By Mark Peterson
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In recent weeks, I have documented the birth of sijo in English in America. And I've contrasted the rise of sijo in English with the death of sijo in Korean. Today, I am proposing a way to revive sijo in Korean.
I think the reason sijo is taught as a dead art form in Korea is because of the college entrance exam, the all-important exam students take their senior year in high school. Because the exam can only test for knowledge of old poems, and cannot include a poem the student might write, the only thing taught is the old poems, the classics.
The common criticism of education is "teach to the exam" lets exams control what is taught. Can the student write a sijo? No! It's a waste of time ― one must study for the exam. And thus, the creativity of writing one's own poem is forsaken in order to teach what someone else did, creatively, 500 years ago.
Don't misunderstand me. I think the Korean education system is one of the best in the world. All the evaluations say so ― it's ranked No.1, or No.2, or in the top five ― depending on which survey you are looking at. And it's true from my own experience. I've taught Korean yuhaksaeng (overseas students) in my classes in America every year, and they are always among the top students in the class.
But the one criticism that the Korean public makes of the education system is that it does not foster creativity. And the most damning evidence cited is often that a Korean scholar has yet to win a Nobel Prize. Kim Dae-jung got the Peace Prize, but the scholarly prizes in economics, physics, medicine, literature, etc., have eluded the Koreans.
Maybe, it is said, Korea needs to foster creativity more in the education system, and not rely on a "cookie-cutter" result ― that is, where everyone takes the same test and everyone is supposed to come out the same. And system, it is said, stifles creativity and individual expression.
The solution:
Hold a sijo contest ― as is done in America ― to reward creative students. I think the contest can be held at each high school, and the judges can evaluate the students' poems without names attached so it will be objective ― as objective as the college entrance exam itself. And points can be given for the top 10 sijo writers, which will count toward the college entrance exam.
This would, in effect, put the students' sijo on the exam! In the current system, the only sijo that can appear on the exam are the famous ones, the masterpieces. And the student can only study those masterworks. There is no incentive to write a new one because there is no way to test for it. But if students can be rewarded for their own creative work, it is virtually the same as putting their own sijo on the exam ― and they get points for it.
Korea overemphasizes the exam process and the objective measure of testing because of the great emphasis Korea places on education and because of corrupt practices in the past, where wealthy or influential people could get their students admitted to universities regardless of ability. So, over the years Korea has created a bribe-proof, influence-proof, corruption-proof system. But to allow points for creative learning that are determined in an objective way will not in any way diminish the objectivity and the standards of the college entrance exam.
And if it works for a sijo contest, then Korea could reward creative efforts with other poems, and with similar contests for other poems. And points could be given toward the college entrance exam for winning the high school science fair. And one of the most creative of activities that has connections to multiple fields is music; the winner of a high school piano competition, or violin competition should have points applicable to college admissions.
The anonymity of the student and the absolute objectivity of the competition can easily be maintained by having "double-blind" competitions ― the judges do not know the names of the students, and the students do not know the names of the judges. Judges can easily be recruited from other schools, asked to serve as ad hoc committees that would vary in composition from year to year.
This proposal will open the door to a whole new approach to learning in Korea. A more creative learning experience, and a step away from the cookie-cutter rote memorization system that stifles, rather than encourages, creativity.
And it can all start with using sijo as the test case.
Mark Peterson (markpeterson@byu.edu) is professor emeritus of Korean, Asian and Near Eastern languages at Brigham Young University in Utah.
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