2011년 9월 18일 일요일

Assignment#2 : Does Korean Education care creativity?(updated)


Does Korean Education care creativity?


 A professor of management, Dongyeop Shin, claimed that we are undergoing gravitational change in our education paradigm. The paradigm 1.0 emphasizes efficiency, expertise, and order of rank. This was a suitable model for the 20th century. However, in the 21st century, creating new value, and combining diverse fields are the elements of competence. In other words, creativity is not only as important as literacy, like Ken Robinson mentioned, but also will determine a whole nation’s competence in global society. Although the Korean education system has often been criticized, most people are aware of the importance of creativity. Koreans, the most passionate citizens about educating children, have started to look for creativite education. Then, is Korean education on the right track in accordance with the new paradigm?

   Unfortunately, Korean education has fundamental problems that are tangled complexly. Korean education can generally be divided into two categories : private and public. Unlike other countries Korea has highly developed private education; sometimes people even spend money on high-priced private education, though it is illegal. The development of private education reflects the general disbelief in public education. Especially, the cause for creativity is a brand-new policy that undergoes many trials and errors. I understand the parents, who want to educate their children through better quality private education though it is expensive. However, private education is an imperfect solution for educating creatively; most of the educational programs of the academies are not proven to be effective, and in many cases the advertisements are exaggerated: in fact, "creativity" is often just fancy cover for preparing for entrance exams. Moreover, private education does not cover every student; students who are not wealthy enough may not be able to afford private education.

  Then, can public education be the solution? Though the government is putting effort towards building an appropriate educational model, we can hardly find creative learning in public schools. Only the students who are in elite schools or institutions in local universities have this can privilege. Then what about other students? They have no time to consider creativity; the only goal in the highs schools is to send as many students as possible to good universities. As Sir Ken Robinson mentioned, creativity comes when one is ready to be wrong; in other words, one should have enough time to try different perspectives. Unfortunately, in Korean high schools, being wrong means getting a bad grade and going to a university with lower quality. Even if students achieve this strenuous goal of entering a good university, another big obstacle blocks them: unemployment. According to SBS news, the college entrance rate in Korea is the world's best: over 70% of high school students go to colleges. This phenomenon is mainly because it is almost impossible to be employed without a college degree. Despite high tuition, more and more students attend colleges by getting part-time jobs and falling into heavy debt. This morbid phenomenon is due to lack of diversity. If our society accepts the importance of diverse fields of human resources, more students will have the chance to develop their capacity instead of wasting money and time in colleges. As Ken Robinson said in the RSA video clip, education reflects social needs. A country cannot live with only professors, doctors, and lawyers. Our whole society has to be changed to accept various spectrums of human capacities.










  Ken Robinson said that education is important because it enables us to prepare for an unexpected future by developing children’s capacities. Though Korea is in the second place in the educational field now, we need "revolution" to adjust to a new paradigm within a global world. It is time that we reflect upon the contemporary educational system, and ensure students can show their true creative abilities when they graduate.

References
거마 대학생’ ‘등골탑’…우울한 대학생활 신조어 봇물

대학 진학률 세계 최고’’…이수율 OECD 1
2.0시대 몰락 부르는 1.0집착증
가치와 정책 경쟁 통한 교육발전 기대

댓글 2개:

  1. This is a pretty amazing little essay! And I say "little" in a good way. I wouldn't want this to be any longer, because the economy of your words and the delivery of your concise points is effectively balanced and to the point. In other words, less is sometimes more and you have a good sense of timing and structure. I never felt "stuck" or "confused." I even learned some things (about Korean education) and can see you have gone the extra mile to enrich your arguments.

    That said, your grammar is not perfect. However, I can see it has improved even in the short time you've been in my class. You've unconsciously borrowed some terms and phrases from King and Robinson and used them in your own words. You're a bit of a "sponge" and I think you are going to be an exceptional writer by Senior year. Count on it!

    I like what you say about education inflation and people wasting time and money in university. Why should someone who is good at making things and fixing things feel "uneducated" for not going to university? Society needs individuals who can satisfy various needs - and not everyone needs to be good at math or have a PHD. Japan has dealt with this issue, and Korea, it seems, will have to as well.

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  2. I made the font bigger. I guess it is much more comfortable to read:)

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