School Should Get Down to Teaching
Today, many Koreans disapprove of the Korean education system. As a result, many parents and children wish to go to native English speaking countries to study there. Is that the right solution to such a dilemma? What can they learn in those countries that they wonꡑt learn in their native country? What is the real difference between the Korean education system and that of other countries?
I should confess I am not an expert on education and therefore cannot say much about what is happening in Korean schools. The outcome of the Korean education system, however, is what I would like to express my opinion on, by observing youngstersꡑ and adultsꡑbehavior in the community.
There is some evidence that our educational goal is leading us the wrong way.
The problems seem to stem from human-relationship problems. That is to say, there are many problems occurring in parent-child relationships, among friends, between teachers and students, and especially between the older and younger generations.
In many homes, conflict between parents and children is increasing. Recently, I had a chance to listen to one of my church member‘s family conflict. The older woman blurted out how frustrated she is to see the grandfather join the dinner table and maintain silence between him and his son‘s family members. According to the woman, it has been that way for a long period of time, which is very sad to hear. Lack of conversation in families nowadays is a common problem in our society. Quite a few families confess they have experienced a very similar situation. In traditional Korean culture, younger family members were advised to save their breath and be cautious about their behavior before older members of the family, but they were never taught to ignore members of the family. Then why is this ignorance and hatred happening in families? Maybe society is teaching the young generation to respect money and academic success rather than their family members, friends, and elders in society. No matter what age their children are, many parents invest quite a portion of their earnings in their children, especially private education fees. Students are pressured to absorb everything they learn both in public and private institutes. Especially, students are being pushed to do well and focus on subjects that will be tested in the college entrance exams. But other things students need to learn, such as finding oneꡑs identity in society, socializing and cooperation skills, etiquette and responsibility are set aside. At this point, I would like to question parents, is their investment worth it?
In the community, disrespect toward elders is occurring more and more. Many elders nowadays have to stand and wait for a seat to become available when they take public transportation. When I was young, we were taught it was very honorable to offer our seat to elders. Not only that, it is common to see many young people talking back at elders. In the old days, this was the most dishonorable thing a child could do. This is also a result of the material aims of the Korean education system.
I recall my childhood in school and most of the things I learned, but I still question today whether the things I learned in school were really helpful to me or not. In my personal opinion, teaching communication skills is very important in the education system in order to preserve families. After all, disfunctional families often suffer from lack of conversation. According to statistics from the Korean Health Association, more than 5000 people commit suicide in this country because of depression. Students ought to learn to love themselves and accept themselves as they are. Education facilities can help them to do this by putting less pressure on them to be someone great, and instead providing group projects so they can learn to cooperate and be responsible for their part, and introducing many literature and arts that can encourage students to think about those who are mistreated by society. Recently I had a chance to read an old Korean textbook called Sohak, it is a book that was mandatory to learn in the old days. The most remarkable statement was, “Children should not fear or get angry with their parents even when parents seem to dislike their children.” As a father of two daughters, I can totally understand what it is trying to say. Children may feel that I dislike them when I scorn them or nag on them, but I only do that out of care and love.
Old Korean teaching is quite admirable. I suggest we should look back to our old history and its education system. I gained some precious knowledge from the Sohak textbook. I am pretty sure it will give something to others as well. I think it would be great to make a class out of this in elementary schools so children will be trained to understand the relationships and the world from a young age. It will certainly teach them to live in this world in an appropriate way. Moreover, the college entrance exam could test some of the learning from Sohak so that students would show more enthusiasm toward Sohak. Cultivating an admirable life style and good manners is not a difficult task for everybody to do. Our older generations did that by teaching Sohak and teaching their children the virtuous value of maintaining a good relationship with families, friends, and the community. Sohak is also a good heritage to share with other countries as the world globalizes. What is good for us is also good for others.
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