INTERNATIONAL THINKING

Eastern inspirations

South Korea has built a fearsome reputation for its academic

prowess, making it a fantastic place to construct links with. Dorothy Lepkowska reports from Sefton, where they have been inspired in their use of ICT by their Korean colleagues

solidly outperforming their peers from the West. Unlike countries in Europe, relatively little is known

about Asian education systems. So teachers in Sefton went to find out more. The

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authority has links with Korea on two levels – through the British Council’s Asian Dialogues programme and the Teachers’ International Professional Development Programme (TIPD), which seeks to highlight comparisons between the education systems of different countries with a view to sharing good practice. Nearly two years ago, a group of primary and

secondary staff from the Merseyside local authority took part in a TIPD visit. Korea was chosen for the trip precisely because of schools’ existing involvement with Asian Dialogues, although the TIPD visit did not form part of this. “Our focus was on teaching and learning and

classroom management in the Korean system. We were hoping to establish similarities and differences between the two cultures,” said Margaret Ellams, consultant for international dimension at Sefton Children’s Services. “This in turn would enable teachers to evaluate

their own practice and assimilate any new ideas gained during the visit. All of the Sefton teachers felt they had benefited from the experience which had allowed them to take a step back from their own teaching style and observe a system which is totally reliant on ICT resources and whole-class teaching.” The aim of the trip was to observe practice in

teaching and learning in a range of schools in a bid to enhance teachers’ professional development and to gain an understanding of the education system. As a spin-off, it was hoped that the visit would

help to promote links between the two cultures and partnerships between individual schools, with the possibility of joint curriculum projects. What the teachers found was an education system very different from that in the UK.

Hitting the right notes: The teachers from Sefton witnessed excellent use of ICT by their Korean colleagues, including in music lessons

First, teaching and learning in Korea allows little

scope for flexibility. Teachers in this country may complain of an over-prescriptive curriculum but at least they have some scope for individual input and are expected to take the needs of individual children into account. In Korea there is complete uniformity over what is

taught, with schools delivering the same lessons using ICT programmes which have been developed centrally, by the government. However, at primary level in particular, Sefton

teachers noted that classrooms were stimulating environments with displays of pupils’ work – just as they are in the UK. As a result of the lack of uniformity in this country,

they concluded that teachers in the UK have a bigger workload than their Korean counterparts. The use of ICT in Korea was also, perhaps

unsurprisingly, more advanced, even through the schools in the UK stand out as being more technically sophisticated than in other parts of Europe. Schools are also resourced sufficiently for the technology to be effective, up-to-date and well maintained. Methods of teaching also differed. Pupils in Korea

were more independent in the way they learned, and less reliant on teacher direction. In the UK, pupils at both primary and secondary level have a greater reliance on the class teacher to guide and control the content of the lesson. Lessons were also conducted at a faster pace which

had the effect of keeping pupils on task and offered less potential for disruption. Co-teaching – where there are two teachers in

the class, one of whom is typically a special needs specialist – is well advanced in Korea and is proving to be effective, in contrast to the UK where the practice is less well known, mainly because of funding limitations. Here, classroom assistants tend to fulfil a support role for students with special needs so they can remain in a mainstream setting. Another difference between the two countries was

in behaviour management. Korean teachers tended to dictate their own classroom management methods and sanctions, while here this tends to be decided through a whole-school policy. However, the Sefton teachers noted that the levels

benefited from the experience which had allowed them to take a step back from their own teaching style and observe a system which is totally reliant on ICT resources and whole-class teaching

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SecEd • May 20 2010

of pupil motivation and engagement in lessons tended to be higher in Korea, resulting in less need for whole- school policies. Ms Ellams said: “The best part of the visit was the

dialogue which took place between Korean and Sefton teachers as they sought to understand each other’s rationale on teaching and learning. “Both formal and informal meetings were arranged

in order that this could take place with both groups very keen to exchange philosophies and ideas on their role as teachers.” She said primary teachers in particular envied

the specialist rooms in Korean elementary schools for the teaching of science, music, art, and design technology, which they believed led to higher standards of teaching. “One of the major differences in the two systems

was the limited use of assessment for learning which our school teachers use every day in their lesson planning,” Ms Ellams said. “Inevitably with total reliance on an ICT programme

there was little opportunity for this to be matched to individual pupil progress. However, the extensive use of ICT ensured that all of the lessons had pace and ensured excellent pupil concentration.” The Sefton teachers felt they had gained much from

observing the Korean system and its use of ICT and concluded they wanted to see more software available in the UK that would reduce teachers’ planning time and workload, and more technicians employed in

Dialogues programme. The school also had links with Taiwan under the same scheme. He said: “My impression of visiting Asian countries

is that while the curriculum might be more prescriptive, there is greater trust in the teachers that they will deliver. The profession does seem to have a higher status in countries such as Korea. “There is also a deep understanding of the importance

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of turning out high calibre scientists and technicians, if the country is to maintain its place in the world.” On returning to their schools following the TIPD

trip, Sefton teachers did a special assembly for their pupils and staff alongside further work with their own classes. Soon after the visit Sefton held its first ever International Children’s Day and Korea featured in all of the schools that had sent teachers on the TIPD visit. Since then at least three of the schools have set up

email links with a partner school in Korea and all of the teachers have incorporated ideas gained on the visit into their classrooms. Mr Donnelly added: “Teachers from Sefton returned

to their schools with fresh ideas and renewed energy for the job and their chosen profession.”

• Dorothy Lepkowska is a freelance education journalist.

Further information

For more information on TIPD, go to www. britishcouncil.org/learning-tipd

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schools to ensure the technology worked properly and was fit for purpose. “The Korean use of ICT ensured that all pupils were

focused on their learning as they were bright, lively and sometimes noisy programmes being delivered on large screens within the classroom,” Ms Ellams added. “An interesting use of this ICT facility was the

headteacher or principal’s morning assembly which could be delivered from a recording studio in the school and transmitted to all the pupils and staff in their classrooms.” Jim Donnelly, head of Litherland High School in Liverpool, has travelled to Seoul as part of the Asian

All of the Sefton teachers felt they had

CADEMICALLY, IT is one of the most successful countries in the world. International studies, such as the prestigious Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) consistently show Korean students Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16