August 16, 2007

Korea on the curriculum
Teachers, Korean parents learn from each other.
BY JORGE BARRIENTOS IRVINE WORLD NEWS

Why don’t Korean students look teachers in the eyes? Why do Korean students excel in American schools? Why don’t Korean students speak up in class?

These are some questions that parents and teachers answered during a recent three-day seminar as a way for Irvine teachers and South Korean families to better understand each other for the sake of public education.

“We are acting as a bridge between the parents and schools,” said Illan Kim, president of the Irvine Korean Parents Association. “We are trying to bridge that gap a little bit, have parents understand, and have teachers understand the Korean culture. We want teachers to have all the knowledge to reach out to more of our kids.”

The Korea Summer Institute is a collaborative effort among the Irvine Public Schools Foundation, Irvine Korean Parents Association (all parents are South Korean), and Fullerton International Resources for

Students and Teachers at Cal State Fullerton.

In the workshop at Bethel Korean Church that ended Thursday, 20 Irvine teachers learned about Korean history, culture and education – from North and South – with guest speakers and cultural performances.

They learned, for example, that Korean students don’t look into the eyes of their elders out of respect. Also, Korean students rarely speak up in class, because they are used to having teachers lecture only, with no discussion. And why the high grades? Korean schools are more strict and difficult than American schools, and parents and students push just as hard.

Last school year, Korean students made up about 12 percent of all students in Irvine Unified, roughly 3,000, according to the district. Northwood High School has the highest percentage and population of Koreans in Irvine, at 18 percent, or 385. The high number of Koreans attending Irvine schools is not a coincidence, parents said. By word-of-mouth, Koreans learn that the place to go for a good American education is Irvine, they told teachers.

Kathy Wanchek, a Lakeside Middle School humanities teacher, said she has at least five Korean students in each of her classes.

“We ran for the opportunity to join because it will help kids,” she said. “There are things we can take from here to make class better.”

Connie DeCapite, director of Cal State Fullerton’s program, said this program is different from other programs, because the seminar has the entire community involved, opening lines of communication.

“We’re not pushing something, we’re helping teach,” she said. “They’ll never teach the same way again.”
The parents raised about $15,000 for the seminar, and the Fullerton program contributed also. It is the first of its kind for the school foundation’s Program to Advance Cultural Education, or PACE. Officials said they hope more cultures will be represented in future programs.

“We hope this is just the beginning for more dialogue for learning,” DeCapite said.

Lessons learned

In South Korea, students stay together throughout school years; teachers rotate. Boys and girls don’t sit together in Korea. Students wear uniforms in Korea. Koreans come to Irvine schools because of word-of-mouth by parents in South Korea. South Korea uses a memorization system in education, as opposed to a critical thinking approach. Korean students are taught to not talk back to teachers, out of respect. Korean students don’t make eye contact with elders out of respect. First generation Korean students are born in Korea and come to school here. Second generation Korean students were born here, and are Americanized.