Schools here vs there...

For those of you who don't know, I taught Science for 1 year. I quickly realized that my 'assertive' personality would clash with administration and I would have eventually been fired. Who, Me? As I've watched Kdramas I've noticed a remarkable difference in how schools (especially middle school and high schools) are organized in the US versus Korea.... for that matter this applies to Japanese schools also since Favorite Daughter was an English teacher there for two years.

Here, each teacher is generally assigned a specific classroom. That permits them to add personal touches to their room that are focused on their subject matter. For example, my classroom could have been festooned with scientific classfication depicting the family/genus/species that humans belong to.... Or perhaps posters of Mendel's famous Pea Experiment that opened the door to genetics. I had a terrarium filled with local arthropods the students brought in; anything to enhance the plain four walls.

In contrast, Korean techers are NOT assigned classrooms. The STUDENTS are assigned a classroom and never leave it. The teachers rotate in and out of the classrooms and bring a folder containing that days lesson with them. There are no posters on the wall, no terrariums in the corner, in short, not much to distract the students. Instead the teacher relies on lectures and the blackboard.

I find it kind of backwards that East Asia does it this way. I feel the opportunity to fill the classroom with interesting displays is a helpful teaching tool.

That being said we won't talk about the actual results and performance of American students versus Korean students. I have noticed that at the end of every class period in Korea, the bell rings, a student leader shouts out 'Bow,' and the entire class bows as the teacher exits the room. You can be absolutely sure that is not happening in US Schools...

Pat here. My daughter, a high school English teacher, has her own classroom but she shares it with other teachers. She’s the “main” teacher there so has decorated it to her liking. The place that she has really put her mark on is the office she shares with several other teachers. We’ve seen these offices in Kdramas, and that’s exactly what they look like: offices with no personality. Not so my daughter's! The desks line the wall, and in the center are a love seat and chairs, a rug, and a few side tables to make it an inviting place for students to come and talk. I love it. When I’ve been there, I settle in and make myself at home. I’m guessing the students do the same. We don’t see this in Kdramas, do we?