Does this sound familiar?

Anyone who has read a few "expat teacher in Korea" blogs has read about the conditions in which Korean students learn and study in school. Their entire daily lives are taken up with studying, studying and more studying.... of theory, dictated by teachers (*if* the teacher is there) straight out of textbooks, so that they can later regurgitate this information in a multiple choice exam.

When ex-pat ESL teachers arrive here, they are often frustrated by the lack of participation, overt copying and low motivation of students in class. The students, especially teenagers, have been conditioned and trained to study for the tests, to value what is on exams as "important", while creativity, critical thinking and personal discovery is dropped. Imagine a science course with no experiments.... and you get the idea.

When I was at the high school in Suncheon, I was often surprised to learn that one kid might have 100% in English (without being able to say 2 words to me), while a talkative kid who could have a conversation with me had only 45%.

The ultimate goal is, of course, the SATs for University. But, the pressure starts much earlier. Study hard in 6th grade so that you can get into a better middle school, where you can study harder to get into a good high school, then find yourself constantly studying for exams, practice exams, and a few different national standardized tests.

This article asks us to..

Consider a school that constantly emphasizes the importance of performance! results! achievement! success! A student who has absorbed that message may find it difficult to get swept away with the process of creating a poem or trying to build a working telescope. He may be so concerned about the results that he’s not all that engaged in the activity that produces those results.

Hmm... I think I know exactly what you are talking about. Fortunately, my elementary students haven't succumbed to this yet... they are still happy and curious, in my classes anyway.