DJ CP #10

Last weekend I met up with Kwang for a conversation meeting. He had told me early on that the reason he came to America was to learn about the way our education system works (he is an official for the Korean Department of Education). I decided that we could talk about education is America. He asked me what I thought about the school hours in America. I told him that I thought the hours here were fair and manageable, especially since I learned that koreans go to school for 16 hours a day. I told him that the average student here would probably like less school, but if they heard about Korean hours they would no doubt be happy with the hours they have. He asked what I would change about the way American schools work. I told him I think that we should put more focus on customizing a child's education to be based on what they are interested. Kwang told me that they have specialized schools in Korea that the students go to after their main schooling. I explained that we have special schools in America as well, but they tend to be for high school and higher, and that they tend to be based around arts. I also told him that I think the schedule should be different for different age groups. I told him that I think high schoolers should be able to come to school and hour or two later than middle schoolers, because studies have shown that teenagers need more sleep than kids, and also teens tend to stay up longer. I asked him if he thought the hours should change in Korea, and he told me that he has mixed feelings: on the one hand, the hours may have contributed to why Korea has some of the best students in the world. However, Korean students are also often unhappy about their hours and it can be detrimental to students' health if they don't get enough sleep.