Pursuing the Real Value of Education

The Education Culture of South Korea and the U.S.A.

 By Kwangsu An

“Virtue will surpass talent.” Those are words of Jeon Hey-Sung, Ph.D., a person I greatly respect, who is a former Yale University professor. It is entirely right and proper in our modern society which forces ability rather than virtue. In South Korea every year, many high school students do battle to enter a higher level college. Moreover, not merely college students, even a great number of elementary school students come to the U.S.A. to study English.

Most people say that it is a systemic problem comparing with the education system of the U.S.A. It means that overemphasis of educational qualifications and excessive concentration on English education in South Korea society come from institutional defects. However is it truly a flaw of the system? If we get the same system as the U.S.A., can the difficulty be resolved? It may be more a matter of social conception and the cultural climate of South Korea about higher level education than institutional matters.

The education system of South Korea and the U.S.A. use the same K-12 framework that sets the period of basic education to 12 years. The U.S.A. has two kinds of K-12 systems. Although it is different from state to state, at U.S. public school, the K-12 system is a fundamental rule. Generally there are no big organizational differences between South Korea and the U.S.A. Needless to say, even though they have similar education system, their curriculums and their teaching methods are different. However, whatever they have, at least South Korea does not have an academic ability decline problem, although the U.S.A. does. In other words, if South Korea gets the same institution as the U.S.A., we can not solve our educational problem, if anything we may get another problem.

Another considerable element in evaluating an educational problem must be the social concept and cultural climate of the subject society. In the U.S.A., attending college is not a matter of great consequence. Many American students prefer to attend a City College or state University than a prestige school. Statue about a person’s academic background is also not the first priority in the U.S.A. Even if a person has a brilliant academic background, if he or she lacks adequate ability, he or she can’t even get a job. That is, American students try to get ability to do their work, and socially they aren’t forced to attend a famous university.

On the contrary, it is not an exaggeration to say that a long-established social conception about the success in life of South Korea is in taking higher level education. A person who is judged a socially successful man must not only take high level education but also attend a prestige school. Although we live in the 21st century, this idea has not changed since ancient times. This social atmosphere accelerates overconcentration of English education to get more opportunity for success. It may be excessively simplified, but this is why so many Korean students come to the U.S.A. or go to Canada, Australia, the U.K., or even the Philippines or Singapore.

The long and short of it is that the educational problem of South Korea is not a matter of the system but the social concept and cultural climate. The old social values which give priority to higher level education and the cultural mood which regards a person’s academic background as important may be the main matter of educational problem of South Korea and the primary difference in the educational system of South Korea and the U.S.A. My father who passed away 4 years ago always told me, “I think children grow up while watching their parents’ back, so I just keep working, rather than compel you to be an important somebody, and impose my opinion on you.” What we need is to construct a social atmosphere which doesn’t value academic background and doesn’t coerce higher level education.

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