Elementary School: A Comparative Analysis of the ROK and USA

Story and photos by Doug Stuber

A day in the school life of a six-year-old child is much different in Korea than in the United States.

Age, proximity, socio-economic factors and how students are developed are the biggest differences, and even in Kindergarten one child, James Hyuntay Stuber could feel the developmental differences right away.

“This school is easy,” James said after a week as a Kindergartener in New Hope Elementary School, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. This represented a big change from Mun Heung Chodunghakyo, which is located just east of the northern tip of Chonnam Daehakyo in Buk-Gu. “Miss Turner and Mrs. Park ask me how I feel and how I am doing a lot. It’s a lot of fun,” the avid school-goer remarked. Positive reinforcement of a child’s emotional growth balances rules and regulations at New Hope, a continuation of the educational philosophy that emphasizes emotional autonomy, which started in the 1970s.

He was able to gain a chair in first grade at Mun Heung, though two years younger than the traditional first grader. He was six when he entered, not the normal eight. In the U.S. he was not allowed to be in first grade, as he missed the date cut-off by two months, even though he had completed grade one in Korea. While Korea made an age exception, the North Carolina schools would not.

At Mun Heung, Mr. Ko, one of only two male teachers at the school, runs a tight ship, lining up students by height, one row of boys one row of girls. On top of the normal curriculum of math, science ideas, Hangul, etc., young James gets extra classes in padook and computer, as well as gym class once a week. In the US he gets the normal routine, plus extra classes in music, art, Spanish and two gym classes a week.

Though the public school schedules are very similar, the post-school educational thrust is considerably different.

A typical day in Gwangju would be school from 8:30am to about 1pm, then a visit to practice piano until 2:15p.m., then on to Chinese hagwon from 2:45pm to 5:20pm. After dinner or in place of piano, we also have had one-on-one Chinese tutoring added to the mix. After about an hour or two of homework (the Chinese hagwon has a touch more to do than Mr. Ko sends home from first grade) James gets a precious hour of relaxation, game playing, and television.

In the US, even Kindergarten runs from 7:55am to 2:15pm, so the school day is longer, but after school James takes one day of art class and one day of dance class and one piano lesson per week. This involves less studying, and more music all the way around, as he has a piano to practice on at home.

Even proximity to school plays a large part in the difference in the two education systems. In Korea, James walks to school with his Dad, then Dad proceeds to walk to work. Door to door “Little Bear,” as he is known, has 800 meters to go. Though only three kilometers away, James must be driven to school in the US, as the country roads are not safe, with no sidewalks. In addition, three kilometers is a long haul for a six-year-old. Thus, on each trip we spend between five and 10 minutes waiting in line with other cars at drop-off and pick-up time. This uniquely American latter-day tradition of driving children to school comes partly from parents desire to move the children quickly after school, rowdy school buses that some parents disfavor and children being spoiled, which happens in different ways but equally so in the US and Korea. For parents it is easy to reduce one’s carbon footprint in Gwangju.

Where Korean children appear to have mothers who are willing to do everything for them, including around the house, American Moms may expect more household chores while calling schools to complain about homework required to be finished on weekends. One imagines Korean Moms calling school if there were not any homework. In both cases family matters are the culprit. In Korea, education is the primary family matter for children. In the US, education should not interfere with a family’s travel or leisure plans.

Saturdays are the classic “best day of the week,” but as many know, at the elementary school level, every other Saturday has “classes” which, for class grade one, section two at Mun Heung means movies. In the US it means working around the yard a little then going to practice soccer or golf, a game that takes a long time for youngsters to master.

You just can’t deny the effect of sports on children. Put simply, boys and girls become active in sports and stay that way through high school in the US. Title IX also requires equal availability for female athletes through university as well:

With respect to athletic programs, the Department of Education evaluates the following factors in determining whether equal treatment exists:

1. Whether the selection of sports and levels of competition effectively accommodate the interests and abilities of members of both sexes;
2. The provision of equipment and supplies;
3. Scheduling of games and practice time;
4. Travel and per diem allowance,” etc.

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Title_IX)

Thus, the minor difference of two gym classes versus one expands in sports, as a typical Korean student may take Tae Kwan Do or soccer in a hagwon, but then drop it in favor of more book learning at some point in middle school. Not everyone makes the varsity team in high school in the US, but the heated rivalries of high school football teams often draw 20,000 spectators to games. The camaraderie of sports teaches leadership skills and those who participate in sports get better grades than those who don’t, even though their time is pinched.

Public schools in the US are funded by property taxes, which creates a huge gap in the quality of education in neighborhoods with high property values compared to those with low property values. Though the federal government often kicks in money so impoverished children can have free breakfast and lunch, federal funds are drying up, and 2011 saw states cutting between 5 percent and 25 percent of their teachers.

Luckily, North Carolina is still a growing state with a decent economy, and though the state chopped 15 percent of its teachers, class size for James is the same in Korea and the US: 22. The classrooms are diverse at New Hope, with half the students not being Caucasian, or not speaking English as a first language, hence the Spanish classes. In Korea, English starts at about age 10 or 11, whereas in the US, Spanish starts in Kindergarten. Our county has 25 percent Spanish-as-a-first-language citizens, so little James, multi-cultural himself, is expanding cultural awareness while also attending a school that is 50 percent rural low-income families and 50 percent high income suburbanites.

Korea helps students learn social skills, not on a daily basis, but via events like “Field Day” in which the school’s children are split into two teams and the parents also compete for their child’s team. What fun it is to watch Oma run once around the track or Apa to play tug-of-war at the front of a team of 60 (2 out of 3!). Thus, there is a neighborhood-building aspect to the event, which would be hard to equal at New Hope, due to families living so far apart. No such event exists, however, so maybe the Parent-Teachers Association should consider something like this.

“Hey Big Bear, look what I did at school today,” is heard on both continents, and new friends come along in both places, but in Korea we are really good friends with the entire family of the friends our son has made. Within one year, we were taking family trips with the families of schoolmates. In Gwangju, Little Bear’s nursery school class also has a monthly reunion! Thus the stress of individual success versus the opportunity for communal expansion has been noted by his elders, while James himself “loves my new friends Joe and Sam,” from New Hope, even if his parents may never get a chance to meet them.

A version of this article appeared in the February 2012 Gwangju News print edition.