Saturday 29th June
Today was the official start to the programme, hosted by Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for Understanding (APCEIU), Ministry of Education (MOE) and United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Education (UNESCO). Along with the other UK participants from Newcastle, we were given an agenda which included:
Today was the official start to the programme, hosted by Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for Understanding (APCEIU), Ministry of Education (MOE) and United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Education (UNESCO). Along with the other UK participants from Newcastle, we were given an agenda which included:
- Greetings from the Ministry of Education (MOE) officials
- Introductions to UNESCO and APCEUI
- Lectures from Professor Peck CHO
- An introduction to Korean education from Seung-Mi, LEE – a researcher for the Korean Institute of Curriculum and Evaluation (KICE)
The lectures educated us on the different aspects of the
Korean education and culture. Seung-Mi LEE gave a well-informed break down of
the Korean education and the educational reforms that have taken place over the
years. She provided a clear outline of the current educational system and the
options and choices available to the Korean students.
Professor Peck CHO was an inspiring character who has a
clear passion for improving the quality of teaching. It is evident that Korea
has outstanding results from their students and it is a wonder why the
government feels a need to improve on this. However, Professor Peck CHO’s
lecture on ‘What (and what not) to Benchmark from Korean Education for
Diversity’ revealed that the Koreans believe that their students have become stagnant in
their learning.
Actually, Professor Peck Cho and the government believe that the traditional style of lecturing students and
feeding them information non-stop is restrictive and stifling. They believe in opening the mind and have a vision of education where students
can be more innovative and have the capability of generating new ideas. Therefore, they are now looking to their UK and USA
counterparts to learn about different teaching styles, in hope that within
their own schools, they can encourage creativity and more independent thinking.
This we felt was quite refreshing to hear. Korea clearly has
an educational system to be proud of, but for the Koreans to admit that there
is fault in their practice was extremely humble, as well as showing ambition and
determination.
His second lecture, ‘A Gift from Great King Sejong’ was more
of a lesson on how to read and write in Hangul. We were given a crash course on
the Korean alphabet and taught how to write our names in Korean. Professor Peck
CHO claimed that anyone can learn in
several days and if you take two weeks (or more), then you are deemed “stupid”.
I think perhaps us, UK participants fall into the latter category!
After lectures we were taken to Chong Dong Theatre which is a
popular tourist attraction. It includes a traditional arts performance with the
Korean version of Romeo and Juliet.
The main highlight, might I add, was my cameo in the performance! Half way through, two performers picked two unsuspecting audience members to come up on the stage and to take part. And…I guess the highlight (of the highlight) would be me, panicking and throwing the stick and the spinning disk right at the performer!
A fantastic start to what will be an amazing experience of the culture and education of Korea.
Post written by Katey Man
A fantastic start to what will be an amazing experience of the culture and education of Korea.
Post written by Katey Man
