In
our class, we’ve discussed many aspects of education that seem to be making a
difference in many of the Asian countries. As someone who’s familiar with how
education is run in those countries, especially in South Korea, I have come to
a conclusion that the major difference has to be how much emphasis and value is
placed on education in those countries.
For
example, in South Korea on the day that the college entrance exams are
administered, the whole country comes to a dead halt. By that I mean, the
police are out on the streets making sure the roads are cleared so that the
students can get to school safely. Some of the officers are on “stand by” in
order to give a ride to students who are running late as they are going to the testing
site. Any events that can create noise (i.e., concerts, outdoor activities,
etc.) are never scheduled for that day. Parents go to temples or church and
pray while their child is taking the exam. Basically, the whole country comes to a halt and is only focused
on making sure the test takers have everyone’s full support.
How
much impact do you think this type of emphasis on education could make here in the US? How can we, as teachers, promote the
importance of education to families who do not see education as a priority? At the elementary level, teachers
get notes from parents that range from, “Please
excuse Johnny from his homework today. He had soccer practice and could not
finish” to “Johnny will be missing school for the next two weeks as we are
going to Disney World in Florida.” Is there
anything we can do as teachers to change the mindset of families who do not
value education as much as they should? Is this even possible or are we in “too
deep” with a culture that has too many families who do not consider education a
priority?