Education synthesis essay
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Finland vs. South Korea- top two scorers in international tests, yet two completely different approaches to education
The Bell rings. Students busily move around and eventually settle in their seats. Teachers constantly come and go, injecting knowledge into the students’ brains. This is how I spent my middle school years in Korea – a country both lauded and criticized for its strict educational regime. The best way to achieve educational success has been a topic of hot debate, especially after President Obama’s recent decision that “American schools should look more like schools in South Korea.” According to Alan Singer, a social studies educator at Hofstra University, “[Obama] wants longer school days and a longer school year to ensure extra time to prepare children for standardized tests.”1 However, Obama’s praise for Korea’s rigorous academic education faced strong opposition from some of the nation’s educators; many of them questioning whether intensive and harsh academic courses are the best ways to achieve educational success. It is true that Korea’s relative success in international standardized testing seems to support the efficacy of rigorous academic regime. Nevertheless, when we take Finland’s educational success and Korean students’ – those who actually receive the kind of education that the president Obama regards “ideal” – satisfaction towards their own education into account, such educational value does not seem to be the “most ideal” education model for the United States to follow.
Finland is definitely a nation which has achieved laudable academic success; its apparent superiority shown in various standardized tests, which include the PISA (Program for International Student Assessment), the OECD’s exam for 15 year-olds. This has garnered world-wide attention, for Finland's pupils scored the highest average results in science and reading in the whole of the developed world in PISA.”2 Nonetheless, the spotlight that Finland receives does not come solely from its gaining high scores in the PISA test. What is more interesting is the educational system that Finland pursues, which is far different from the “long school hours, long school days” education that President Obama has exalted. 
Unlike many other countries that emphasize the quantity of hard work to receive higher standardized scores, Finland’s success is built on the idea that less can be more – with a lighter workload and a more relaxed learning environment.2 The Success of Finland’s education, written by Fukuda Sage, states that Finnish students study about seven hours a week outside of their regular school studying hours. Considering that Korean students devote at least 20 hours, the amount of studying for Finnish students is apparently a lot less than that of other academically successful countries.3 Yet, the results that this country has produced with such seemingly loose academic schedule clearly exemplify the point that a rigorous academic regime is not a shortcut to a successful education.
Some may argue that other countries’ academic success, such as that of South Korea, Japan, and China, proves the potential effect of an intensive education system with long schools hours and days. In fact, Korea ranked second in PISA, right after Finland. Nonetheless, we must not focus solely on the superficial results. Although the students in these countries achieve some of the highest scores in international standardized testings, the students themselves are not satisfied with, or are even severely critical of, the education that they receive.
Mitch Albom, a famous columnist, mentions in his article about Korean education that “What you don't hear is cheerleading squads. What you don't hear is spring break trips to Cancún. What you don't hear is classes to boost self-esteem, to celebrate an ethnic group, to explore the arts.”4 Students don’t enjoy their schools. Rather, they consider schools as a “duty” that they have to serve, or some kind of a “burden” that is imposed upon them. Numerous user created video clips that mock the Korean education system are made by Korean students themselves, and these attest the claim that “harsh and tightly-packed education” cannot achieve true success. How can education be a success, when the actual recipients consider it as a “failure”?
As the aforementioned examples show, rigorous education regime itself cannot serve its role as a key to educational success. What is more important than holding students inside the classroom for longer hours is enabling students to find their own talents. A student may not be overachieving exceptionally in academics. Nevertheless, this student may be especially talented in music, art, or even observing nature. According to Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligence, there are eight basic types of intelligence, which include spacial, linguistic, logical-mathematical, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic intelligence.5 A child who excels in one of these areas does not necessarily excel in other areas: each child has his own strengths and weaknesses. Making a child who has extraordinary talent in art sit inside the classroom solving math problems certainly isn’t the most ideal education. Thus, the real key to achieve true education success is to provide students with loose studying regime with more free time, while also helping them find their own hidden talents.
Almost every president of every nation makes a promise for better education, which clearly indicates how much influence the word “education” imposes upon us. Ironically, the meaning of the phrase “good education” still remains vague despite its universal use. Some nations’ leaders believe that the quantity of studying mainly determines the quality of education. Nonetheless, Finland’s success in education, and Korea’s criticism on its own education, seems to imply something different than what these leaders claim. Maybe, making those who receive the education happy, and letting the students find out their own paths are more meaningful than increasing the absolute amount of time students devote in studying.
1. Dongkyung’s blog: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-singer/obama-korea-and american _b_365885.html
2. My (Seewan) blog!/ seewanaplang.blogspot.com
3. http://aimarjb.wo.tc/110095278656
4. Dongkyung’s blog : Mitch Albom/ http://www.freep.com/article/20100912/COL01/9120480/Korea-s-kids-just-like-ours-100-years-ago
5. Dongkyung’s blog: Multiple intelligence/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_multiple_intelligences
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