Clever Korea, especially when it comes to education.

Look East.

Since moving to Korea to teach, I have worked at a private academy school that was situated in the centre of a bustling and affluent urban jungle and now, for the past month, a public school nestled between rolling hills, paddy fields and ginseng plantations. Rural, to say the least. The entire school has a population of 59 students. That number includes six grades of students. And a Kindergarten.

The school, due to its size, only gets a small budget from the Korean Government. Yet, despite the size of the budget, the students have access to an enormous array of extra-curricular activities. From Kumdo (Korean Kendo) to additional art classes. From book clubs to soccer clubs. From guitar lessons to culture clubs. From, well... you get the point.


What is most impressive, to me at least, is that all students are taught how to play the piano from Kindergarten. The students, with their youthful sponge like memories, take to the instrument well and regularly perform recitals in front of community audiences. The crowd provides lashings of supportive comment and applause which in turn provides the students with  a sense of achievement.    


In preparation for the recitals, the students will practice before and after school and during break times. It is an inspirational sound to approach school at 7.50am to the sound of Beethoven's 9th symphony being hammered out of my classroom window. Upon hearing the music, it's obvious to me that its a student as opposed to a teacher. Not because it isn't being played well. On the contrary, it sounds faultless. The reason that I know it is a student is because most teachers don't arrive until 8.45. But, what continually amazes me is the age of the student playing the music.


This video is of a 3rd grader, she is 8 years old internationally:

The next video is of a 1st grader, he's 5 years old. What is impressive to me is that the piece of music he is playing is one that he has never seen or played before....

The next video is one of a student playing the piano in my class room in the morning. He's a 5th grader and is 10 years old.

So, how does Korea afford all of these extra curricular classes in their schools? Simple. As a nation that knows what sever poverty is, within only a generation, the nation and school system  is frugal. For example, the school that I currently teach in would not (from state funding alone) be able to afford additional piano lessons, art classes nor to employ a native English speaking teacher (me). They afford it all from being intelligent. Not only as a school, but as a community.

The school bought some adjacent fields and farm them. The students help plant rice and harvest it. Not only does this bring the community together but it provides the children with the opportunity to learn yet more skills (agricultural) and teaches them about their cultural heritage and history. The icing on the cake, the sale of the rice pays for the additional teachers and equipment at the school. The day is also one of great jubilee, an event that the children genuinely look forward to. Lets be honest, what student wouldn't look forward to having a day off from studying in order to roll around in the dirt with their friends?

When writing this, the most common words in western media articles are: austerity, cuts, deficit  recession, decline. The Korean media on the other hand...... http://www.koreaherald.com/national/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20111028000205