UDP’s Director of Evaluation and Studies: "Chile should emulate Korean teacher training"

By David Azócar

Dr. Maria Jose Ramirez, who received her PhD at Boston University, believes that a highly competitive teacher selection process is of fundamental importance in any successful education system. The value a society places on education is another fundamental factor. She believes Korea has both and, as such, feels Chile should adopt the hiring policies and perspective towards education found in the Korean model.

In 1953, Korea was a nation devastated by war, which divided it in two halves. The north was under the influence of the Soviet Union and the south supported by the United Nations. No one was talking about education.

On the other side of the globe, Chilean President Carlos Ibáñez inaugurated a Board of Education. President Bachelet, 54 years later, now wants to reopen this office. The new superintendent’s office will be responsible for amending the controversial LOCE (Quality in Education) legislation.

Through the years, South Korea has become one of the world’s leaders in education. It has a model worthy of emulation by the world and, in this case, Chile. Let's learn why.

What aspects of Korean education should interest Chile?

Since 1995, South Korea has led the world on international tests. Whether on the Timms or PISA , which focuses on mathematics and science, they have ranked among the five best in the world. This would seem to a factor indicating the quality of their system.

Another issue worth looking at in Korea is the issue of parity. Performance levels at Korean schools are consistently high throughout the entire system. Thus, it does not matter which school a child attends because the end result will be the same.

What factors lie behind Korea's great results?

I particularly emphasize the role of educators. The teaching profession is highly respected and well-paid in Korea. It's like being an economist in Chile.

Furthermore, gaining acceptance into a teaching program is very difficult. The education faculties are highly competitive in Korea. This strongly contrasts with the situation in Chile. Many students end up in teaching faculties because their scores were not high enough for other faculties. It is an unfortunate situation, but one which we should acknowledge.

Within a given Korean pedagogical program, there is a very strong emphasis on the discipline to be taught. If you're going to teach mathematics, you study that area in depth. Korean teachers are specialists in their subject matter. They don’t just take a couple courses on the subject. The idea being that a teacher, who masters a given discipline, will better organize and present their classes.

If we delve deeper into the subject of teaching in Korea, we will begin to see that the field is based on pure competitiveness. Selection criteria are vital. With so many applicants, faculties can afford to refuse people.

Their rationale seems to say, “If this teacher is paid by the State and taxpayer, then they must prove their worth to said State.” Certification occurs immediately after graduation. Teachers are tested before being allowed to complete their thesis.

Once they begin working, they are subject to a teacher evaluation system. This allows for the removal of more people from the profession.

What is wrong with the Chilean educational system?

What students are expected to learn (as per the State-set curriculum), does not necessarily produce skills in courses such as mathematics, science or language. When we analyze our school system, we have a huge percentage of teachers who have not mastered their own discipline.

In Chile, teacher education faculties, especially where elementary school teachers are concerned, are not graduating specialists. It's pathetic, but a teacher that teaches eighth-grade classes must teach algebra. They know as much about algebra as they do about physical education. They become a jack-of-all-trades, though master of none. We need to address this issue as soon as possible.

Another factor is the Chilean PSU college entrance exam. This test is not filtering anything, because virtually everyone passes it. Then, (we compound the problem with the fact that) practically no one fails to graduate. When finished with their studies, there is no examination of graduates before they enter the workforce.

Korea uses ICT in the learning process. What is the value of ICT in education?

You can make great use of ICT. Korean TV channels offer free educational programs that are supported with materials and study guides that children use at home.

The advantage is that once you design a good program, you then only need increase public access to it. But these technologies do not work in and of themselves. They require a lot of involvement, either from a teacher or the mother of the child, who is there and to pressure them to study.

Technology is important and can make a subject more attractive. But we should remember, all that glitters is not gold. We must be careful to ensure that gains in the visual attractiveness of curriculum presentation are not made at the expense of content quality.

What should we not replicate from the Korean model?

Korean children live dramatically different lives, in which many study all day long. This is not what we want occurring in Chile. In Korea, elementary school children arrive home at midnight, due to the tutoring they have after classes. We are also talking about young people who are very stressed because they are subjected to a continuous stress to perform up to par. Another factor in the Korean model that we should review carefully is that fact that its students, contrary to what one might think, don’t shine much in the classroom. On average, Korean students are quite passive and do not participate much. They may get through very well, but they do not necessarily stand out.

Many factors make the Korean education model worthy of being seen as an example. But the only constant in countries that do well in education is that said nations have good teachers.