do not invest to much in education. They not have many professionals because of the high cost of university education, and at the same time have many restrictions for immigrants, and they really need them at all levels. The education in Guatemala has a higher level (private school) and its cheaper!
what age they start school?
ReplyDeleteKoreans start school when they are 8 years old. This translates to 6 years of age in Canadian, American and Guatemalean age standards.
ReplyDelete