Interview with Jenny Wilborn of Korean Students Speak

"I'll make this world a better place."

Jenny Wilborn is a highschool teacher living and teaching in the rural village of Chungnam.  The village is small, with no recognizable hang outs such as coffee shops or grocery stores.  She has taught at the same high school for two years, through the Fullbright Program, teaching high students English and grammar skills.  

Her job, like many English teachers in Korea, consists of daily lessons and exercises designed to teach and test student's English abilities.

These exercises however, go beyond the simple worksheets and power points used in the classroom.

Jenny is the creator of KSS, Korean Students Speak, a method of teaching involving the use of Tumblr and simple messages from students written in English to express their thoughts and emotions, most of which are never heard in the classroom.

“I got the idea from a photo journalist Adrian Fisk and his project 'I speak China',” says Wilborn.  “He traveled around China and gave people a big white piece of paper and pen.  He asked them to write what they feel, creating some really inspiring messages.”

Inspired by the honesty and simplicity of the project, Wilborn pitched the idea during a 2011 Fullbright Fall Conference.  After liking and finally accepting her idea, the project began and by spring the following year, KSS was up and running.

"I want to free."

“I was inspired by the project and my own students in the area I live in.  It was known for gang violence and many of the students here were told that they would most likely not go anywhere and would most likely end up working in a factory, making the use and study of English to them completely unnecessary,” says Wilborn.

Once the project began, there was never a specific goal or anticipation for it to grow into what it currently is today.  The project had very simple goals and objectives, all of which involved inspiring students to use English in the classroom.

“From the beginning, it was seen as an opportunity for students first, and the audience second,” says Willborn.  “I would always ask myself the question of how you inspire kids to learn English when they don't care.”

Willborn soon saw how this could be more than a simple method for teaching English, but also as an method to talk with other people from across the world, letting them take a look into their lives in a way not normally seen from the other parts of the world.

“I was happy to see students using this as an opportunity to speak to the world,” says Willborn.  “I was surprised by how some students reacted and how they were proud of their work.”

"Bad math does not equal bad brain."

Students began to become proud of the work and messages they produced.  Soon it was becoming a common sight to see students show their messages to their family and post their photos on facebook.

As more classes were beginning to participate and more students began looking forward to participating in the project Jenny began to notice that her students were not the only ones writing messages for the world to see.  English teachers and students across Korea were following the Tumblr and beginning to submit messages from their own students.

KSS was spreading, with students from all grade levels beginning to participate.

“I liked the fact that despite the different grade levels and occasional grammar mistakes, the messages can still be understood around the world,” says Willborn.  “For some students, English can sometimes seem fruitless.  KSS provides an opportunity to be more than what they think it is.”

KSS currently receives numerous posts from students located all across Korea, ranging from Seoul to Jeju and grade levels consisting of grade one elementary to grade 3 high school students.

The growing popularity and the increasing number of teachers interested in using KSS in the classroom has led to Wilborn and other teachers from Fullbright to create a manual giving advice and ideas for others teachers to use in the classroom.  Wilborn still maintains the Tumblr by herself, looking over and organizing the submitted photos.

"Academic Background not everything in our lives."

Willborn hopes to see KSS continue, gaining new students and teachers as well as followers from around the world who wish to have a detailed look at the thoughts, struggles and dreams of these students.

“Every message I read gets a strong reaction from me.  It's always like the first time I'm seeing them,” says Wilborn.

Many of the messages from students are often variations of the same theme, with the most popular being on exhaustion, studying and the issue of Dokdo Island.

“Most of the signs follow those common themes, but there are always a few that always stand out from the rest. The ones that make me stop and think for any number of reasons,” says Wilborn

“I've seen some which have students making funny faces, one student holding a pole saying 'This is Sparta' and one girl that just wanted to talk about her turtle.  I've seen some serious ones too, one I remember the most was a sign held up by a student with the words 'I want to suicide'.”

Wilborn hopes that everyone who views and participates in KSS can take something away from it, be it a teacher, student or follower of the Tumblr.  She also hopes that both English and Korean teachers will continue to use and be willing to adopt KSS into their classrooms.

“I've heard stories that KSS has brought the shiest kids to participate and be proud of their work. It really shows teachers what they want to say in English and what they actually know.  KSS is not meant to critique the Korean education system, but to say something to the world. It allows them to push aside scores and adopt lessons that empower students.”

"I really want to unify Korea." 

Looking at the Tumblr page, among the numerous messages of being tired and the strong dislike of studying are messages of hope and encouragement.  Messages that exclaim 'I love everyone' and 'You can do it. Stay strong.' are reminders that despite the strong importance put on studying and academics, many of these students still find the time to dream and remain optimistic to themselves and each other.

“I love how so many students still have a positive outlook,” says Wilborn. “KSS has taught me that when given the chance, these students will surprise you.”