Conflicting standards in university education

The English-language media reported a measure taken to eliminate class-cutting by college students: ID cards and electronic systems to check attendance. These systems are already in place at many of the nation’s top universities, but one wonders how effective it will be. After all, there is little incentive for students to attend class, study or participate. Local universities are far less rigorous than Korean high schools; it’s the first time students experience freedom and independence, and tradition dictates that grades are negotiable and everyone should pass.

“A good thing to remember when thinking about Korean university education is to realize that it has little to do with education as we understand it,” writes Douglas. “Grading according to the standards that we were held to during our university education is simply unrealistic. Doing so will only cause you grief, cause the students and the administrators grief as they either try to convince you to grade to Korean standards or go behind your back and do it for you.”

“I have worked in two universities in Korea,” writes bit, offering his experience. “The system here, I’m afraid to say, is usually appalling. I’ve been rammed down too many times by my superiors asking me to assign grades to students I’ve never seen or heard of and told to follow rules that I then find out that I’m not supposed to follow because this would result in student dropouts and lost money for the school.”

“This is my general impression of Korean university students,” writes Stevie Bee, a professor of a subject other than English. “They are a mixed bag. Some are hard-working and studious and are capable of self-motivating, and even take pains to motivate their friends. They always sit up front in class, listen attentively, occasionally ask questions and always do their homework.”

He continues, “A definite disadvantage of Korean universities is the fact that they seem to be caught in a buyers’ market, whereby keeping the students happy (and therefore paying their tuition) is more important than academic rigour and fair grading. Many universities also use relative grading systems that make a mockery of the hard work put in by more assiduous students. I’ve had to pass students whom I know have not learnt a single solitary thing in my class, just because I can only fail a small percentage.”

AK wonders about the proper way to evaluate standards in Korean universities. “Perhaps one of the problems is that you and others are judging Korean universities by Western standards. And I don’t think that is necessarily the right standard.”

Peter writes on the need for education of English teachers themselves: “I don’t think that Korean attitudes toward university education are the real issue here; every culture is entitled to its own approach to education, and NSETs [native-speaking English teachers] are hired not to change that approach, but to follow it. But THAT’S the real issue: NSETs are never actually briefed on the Korean approach to education. They’re left to figure it out for themselves.”

*These comments were collected by Brian Deutsch from recent blog posts. To read more, visit his blog Brian in Jeollanam-do at: http://briandeutsch.blogspot.com.

*Readers are welcome to send suggestions for topics that they wish to be covered or blogs that they would like to see featured in this column. Please e-mail us at: estyle@joongang.co.kr.

By Brian Deutsch Contributing writer