A group of teachers and students from U.S. charter schools that successfully adopted the Korean education met with the education minister here on Tuesday and shared their experiences.
Some 40 faculty members and students from Democracy Prep Public Charter Schools (DPPS) are in Seoul for a two-week trip through Wednesday to have chances to learn the Korean language and culture, just as they did at their schools.
Inspired by the Korean education system after having taught English in the Asian country for one year, Seth Andrew established the DPPS network in Harlem in 2006 and currently operates seven schools in New York.
The schools have been in the spotlight for their outstanding academic performance, with parents having enthusiastically enrolled their children in the charter schools, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg hailing their success, according to local media.
All students, mostly Latinos and African-Americans, are required to learn Korean language as a mandatory class, and they also do club activities related in Korean culture, such as Korean traditional dance and folk songs, or Taekwondo, through which they can learn "the core values of discipline, respect and enthusiasm," according to a school official.
During a meeting on Tuesday, South Korea's education minister Lee Ju-ho and the DPPS members exchanged views on "the secrets behind the successful Korean system and the personality education which Seoul has put an emphasis on in recent days," the education ministry official said.
"I hope South Korea's enthusiasm for education will give hope to low-income families in the U.S.," Andrew was quoted as saying by the education ministry.
"By proving that students -- regardless of what zip code they are born into -- can perform at high academic levels, we seek to transform not only the lives of the students at Democracy Prep but also the expectation of what public schools can achieve," the school said on its Web site. (Yonhap)
한국식 교육 시스템을 도입해 학생들의 학업성취도가 오른 미국 뉴욕 데모크라시 프렙 차터 스쿨(Democracy Prep Public Charter School: DPPS)의 교사와 학생들이 한국을 방문했다.
DPPS의 세스 앤드루 교장, 교사, 학생 대표는 20일 오전 광화문 정부중앙청사를 찾아 이주호 교육과학기술부 장관과 30분간 면담했다. 지난 9일 방한한 DPPS 학생연수단은 21일까지 한국에서 언어ㆍ문화체험을 한다.
DPPS는 뉴욕 할렘가의 저소득층 학생들이 다니는 자율형 공립학교다. 한국식 예절교육과 높은 학업성취도로 최근 미국에서 주목을 받고 있다.
재학생 대부분이 흑인과 히스패닉계인 DPPS에서는 전교생이 필수 외국어 과목으로 한국어를 배운다.
앤드루 교장은 한국식 학교 문화가 있는 학교를 꿈꾸며 2006년 DPPS를 설립했다. 그는 2001년 충남 천안 동성중학교에서 영어교사로 활동하며 선생님에 대한 존경, 예의를 강조한 교육풍토 등 한국의 교육문화에 감명을 받았다고 전한다.
그는 '한국식 교육방식으로 빈곤ㆍ낙후 지역의 학생들에게 대학입학의 꿈을 갖게 하고, 성적향상을 통해 그 꿈을 이루도록 하는 것이 목적'이라고 말했다.(연합뉴스)
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