Hi Carol, I have some Korean students and sometimes we talk about. the educational system There seems to be at least some type of battle raging in Korean education circles over all of this. The trouble with what is happening is that the system is producing cookie cutter students and there is little emphasis, or even a fear of creativity. I think Korea just dramatically changed its college entrance exame format because of this so that it is based less on a standardized test model and much more on written essays. Also I believe it used to be that you could only apply to one or two colleges so that application process was very high stakes and nerve wracking - but now you can apply to multiple colleges. I have heard the same thing in China discussing the education process, they are worried the system is teaching students how to take tests and not to think. We here in the United States seem to be moving in the oppositie directions (except of course at very expensive private schools). We are working more and more to take creativity and independent thinking out of the education process, especially for those from lower socio-economic backgrounds. You are right I think, KIPP is an attempt to institute the type of intensely focused education that some in Asian countries are trying to escape, complete with the emphasis on long hours of rote learning. There have been limited studies of KIPP even on success in this, usually at only one or two KIPP schools - chosen by KIPP. I have no idea why there haven't been more comprehensive studies. But even the studies that are done are not longitudinal - meaning we don't know if there is a lasting effect on learning based self-efficacies (why are there no studied measuring self-efficacy when that is what KIPP is claiming it accomplishes?). The program seems to work for a certain type of student for a particular amount of time, but as the Korean example suggests, what are we losing? Michael ________________________________ From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu on behalf of Carol Macdonald Sent: Wed 10/12/2011 12:55 AM To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity Subject: [xmca] Korean Education Did anyone see the article in the Time magazine about the Korean school educational obsession with studying, and the "learning police" who have to check that night schools don't go over 10:00p.m? And students sleep in class during the day. Compare that with the *equally high performance*of Finnish children who have 5 hours of school, one hour of homework, and only 13% having remedial lessons. What does that tell us about the optimum conditions for school learning? (National obsessions aside.) Carol PS The KIPP schools approximate the Korean model--what there? -- Children have to be educated, but they have also to be left to educate themselves. Ernest Dimnet<http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/e/ernestdimn404995.html> *Visiting Lecturer Wits School of Education Research Fellow* *Linguistics Dept: Unisa * __________________________________________ _____ xmca mailing list xmca@weber.ucsd.edu http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
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