(27) 90 in 90: Talent Show for Humanity

Last Friday, my school held their annual school festival, a day when both teachers and students take a break from test preparation and thinking about universities to spend a day showing off their talents and having some breathing room to laugh and have some fun.

I really enjoyed attending my school's festival last year. It was fun to watch the same students who I had spent day after day teaching and lecturing to, cut loose and show of their talents and abilities that they would never have the opportunity to demonstrate otherwise in school. Some students sang, some danced, some played an instrument and some put on funny skits.

It was one day to see students for more than their grade level or ability to speak English. It was a chance to see beyond the social constructs we place on them everyday and see their inner self come out for all to see.As much as our school promotes the festival a a time of teachers and students coming together, to me, it was more for the students than anything. It was a day for them to retain and enjoy the naive and carefree time of youth before like many things, becomes lost to responsibility and time.

This year was no different, as students from all three grade levels in our school put on an entertaining and well thought out show. Once again, I saw students who I had only know through strictly academic means show off skills I never knew they had. Again I was treated to some entertaining and sometimes surprising displays of talent. Despite the similar premise, the talent show showcased some very different acts from last year, all of which to be very popular with both the students and the teachers.

This year a majority of the performances were music performances. Some students decided to do a dance to the song "What Does the Fox Say?" complete with costume and dance moves. I'm not sure it went over as well with the older teachers there as it did with the younger crowd, but I found it entertaining and was able to witness firsthand just how far some pop culture can spread.

A few students did musical performances with beat boxing/free style rap and musical performances. Two students caught my attention, one of which did an entire solo cover of the Guns n' Roses song "Sweet Child O' Mine". Another group did a cover of the Muse song "Time is Running Out."

After spending nearly an entire year hearing k pop, hearing my students talk about k pop and feeling that most likely 99% of the population of Korea listens only to k pop, it was an incredibly refreshing experience to hear not only excellent covers of some popular songs that aren't k pop, but to also hear covers of songs that I actually like. I was very pleasantly surprised and found myself singing along and getting into the moment, forgetting my role as a responsible educator and role model and just letting the music get to me and rocking out.

Towards the end of the show, guest bands from Gimcheon Girl's High School performed a great band cover of 2NE1's "Ugly" as well as a performance from one of the mothers who helped out, singing a pop song that seemed to be lost to the students, but received a strong and enthusiastic reaction from the older teachers and staff. Even my vice principal joined in on the fun and took the stage to sing another pop song from his youth. My vice principal is fairly serious guy, who's responsibility to the school and its operation is top priority. Seeing him sing and enjoy himself was another enjoyable sight, showing that even your tough and demanding boss is still just an ordinary guy underneath who has likes, wants and needs just like everyone else.

The main event that most of the students were interested in was the last act of the show. A girl k pop dance group came in and performed several dance routines to the latest popular k pop songs. Even if you know a little bit about k pop, you most likely are aware of the hyper sexual dance moves and model-esque k pop performers that sing and dance to each song.  While this group only did the dancing, it was enough to get an enthusiastic response from the students. I'm certain being stuck at an all boys school and being forced to study all day and night will do this to a young man.

While there were other parts of the school festival*, the talent show was the main highlight and the one that stood out the most in my mind. As much as Korea pushes students to adopt a school regimen of studying and learning and teachers to sacrifice a vast majority of their day to working for the school and keeping busy, the talent show showed us the human side that was can so easily forget once we settle into a daily routine.

It may seem like just a school talent show, just a place for students to goof around and for teachers to have a few hours away from their normal duties, but I still think its much more than that. Its the chance to show us all that without the essence that allows us to live and enjoy our lives, without those little moments that remind us why we are living and the joy and creative freedom that life offers us, we're nothing more than empty husks trapped in a forever repeating cycle of monotony until the day we die.

While its easy to get trapped into this mind set, especially in Korea and especially for future students who seemingly have their futures already made for them, giving them the opportunity to escape from the daily grind, even for one day is a reminder that while you are sometimes just a student, sometimes just a worker and sometimes just another part of society, you are also an individual. You are unique. You stand out. You have talent.

You are human, and that is both a beautiful and wonderful thing.

*more about my school festival in the next post

(7) 90 in 90: Things that bother me about the WSJ Korean Education Article

A few days ago I read an article published by The Wall Street Journal titled Should the U.S. Follow South Korea's Education System? In the article, the writer talked about a Korean "super teacher" Kim Ki-hoon calling him a $4 million dollar teacher and crediting his wealth to his more than 20 years of teaching, tutoring and lectures.

The article then goes on to describe how he is paid in accordance with his skills, eventually suggesting the idea of teachers in Korea who are paid on the level of athletes or lawyers to teach students.

This part of the article, along with the constant reminder that Korean teachers make a lot of money really bothered me. The article as a whole is fine, and brings up many decent points usually not discussed in detail in western media.

It's the statement about teachers and other similar statements that while I don't think were intentionally written incorrectly, were lacking the proper research to give a more balanced opinion.

While its true that teaching, or anything in the educational field is a stable job and source of reliable income in Korea, the number of teachers who make anything close to "rock star" status income is very small. Kim Ki-hoon, while successful and more likely than not deserving of every bit of income, is an outlier.

A majority of teachers in Korea, both public and hagwon make a basic salary comparable to other mid to high level jobs. In fact, may teachers starting out their teaching careers for the first time make less than I do, and still have to pay many of the living fees such as rent and utilities that are provided to me for no cost.

Many starting teachers who work at private schools and hagwons are also often being offered one year contracts which ensures one year of employment and possibly succeeding years based on their performance. You could eventually make a lot of money teaching this way, however this comes through a higher position than an entry level teacher.

The end of the article also suggests that the U.S. borrow some ideas from Korea for its own education system. While some of the ideas are solid, some do not take in regard the differences between states and cities that would make some of these techniques hit or miss. The article fails to mention that the geography and population of the U.S. are very different compared to Korea. What works in one school district, in one state can very well fail in another. The geography, population and economic stability all play a part in providing differing experiences.

Another point the article does not bring attention to is the side effects of such high pressure on success and education. Students are taught that success is all that matters and that failure isn't a chance to learn from your mistakes, but rather a sign that you have missed your opportunity. Korea is sometimes called a "one shot society" meaning that everything from job interviews to language tests relies on that one window of success.

Such a high stress environment can sometimes create unbearably high pressure for students and create a day in, day out regimen of classes, studying, followed by more studying. Such a high emphasis on specific subjects for testing also leaves very little time for learning about non academic things like humanities, culture and society. From an early age, students are taught that these things do not matter nearly as much as getting into a good university.

While I feel the article is an interesting look for western readers at the Korean education system, much more consideration needs to be put into effect before we start clamoring for our own rock star teachers.

Borrowing from an overall effective system? Great. Taking things without regards to how it can fit into a culture and society different from the original one? No so much.

You can read the original story here

Korea: Year 2

It's time to start again. Time to break out my lesson plans, brush up on my power points and wake up when the normal people do to head to work. After spending a month back home in the states visiting friends and family, my rest period and vacation is over. It's time to come back to Korea. It's time to teach again.

In a way I am excited to be back. The overwhelming sense of dullness and monotony than can come with any job had been replaced with new expectations and hopes for a better year. A new year is essentially a reboot to toss out the awkwardness and rookie mistakes of the first year and the opportunity to improve and make an even better impression on the youth of Korea and their impressionable minds.

I am entirely optimistic in regards to the new additions and changes to our selection of teachers. This year, our school added 11 new teachers, four of which are English teachers. While last year's group of teachers have either moved on to teach in other schools or retire, two of the English teachers were promoted to heads of the English department. Having worked with them for year and seeing where their stand in both their work ethic and stance on education, this is a good choice. 

The new teachers are all young and friendly. After spending only a few hours getting to know them, they all seemed very happy, enthusiastic about teaching and very willing to get to know this foreign teacher a little better. They left a very good first impression and I cannot wait to get to know them more as the year continues on.

My schedule had also been updated as well. Last year, my biggest hurdles came from messages lost in translation and trying to teach material to classes that were not intended to be taught. There were often many time that certain classes were missed or my presence was not necessary due to the messages getting to me too late or in some cases, not at all. My grade three students were entirely focused on preparing for their college entrance exams, and not interested or finding the necessity to learn new material that would not be featured on the exam. This led to mixed messages and sometimes wasted time and resources where they could have been applied in other areas.

My new schedule seems to eliminate the grade three students entirely, instead focusing on the more impressionable students: grades one and two. This would allow me to focus all of my time and energy on students who are constantly learning new material that will eventually be relevant to future testing.

This year also brings forward the new criteria for high school students called NEAT. NEAT is designed to teach students the necessary skills primarily used in speaking, writing and reading. The eventual goal of NEAT is to provide Korean English teachers the requirements and materials needed to teach students necessary English skills with confidence and if necessary, without the need of an English language speaker.

For me, and I suspect other high school teachers taking this seriously, this allows us to cut away the fat and uncertainty of what to teach and instead gives a clear and concise map of what is deemed necessary to teach students in order for them to do well on future testing and university opportunities. It streamlines the necessaries while still allowing flexibility and creative breathing room to teach each class how I see fit. It seems like a comfortable median of compromise between the two and I could not be happier about that.

If there are any warning flags so far, its the lack of teaching or a personal schedule that worries me more than anything. It is the second day of school, the first official day of teaching and I sit here writing this instead of teaching a class. I have yet to receive a schedule of any kind nor any idea of how many classes I will have and when I will have them. While this may seem like a BEST FIRST WORK DAY EVER, this has me slightly worried. 

With the addition of new English teachers at our school bringing the new total to seven including myself and the greater focus on having Korean teachers teach English without assistance, the need for a native English teacher seems limited and at times, unnecessary. Combined with rumors of the major language programs closing up shop in increasingly more cities, the paranoid side of me feels like this year may be my last at my school and whether I want to stay or not may not be left up to my own choices.

However, no matter what happens in the end, it still stands that it is indeed the 'end'. The last part and the last thing I should even be thinking of now. I have a whole year ahead of me and as long as I go forward with the right people and willingness to do well, I think I will be ok. 

It's a brave new world, but its my world. It's a fresh lump of clay, but my hands yearn to get dirty.

I want this year to be great, I want it to be memorable. I want to make this to a great year.

So, I think I'll go do that. 

An epic photo of my school's front door. Actual epicness of school may differ from photo.