| "Education is the same whether you are in the U.S. or in Korea. The first step toward a good education is to enlighten the students with the reason why they must study. You know what they say: ‘You may bring the horse to the water, but you can’t make it drink,’" says Principal Oh Su-ji of LA Third Street Elementary School who has devoted her entire life to education. Paying a visit to Korea to receive Nunnopi Education Award from the Daekyo Culture Foundation, she starts with her talks on "the essence of education."
-Dedicating 31 years to Education-
Oh stresses the point that if Korean families move to the U.S. for the sole purpose of children’s education without enlightenment, they are bound to fail. "Many are obsessed with good school grades of their children, but eventual success stories are few and far between. Under parental pressure, the children may study hard and enter Harvard and other top universities but they fail to finish because they have yet to develop the power to study on their own. That is to say they did not realize why they must study on their own."
Born to a father eager for a good education of his children who hired a wife of an American military officer as a tutor, Oh flew to the United States to study in 1968 and earned a degree in education from the University of South California.
Devoting her entire life to education for 31 years from 1974, she was an elementary school teacher in Los Angeles, vice principal, a school commissioner and inspector, and principal. She is well known educator in education circle in the U.S. Her excellence in school administration earned her the "2002 Principal of the Year" award conferred to best educators in primary and secondary schools in California.
"There is a significance difference between Korean and American education. In the U.S. the room of opportunity for students to participate in education is much bigger than in Korea because students there are the main focus," Principal Oh says. "This encourages an education to expand creativity and empower students to think for themselves. If you want your children to be more creative and think bigger, ask many open-end questions for the children to answer in a variety of ways," Oh advises.
"In Korea, a tremendous amount of money and time is spent on English education for children. But a blind belief in the competence of native speakers is ill-advised." She did not forget to mention Korea’s English education frenzy.
Just because one speaks good English does not mean he or she is a good teacher. When hiring native speakers, teaching competence must be reviewed in advance, if one wants good educational benefits out of the classroom, she added.
Principal Oh points out that the most urgent issue with emigrant Korean American families is the second-generation’s education. It is because appropriate understanding of their roots lead to higher self-esteem and pride. "Young Koreans in America who do not understand Korean heritage, culture, language, and history tend more to be confused about their identity, have conflicts more often with their parents, and find it more difficulty to adapt to American society than those who do," she explains.
That is why she has been counseling second-generation Koran Americans.
"In their day to day lives, there exists a thick wall between first and second generations of Korean immigrants in terms of language barrier, cultural differences, and the way of thinking.
-Helping immigrant families to find their identity-
"Education on their ancestral roots and national philosophy alone do not provide them with answers. It is very important to let them know that learning Korean history, economy, and culture is in their own benefit in their real lives," Oh emphasizes. This conviction gives them mental assurance and stronger pride in their identity as a go-between between Korean culture and American culture, she points out the significance of a practical approach.
To back this up, policies must be devised to utilize the overseas future human resources who have advanced global touch. "Prosperous global Korean companies are a great encouragement for these students," she says.
By Kim Yoon-suk; Photo Kwon Ho-wook, Reporter, yskim@kyunghyang.com
ⓒ Kyunghyang Shinmun & Media Khan, All rights reserved
[2005. 12. 09] Kyunghyang Shinmun
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