Students discuss ‘free class’ plan
The Park Geun-hye administration plans to adopt a “free semester system” where students are encouraged to explore their talents and potential rather than focusing only on test scores. By Oh Jong-taek
However, they also study the longest hours.
The Park Geun-hye administration seeks to put a pause on the ingrained obsession with rote learning by introducing the so-called “free semester,” an activity-focused session designed to encourage middle-school students to engage in a wide variety of activities.
The government plans to adopt the new school program starting from 2016, but it has already garnered a lot of interest from many - especially parents who have their children attending middle school.
Prior to the implementation, the JoongAng Ilbo and the Korea Education Development Institute held a seminar earlier this month to discuss how the initiative should be carried out with 31 middle school students invited.
The students come from 10 middle schools that serve as model schools this year for the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education’s new program, where students in the first grade of middle school explore their talents through diverse training, discussions and outdoor pursuits for a semester.
The education office’s pilot program is not exactly the same as Park’s policy, but the core concept is similar.
The students widely agreed to the idea of freeing students from the pressure of exams and allowing them to pursue their interests and develop ideas for their career.
“I am too exhausted by the intensive competition to score well on tests. But the free semester sounds like an additional opportunity and an ease in the competition,” said one student in attendance.
The students hope that the free semester program will have a long-term impact on how teachers teach major subjects like English and mathematics.
“I think we can apply methods such as discussion when learning general subjects like English, science and mathematics. That would keep students interested and engaged in the class,” said a middle school senior.
“But I wonder if teachers will change their way of teaching,” she said, referring to a teaching method that emphasizes rote-memorization to get a high score on multiple choice questions.
Echoing her wish, 34.5 percent of the students thought that the session should bring about a change in teaching other subjects by embracing discussion and more engagement of students.
Another 34.5 percent of the attendees hope that the new program will trigger more extracurricular activities.
As for the prime focus of the program, 60 percent of students believe that its aim should be to promote personal, social and vocational development through hands-on, activity-oriented programs.
Regarding the timing of the semester, 38.5 percent of the seminar participants consider the first semester of the second year as appropriate for the course, followed by 23.1 percent supporting the first semester at the first grade.
Others who believe the second semester of the first year is the best stand at 19.2 percent.
While they stand alongside the stated goal of the new education policy, many of them were skeptical about the effectiveness of it, following the previous on-and-off attempts to embrace a freer, Western-style education system.
“The school regularly holds a special lecture to help students think about their future career. But the lecturers are mostly high-income earners like doctors and lawyers,” said a junior year student.
“Not all students are interested in those jobs. Sometimes, the lecture is aired on TV or an audio speaker which is hard to concentrate on,” a boy student said, who is in the third year of middle school.
“So most of the students don’t pay much attention, just hanging around with their friends,” he added.
Others are worried if the non-testing period will only superficially offer the so-called “experience programs.”
“Last year, we had a program called the ‘career experience program.’ There were only four courses to experience, which lacks diversity,” a junior-year-female student said.
“And I don’t think the courses gave a genuine sense about a certain occupation,” she said.
Some students are wary of the way that the government carries out such projects, pointing out a lack of consistency.
“We jokingly call ourselves Maruta. Because even if one policy is put in place, chances are that it is dropped off next year,” said a student participating in the discussion.
Other skepticism stems from concerns that the period would exert a negative impact on preparation of the critical college entrance exam later on.
“I am concerned that my scores on other subjects like math and English will drop while focusing on other activities during the free semester,” wrote a second-year student in a survey sheet, adding that “Teachers don’t usually let us know how to turn our dream into reality, but list the jobs that can earn a lot of money and just stress that we must go to good high schools and universities.”
Many sports are suggested, ranging from rock-climbing to hill-walking and kayaking to orienteering. Voluntary work is a requirement in many schools, with students helping out in local communities and charities.
The government officials are known to review different policies already embraced by other countries.
The most representative is Ireland’s “Transition Year” system. The transition year focuses on a wide range of non-academic subjects, such as life skills including first aid, cooking and typing.
“Ireland’s Transition Year system is rather innovative and can be a little drastic for the Korean education environment. We need to establish the details again after examining the test cases of the middle schools,” said Kim Na-ra, a researcher at the Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education & Training.
By Chun In-sung, Park Eun-jee [ejpark@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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