The Land of Morning Calm

 

By Tom Schmidt

 

As our bus wound through the narrow streets of Seoul I felt the anticipation and excitement that most teachers have the night before school begins in September. Only this wasn't September, it was the last week of June and I was in Korea headed for the Daeil Foreign Language High School to meet the teachers and students and to teach a lesson. I had been chosen to travel to Korea to take part in intensive two-week Korean studies workshop designed to educate teachers about "the Land of Morning Calm." It was co-sponsored by the Asian Pacific Foundation in Canada and the Korea Foundation in Seoul.

Ask most Canadians what they know about Korea and they will probably say something about M*A*S*H, or Ben Johnson's fall from grace at the 1988 Olympics. Very few people know of its ancient culture, natural beauty, political turmoil, and 5000-year-old history. Even fewer realize that in the past few decades Korea has experienced an economic miracle, vastly increasing its per capita income and modernizing the country. Education is seen as the key to this process.

Of the many cultural trips throughout the country and in and around Seoul, the visit to Daeil High School was a highlight. The school resembles one of the ubiquitous high-rise apartment blocks built by Hyundai that house many of Seoul's residents. It sits perched on a hillside with a spectacular panoramic view of the city and its surrounding mountains. The school specializes in a variety of languages, but English is it's main thrust.

My lesson was an introduction to the geography of Canada using paper manipulative that students arranged into a map of the country. The forty-two students in my class, all in uniform, worked diligently at their task, and their friendliness and constructive energy impressed me. Like most young Koreans, they relished the opportunity to practice their English. Most of the students knew North American musicians such as the Back Street Boys and Celine Dionne, and many frequented Hollywood movies, which are common in Korea.

An article in the school paper concerned the generation gap and how adults misunderstand the youth of Korea. "As a result, adults often perceive today's youth culture as an anti-cultural protest against the prevailing social order." It all sounded very familiar, and on the surface, high school and university students seem quite westernized. However, I quickly realized that they are very different from Canadian students. There is stiff competition and difficult entrance exams to get into both middle and high school that gives them the best opportunity to get into university.

Later that day I went for a home visit with a fifteen-year-old student. He explained that they write four sets of exams a year based on lectures and rote learning. There are also standardized government tests and the College Scholastic Ability Test, which must be written to get into university. While I was showing my host student our school website, his father lamented the fact that his son had no life outside of school. Most serious high school students arrive at school at 7:30 in the morning and return home at 9:00 at night. They have classes on Saturday morning and attend school 220 days a year. Education in Korea is free up to grade 6 but there is tuition for the better, specialized middle and high schools, which can place financial strain on families.

Korean culture is based on conservative Confucian principles such as respect for authority, order, obedience, patience, and progress through hard work, self-sacrifice, and the social status of having a good education. The Korean educational system requires the full commitment of parents, and highly motivated students who will not question this morality and national ethic.

The youth of Korea face an uncertain future economically, socially and politically. Their country is becoming a world industrial power and the old ways are changing. I took a photo of an ancient gate outside the National Museum of Korea. Next to this architectural treasure loomed a giant video screen. Our trip to Ich'on further illustrated this contrast. We toured the ultra-modern Hyundai silicon chip factory which employs over 25 000 people. Here we saw all manner of electronic wizardry all stemming from a silicon chip made from silica deposits in the area. Later that day we visited a traditional celedon pottery factory with its two hundred-year-old kilns. This unique and ancient art form with its green cracked glaze is also made from silica deposits in the area.

Korea is an amalgam of the ancient and the modern, and a country that has been dominated by its larger Asian neighbors throughout its history. It now stands ready to assume control of its own destiny on an equal economic footing with those neighbors. The challenge to Korea's youth will be to strike a balance between old and new, bringing the best of Korean culture into the twenty-first century.