How Schools are Different Around the World: South Korea, France and Colombia!

#School #Culture #Korea #France #Colombia
How Schools are Different Around the World: South Korea, France and Colombia!
Today we will be looking at some interesting school systems and some of the crazy classrooms from around the world. We will be looking at how school is in South Korea, Colombia and France.
Rough Transcript
I’ll be exploring at how schools look around the world to maybe get some insight on what it is like to be a kid in other countries. We are going to look at schools in South Korea, because lately I have been obsessed with Korean dramas, we will look at French schools and finally we will look at my country, Colombia.
What is really interesting and revealed by this number is Korea’s obsession for education. A phenomenon that is called study fever. Korean students almost don’t have a life. They wake up at 5 am go to classes until 4. Then you come home and do the mandatory yaja (self study) and some go to Hagwons. Kids sometimes study there until late at night. So much that the government had to put a 10pm curfew to allow kids to sleep, but it is not followed everywhere.
They say you need to sleep only 3 hours a night if you want to go to the top university in Korea.
My guess is that being a student in Korea sucks because that's all you are.
And it matters a lot. IF you don’t do well on the College Scholastic Test, if you flunk, your marriage prospects go down, your parents are not proud of you, society turns on you… This comes from a historical tradition in Korea in which the only way to be part of the nobility was to pass a test.
Let’s move to France. Well France has some similarities with Korea but French understand balance and la joie de vivre is reflected in the schools. Similar to Korea, French don’t believe school is supposed to be fun. They have long days and classes are rigorous. However, they have even less school days than in the US with only 144 days of schools. US has 180 and Korea has 220. Traditionally, on Wednesdays kids go to school just in the morning and have the afternoon off. It sounds like a nice break but French kids usually engage in extra curricular activities like swimming or obscure martial arts. They usually have way longer lunch breaks where they get to eat delicious foo. Many kids even go home for lunch. This really contrasts with the US. I used to work in schools here in the US where kids only have like 25 minutes to line up, get the food, eat and clean up. And don’t get me started on the food quality.
French kids also enjoy longer vacations. That combined with the long vacations that adults also get used to cause a problem of overcrowding in the touristy areas. Kind of like what happens in Florida during spring break. SO the French came with a solution. Public schools were divided in different areas that have vacations different times of the year and have a more balanced and constant season.

It all sound great like a perfect balance between rigor and ability to develop yourself beyond school. There is a catch. Le Bac, similar to Koreans, French high school seniors are required to take a rigorous exam in which many consider one of the most difficult exams in the world. Passing it doesn’t guarantee you anything unless you get an amazing score, but failing can put a stigma on you for life. A famous part of the test touches on philosophy and asks high schoolers to answer questions like:
Are men condemned to creating illusions of themselves?
Finally let’s talk about my country Colombia!!! So a big difference is that in Colombia we only have 11 grades. There are kids who graduate very young and because law and medicine are an undergrad you can get lawyers and doctors who are only 21 years old. Fun!!! Nothing like putting your life in the hands of a person who in the US would not even be allowed to drink!!!
I find that in Colombia there was a lot of informality between teachers and students. We called them by their first names, and even just profe. Short version of professors. It was usually a complaint like ayy profe too much work. Unlike the US, students receive calendar telling them what classes to take. There are not electives or flexibility in the schedule. Most kids wear uniform, and the separation between church and state is very blurry in the schools. A lot of kids take religion class
A fun fact is that Colombia has usually 2 calendars. Calendar A schools start in January and end in December. Calendar B schools follows a more American style calendar starting in August and ending in July. Normally Calendar B schools are English medium with names like Vermont gymnasium, Abraham Lincoln school. These are private schools with more prestige, and use those American names to charge more money to parents.
Colombians also take an exam called the ICFES that is painted as the big deal and it is stressful but honestly doesn’t determine your future so much as in France or Korea..

Видео How Schools are Different Around the World: South Korea, France and Colombia! канала Diego Alonso Virgues