South Korea wants more of our “failed education system”

by David Safier

It's a case of dueling articles in Education Week — or, more accurately, articles which, taken together, create a more nuanced view of international education than we usually get. [Note: Education Week articles are subscription only]

One article is about U.S. schools lagging on international tests. It's not an "Ain't it awful?" article like so many of its ilk, but it points out how our scores on the tests are lower than those of many other countries. Missing is a geographical breakdown of U.S. scores, which show Massachusetts and Minnesota quite competitive on the tests — Northeast U.S. does well generally — while scores in the south are at third world levels. But the article is fair and reasonable overall.

Let me pull out one passage:

[F]rustration with the United States' lackluster showing on international tests is widespread and bipartisan. Elected officials at all levels routinely point to high scores turned in by such nations as Finland and South Korea—and economic growth in countries such as China and India—as evidence of American complacency, and the urgent need to improve.

Let's look at South Korea a bit more closely, as a representative of education in advanced Asian countries.

Another Ed Week article is headlined: Education in the Republic of Korea: National treasure or national headeache? It's written by Byong-man Ahn, who was the country's minister of education, science, and technology.

He says he finds himself "frequently astonished by the outside world's lavish praise for our education system."

While many may look with envy at these achievements, I could not conceal my bewilderment at the fact that, within Korea, that same education system has been called the nation's biggest problem.

He writes, the obsession with high test scores needed to get into the country's best colleges and universities distorts the country's educational priorities.

The process has led aspiring entrants and their parents to devote themselves to a style of examination preparation centered around memorization. . . . Students have no time to ponder the fundamental question of "What do I need to learn, and why?" They simply need to prepare for the test by learning the most-effective methods for digesting tremendous quantities of material and committing more to memory than others do.

What is Korea looking at now? Something that would incorporate more of the virtues of U.S.-style education.

[T]he current administration of President Lee Myung-bak has focused its policy efforts on creating the type of education in which creativity is emphasized over rote learning, diversity over uniformity, and self-determined education over other-determined education.

Other articles I've read have talked about South Korean mothers moving with their children to other countries, like Australia and the U.S., to escape the oppressive pressure cooker of the Korean education system. The husband/fathers stay behind, willing to shoulder the economic burden and separation in the interest of their children's education.

Korea is not the exception. Similar criticisms are leveled by many people in other Asian countries. Frequently, Asian educators and business leaders come to the U.S. and ask school leaders, "How do you manage to foster independent thinking and risk taking which leads to inventiveness and entrepreneurship?" It seems they have trouble inspiring those qualities in their young people.

Want a system focused on producing higher test scores? Be careful what you wish for.