writing assignment please see quot writing assignment doc quot for instructions

Instructions

Here the readings for this topic:

These are links you will have to paste into your browser or put into a MS Word file and click on them to make them live.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/education-jan-june11-koreaschools_01-21/

1. Warner, Margaret (21 January 2011) In Hypercompetitive South Korea, Pressures Mount on Young Pupils. PBS Newshour.
2. Hu, Elise (15 April 2015) The All-Work, No-Play Culture of South Korean Education. National Public Radio

http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2015/04/15/393939759/the-all-work-no-play-culture-of-south-korean-education

1. Se-Woong Koo (2 August 2014) An Assault upon our Children: South Korea’s Education System Hurts Students. New York Times: Sunday Review: Opinion

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/02/opinion/sunday/south-koreas-education-system-hurts-students.html?_r=0

Finland is an education superpower because it values equality more than excellence.

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/12/what-americans-keep-ignoring-about-finlands-school-success/250564/

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An interview with Finland’s minister of education, Krista Kiuru

http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/03/finnish-education-chief-we-created-a-school-system-based-on-equality/284427/2014

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Kindergarten in Finland:

http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/10/the-joyful-illiterate-kindergartners-of-finland/408325/

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The Assignment:

For your essay: Please compare and contrast the situations faced by students in South Korea with those faced by students in Finland and, if you wish, with those faced by students in the United States. Please state and justify your conclusions. Which system or which parts of a given system do you appreciate and why?

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Guiding thoughts to help you with your essay:

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1. Please briefly describe and compare the educational programs in South Korea and Finland, and, if you wish, the United States.
2. What is your personal thought on these differences and what you might prefer if you had a magic wand and could change education for your own children (if you live here and if you have children!) in the United States?
3. Knowing what you now know about infant brain development, do you think differently about early schooling for children? Please explain, especially with reference to American public schools that introduce academics in kindergarten.
4. Please be sure you raise the overall motivating issues that have made education in South Korea and in Finland what they are today.
5. Are any of these ideas relevant to the United States? Why? I would appreciate hearing your personal opinions on this material and your justification for the choices you would make with your magic wand.