Modern School: Ed Reformers Want More Studying, Like Koreans, Who Want Less Studying, Like Americans

Modern School: Ed Reformers Want More Studying, Like Koreans, Who Want Less Studying, Like Americans:

Ed Reformers Want More Studying, Like Koreans, Who Want Less Studying, Like Americans

by Michael Dunn

(I caught this one in News of the Weird, which picked it up from Time Magazine, 9/25/11)

U.S. Ed Deformers love to hold up South Korea as the epitome of a successful education system (along with Finland). One of the hallmarks of the South Korean system is obsessive hard work, long hours and "educational masochism." While the U.S. Ed Deformers see this as positive, the South Korean government has recently begun enforcing a 10 p.m. curfew on education coaching-schools (called hagwons) and started sending out teams to conduct nightly raids on hagwons that run past the curfew.

American Hagwon? (Image from Flickr, by Dean+Barb)

According to the Time article, the Korean government is so concerned about student’s