Education in South Korea

Emtinan AlqurashiAmena Alahmad

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GDIT 726 Education in a Global Society

South KoreaLocation: between China and Japan

Language: Korean

Population: 51 m. people

Religion: 46% none, 29% Christians,

22% Buddhist

A screenshot from Google map

History & CultureHistory: Mongolian

Culture: art, architecture, cuisine, televised drama, films, and popular music, technology culture:

Samsung, LG Image from koreaittimes.com

Society and Economy- Poor natural resources

- In early 1960s, economic development plans

- The 13th largest trading country in the world

- Issues

Graph from wikipedia.org

Schooling in South Korea- Educational philosophies

- Organization and structure of the education system

- Curriculum

https://youtu.be/JFpTdEFfqXI

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Educational Philosophy Hong-Ik human: human who

- Has high degree of independence

- Can contribute to the development of the nation’s democracy & well-being of humankind

Education goal:

To foster the type of human being consistent with Hong-Ik ideology

Organization and Structure of Education System The Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development (national)

Regional Offices of Education (metropolitan)

The main track of the education System:

- Elementary (6 years)

- Middle school (3 years)

- High school (3 years)

- University education (4 years)

Curriculum and TextbooksNational Curriculum

- The Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development

- Quality, equality

- 10 subjects, autonomous activities, special activities

- Elective subjects in final 2 years of high school

Preschool Education- National, public, private kindergarten - 3-5 years old- In 1999, “Supporting Kindergarten

Tuition for Children from Low-Income Families”

- In 2002, “Supporting Free Education for Five Year Old Children”

Education goalspromote growth, express thoughts and feelings, correct language use, think on everyday concerns

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Elementary EducationIn 1945, the year of liberation from Japan:

- quantitative expansion of elementary education

- overcrowded urban schools, underpopulated rural schools

- education tax, divided schools

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Middle School- 1985, free compulsory education

- “Age of globalization”: foreign language education

- English language instruction Image from onpoint.wbur.org

High School1. There has been significant improvement in high

school enrolment rates.

2. The education quality has increased steadily over time due to the establishment of many schools. The education quality brought about positive changes in the social and cultural consciousness among children in the country.

3. One of the major problem in high school education has been the related to gender equality.

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Higher Education1. Institution of Higher education are divided into

7 categories.

2. Flexible for a knowledge-based society.

3. Positive economic developments and increased literacy levels in the country over time.

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Special Education1. There has been significant increase in the numbers of disabilities enrolled into institutions of higher learning.

2. The teacher must graduate from special education department.

3. The South Koreans are also pleading with the government to establish schools that provide special education to the disabilities children. This ensures education equality and thus economic has development in the country.

Teacher Education and Training1. The government offers many of institutions to improve educational expertise and

quality.

2. The government is advocating for more training of teachers.

3. emphases on how to integrate technology into the lesson.

4. Teachers can construct a lifelong based learning society, and develop only vocational education systems that respond to their industrial demand.

5. special training consist of long-term program for enhancement of special field at home and abroad. the sponsored by Ministry of Education and human Resources Development.

Success, Challenges and Debates1.South Korea has shown rapid socioeconomic development over the

short period. 2.South Korea is proud of its educational successes:a. Opportunities for education have conspicuously expanded.b. Education has made many qualitative changes.c. Illiteracy has dropped.d. Education has contributed to political development.e. Education has contributed to economic development.f. Education has contributed to social and cultural development. g. Education relates to an increase in social mobility. h. Traditional value.

Challenges and Controversies 1. Overcrowding in the classrooms - building more schools, especially in the urban areas. 2. Diverse population- accommodate all the students from the diverse cultures, religions,

generations, and classes. 3. Lack of democracy in the country is a challenge to the education sector.4. curriculum- chang. 5. Gender equality. 6. Experts are therefore advising the South Koreans to ensure national unification in

their education system.

Discussion BoardThe results of PISA 2012 show that South Korea was in the 5th place in Math and Reading, and 7th place in Science scores, where the US was in the 36th place in Math, 28th place in Science, and 24th place in Reading scores.

What could the US learn from South Korea’s school success?

Thank You