(My last post was about my job and a little about the hagwon industry as a whole. Now, I want to share the other side of this: the students. )
Students in Korea lead lives that are incredibly different from students in the US. As part of a lesson on schedules/times/calendars, I asked my students about their weekly schedules. What they told me was kind of terrible.
It’s actually mindboggling what these little kids go through. Here is a composite of one elementary school aged class’ weekly schedule:
*Note: The students whom I spoke with were young elementary students. Middle schoolers often go to academies that end at 10:00-10:30pm.
Monday
8:00am-2:30pm: School
2:30pm – 3:15pm: Go home and drop off the school back pack. Pick up the afterschool backpack.
3:15pm-3:45pm: Wait for the academy bus / ride the bus to academy
4:00pm – 6:00pm: English Academy
6:00pm – 6:30pm: Buy a snack from the convenience store and walk to the next academy.
6:30pm – 8:00pm: Math Academy
8:00pm – 8:30pm: Ride the academy bus home.
8:30pm – 11:00pm: Dinner and Homework
********
Tuesday
8:00am-2:30pm: School
2:30pm – 3:15pm: Go home and drop off the school back pack. Pick up the afterschool backpack.
3:15pm-3:45pm: Wait for the academy bus / ride the bus to academy
4:00pm – 5:30pm: Science Academy
5:30pm – 6:00pm: Buy a snack from the convenience store and walk to the next academy.
6:00pm – 7:00pm: Korean Language Academy
7:00pm – 7:30pm: Ride the academy bus home.
7:30pm – 10:30pm: Dinner and Homework
********
Wednesday
8:00am-2:30pm: School
2:30pm – 3:15pm: Go home and drop off the school back pack. Pick up the afterschool backpack.
3:15pm-3:45pm: Wait for the academy bus / ride the bus to academy
4:00pm – 6:00pm: English Academy
6:00pm – 6:30pm: Buy a snack from the convenience store and walk to the next academy.
6:30pm – 8:00pm: Math Academy
8:00pm – 8:30pm: Ride the academy bus home.
8:30pm – 11:00pm: Dinner and Homework
********
Thursday
8:00am-2:30pm: School
2:30pm – 3:15pm: Go home and drop off the school back pack. Pick up the afterschool backpack.
3:15pm-3:45pm: Wait for the academy bus / ride the bus to academy
4:00pm – 5:30pm: Science Academy
5:30pm – 6:00pm: Buy a snack from the convenience store and walk to the next academy.
6:00pm – 7:00pm: Korean Language Academy
7:00-7:15pm: Walk to the next academy
7:15pm -8:00pm: Music Academy
8:00pm – 8:30pm: Ride the academy bus home.
8:30pm – 11:00pm: Dinner and Homework
********
Friday
8:00am-2:30pm: School
2:30pm – 3:15pm: Go home and drop off the school back pack. Pick up the afterschool backpack.
3:15pm-3:45pm: Wait for the academy bus / ride the bus to academy
4:00pm – 6:00pm: English Academy
6:00pm – 6:30pm: Buy a snack from the convenience store and walk to the next academy.
6:30pm – 8:00pm: Art Academy
8:00pm – 8:30pm: Ride the academy bus home.
8:30pm – 11:00pm: Dinner and Homework
********
Saturday
8:00am-12:30pm: School (every other Saturday)
12:30pm – 1:15pm: Go home, eat lunch, and drop off the school back pack. Pick up the afterschool backpack.
1:15pm-1:45pm: Wait for the academy bus / ride the bus to academy
2:00pm – 3:30pm: Math Academy
3:30pm – 4:00pm: Buy a snack from the convenience store and walk to the next academy.
4:00pm – 6:00pm: Tae Kwon Do Academy
6:00pm – 6:30pm: Ride the academy bus home.
6:30pm –9:30pm: Dinner and Homework
9:30pm – 10:30pm: Free Time
********
Sunday
For elementary and middle school students, this is a day without school or academies.
High school students do no attend academies at all because their school day is something like 12 hours long and extremely intense. High school seniors do, however, go to school on Sundays.
Kids use Sunday to play, watch TV, and do their homework for the week. It’s actually really sad to ask kids about their weekends. They get so excited about doing things like playing their favorite computer game for two hours.
********
As you can see from all of the various lessons and classes, the kids end up very well rounded. They have a huge knowledge base that spans many different subjects. They all play an instrument and they all can do something artistic. Plus, they can do the quadratic formula at 10 years old.
This type of schedule has another benefit: no time to get in trouble. With this schedule, the kids are too busy and too tired to bother doing anything horrible. Yeah, they do kid stuff like throwing paper balls or eating too much candy from 7-11 but, nothing that will destroy their lives. I kind of think that this is one of the reasons why South Korea has one of the lowest teen pregnancy rates in the world.
While there are benefits to this type of education system, there are definite downsides. One huge downside is that the kids are exhausted. You can see it in their eyes. A lot of the kids look like if they are still for two minutes, they will fall asleep.
Another huge downside is that the kids are sort of broken. Their imaginations and spirits are crushed. When they are in elementary school, they still have some of it. But, by middle school, they are student robots. They have pretty much no creativity. They don’t want to participate. They just want to tick another item off of their academic to do list and get out of there. It’s pretty disheartening for all involved.
Luiz once had some of his students do a writing assignment. Their topic was “The Perfect Day.” The paragraphs that the kids turned in were bleak. Their perfect day was like an average Saturday for a kid in the US. They were all something like this:
On my perfect, I won’t go to school or academy. I will watch tv and eat lunch with my family. Then, I will do one hour of homework. After that, I will play with my friend for two hours. Later, I will take a nap and then play computer games.
The kids were not given any restrictions on their perfect day. It didn’t have to be a realistic perfect day. They could have written anything they wanted. Sadly, all they wanted was a little rest. Seriously, what elementary school kid wants to take a nap? Even stranger, what kid does homework on his perfect day?!?!?
Sometimes, I feel guilty for teaching at a hagwon. I feel like I am helping the Korean Education System beat the kids down. I try to focus on the fact that nothing will change if all of the teachers are people who agree with this system. But, it’s not always a consolation when a kid is crying because she’s exhausted and didn’t get to study for the test and, her mother will punish her for getting a low grade. I’ll try to comfort the kid but, I have no experience with this. I didn’t go to schools 12 hours a day, starting in 1st grade. Also, I’m not the one who will get punished. This kid is upset because she is nervous about going home (a terrible situation for any child to be in) while I get to home and relax.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens in the future. The first group of kids largely educated in the hagwon system are just now going to college. I guess the real measure of the hagwons’ usefulness will be whether those students make their children go through the same thing. I seriously hope that they don’t.
This picture was taken at 8:05pm. The two yellow buses are hagwon buses.----------
Here are students getting onto their hagwon bus to go home at 8:15pm.----------
Here are students waiting for their hagwon bus back home at 10:10pm.----------
Here are more students waiting for their hagwon bus back home at 10:15pm----------
Here are seven buses from various hagwons waiting to take students home. This picture was taken at 10:30pm.----------
Hey Jen! During my internship I would share all of your posts with my students. They would laugh, but most of the time I helped them reflect on how easy they have it compared to other countries. Now I have my proof! There is no doubt in my mind that balance is paramount! But you know what? I think the Korean educational system reflects global economic priorities. The business industries need employees who learn and master new skills quickly, increase productivity at any cost, but will not question the established order. What we will witness is the most formidable work force to date. And somewhere... the fairies of creativity die a slow death. =( But if you ask me, the kids in the US could benefit from a little of that "Korena discipline." =) I have an idea. Let's start an exchange program! Or start a nap hagwon! =)
ReplyDeleteIt's a machine driven by hyper-competitive parents and a system that rewards trivial differences between exam scores. And still, this is one of the best systems in the world. The American system is flawed. The Korean system is flawed. They are just flawed in completely different ways.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Priscilla and Anonymous. I often think about the education system in the U.S. First I think about the system in the North and South. Then I compare it to the system in Bangladesh.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to attending regular day school in Bangladesh, students also go to various "tutors" for additional support. These tutors are actually regular teachers who provide these services. School will begin early morning and sessions with tutors will end late at night. There is still time for socialization in between.
While this system doesn't work for everyone (I have a nephew who can attest to this), it has its benefits. They are more than well-equipped for a future work life. Those in Bangladesh who have the opportunity of attending English-medium schools and having tutors have NO problem getting jobs with great companies in Australia, Canada, America, Europe, South Africa, Thailand, etc., even without any legal papers. Companies are willing to apply for their legal status to have them. Of course, it isn't just the amount of time students spend learning that prepares them for successful employment and work but also the quality of teaching methods provided to them.
Students can be taught Algebra in Bangladesh at an early age because the concepts are explained and taught, not just drilled into their heads to memorize. So what happens is that the students learn to actually APPLY what they learn, go figure... That doesn't happen as nearly as much as it should in the U.S., and where it does, it is more in the North than the South (speaking of the East coast here).
We learn to value so much free time and creativity here that the need for structure and strict teaching is feared/disliked. But creativity has not disappeared in Bangladesh--it is a place filled with arts of all kinds, from music to poetry to paintings. Bangladeshis so often have such talents that they have become commonplace, a given that it would be so.
When you grow up in a certain environment, that becomes what you know and what you are used to, so you can deal with it. It isn't unusual or "bad." So while children attending schools and hagwons may be tired now, I'm sure they're going to get all the rest they need when they're 35 and retired and the rest of us are slaving away at 60 to finally go on that vacation...
It really is shocking how much these poor kids have to deal with at such a young age. Really interesting post, I work at an elementary school and also feel bad about asking them about thier weekends, I never know what to say. I guess we had it pretty good growing up! Great blog!
ReplyDeleteEllie
onedayillflyaway.com