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Choosing a Path

March 28, 2019

My daughter may have an option that most other children do not have in South Korea. That would be the path she takes toward an education and a career. But what we, her parents, want for her is the same as any other parent: a good education and an abundance of opportunities in life. However, our definition of education may differ somewhat.

My daughter, Blue, named after my mother whose middle name was Blue, is Korean born to a Korean mother and an American father. She has parents, not of the same ilk as what may be seen as the average or typical Korean parents. The common outlook from parents on education here in South Korea is to study a shockingly large amount compared to most other nations, memorize a great deal of content in preparation for standardized tests, get the highest possible scores so that you may get into the best middle school, high school, and eventually university, that arguably being Seoul National University or an international ivy league university. From there, continue to study hard for the best grades in order to get into the best company, usually one of the top three corporations that dominate the peninsula.

There are a host of problems that come along with such an education that include enormous amounts of pressure on children, depression, and lack of sleep. This has led to the highest suicide rate in the world and where suicide is now the leading cause of death for Koreans ages 9-24 according to a report by Statistics Korea. The system only focuses on memory-based education for maintaining global competitiveness which in turn leads to a lack in communication, collaboration, and creativity in young minds. For more information, read “The Dark Side of the Korean Education System and New Purposes for the Future.” These are only some Parents know this, the culture knows this, but they seem not to believe they have any other option aside from sending their children to be educated outside the nation when they are still young.

My option, my daughter’s option, might be to take a different path. We, my wife and I, want her to have an education that is broad, encourages her strengths and interests, helps her develop as a person, adds value to her and makes her valuable to society, teaches her wisdom as well as knowledge, and gives her a better understanding of the world. This may be an ideal, but it is the ideal we should strive toward.

My daughter may have the option for a non-standard Korean education because her parents are not as pressured as most Korean parents are pressured. But the question we need to answer is what would that other path to education look like? Would it be possible here in Korea or must it be abroad? Would it require a a private school or homeschooling? To what degree do we, her parents, need to be involved on a daily basis? At what point do we start to break her off from the standard path? There are dozens of more questions we have and surely more we have yet to even think of.

It was only two weeks ago that Blue entered school for the first time. Well, school in a way. She just turned two years old and is now attending daycare. She loves it and we are happy about that. But where does she go from here? Some may think it is too early to think too seriously about the future of her education, but I think now is better than tomorrow. So, to attempt to answer the questions I have now and the questions I will have in the future, and to attempt to help us decide what specific path we will put Blue on in terms of education, this blog will serve as a record of my journey to find these solutions. And perhaps those in similar circumstances or similar thought may benefit along the way.