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Sunday, April 3, 2011

Myth of Korean super teacher - ParentAdvocates.org

Parent Advocates - ParentAdvocates.org
Myth of Korean super teacher by Paul Karrer
Recently, teachers at my elementary school were subjected to a poke in the eye with ``data” confirming that we were among the lowest 5 percent of performing schools in California. A presenter threw out the latest mantras. ``It’s all about teachers. Teachers matter. In Korea, teachers are held in high esteem.”

Myth of Korean super teacher
By Paul Karrer

Recently, teachers at my elementary school were subjected to a poke in the eye with ``data” confirming that we were among the lowest 5 percent of performing schools in California. A presenter threw out the latest mantras. ``It’s all about teachers. Teachers matter. In Korea, teachers are held in high esteem.”

Whoa, stop right there reformer. Pull out a factoid (It’s all about teachers) with: no inkling of the realities accompanying it. Then ``reform incorporated” pushes to transfer that one little factoid without the rest of the support pyramid beneath the factoid. I lived in Korea, taught in Korea, my wife is Korean and although it is wretched I can speak some Korean.