Re: [xmca] Korean Education

[Larry Purss <lpscholar2@gmail.com>]

Carol
A great point that needed clarification. I was responding to the term
"creativity" and long hours of cramming in the math & sciences in contrast
to "liberal arts". Policy makers in China are reflecting on directions to
take to develop the liberal arts. [as they understand this term]

Larry

On Wed, Oct 12, 2011 at 10:15 AM, Carol Macdonald <carolmacdon@gmail.com>wrote:

> Larry,
> What is a "great learning space"?
>
> Let me tell you, they will not be able to replicate Oxford or Cambridge or
> Edinburgh as the cultures are understated and cannot even be expalined by
> the natives.  Did you know that in Sept 2010 Cambridge admitted only one
> student of colour?  Racism rules.  Not in Scotland, where I was, but still
> you have to penetrate the culture.
>
> And Harvard with 10 000 students with 3,000 with perfect SAT scores,
> wanting
> to get in to first year, what does that tell you?? That would drive the
> Korean back into their night schools immediately.
>
> Carol
>
> On 12 October 2011 15:20, Larry Purss <lpscholar2@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > China has the goal to create 2 of the "best" universities in the world.
> > They are going to America's and Great Britain's "top" universities to
> study
> > their "Liberal art" disciplines [not engineering or science] They
> recognize
> > it is the liberal arts not the classical sciences that "generate" great
> > learning spaces
> > I wonder if Al Andalus and its libraries emphasized "sciences or liberal
> > arts?
> >
> > Larry
> >
> > On Wed, Oct 12, 2011 at 4:34 AM, Michael Glassman <MGlassman@ehe.osu.edu
> > >wrote:
> >
> > > 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 cthat ollege 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
> > > *
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>
>
>
> --
> 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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