How Culture Affects Education Students from South Korea and the United States grow up in two different

types of worlds. South Korean students grow up in a collectivist society, while students in the United States grow up in more of an individualistic society. In these two different societies, the classrooms are run based on the cultural differences. In lecture, Dr. Scott Paris describes how the individualistic cultured classrooms are encouraged to do more independent work, while the collectivist cultured classrooms are driven to do more group work. However, Sorenson (1994) mentions how the driving force for the success of students in South Korea is how the culture is more based on the idea of the East Asian Confucian culture. Typically, Korean classrooms are larger and teachers dont have the quality of education that American teachers have (Sorenson, 1994). However, Korean students achieve higher levels of success in math and science tests. The East Asian Confucian culture emphasizes the family and the family's values. Sorenson (1994) attributes the success that Korean students have in science and math, not based on the teaching strategies, curriculum, and methods, but the succes of these schools are embedded in the Confucian culture. The Confucian culture is stressed because South Korea wants to become one of the top industrialized nations. Families in Korea center studnet's life and focus on only education. Mothers are the driving force in the childs education, while the father is usually the bread winner of the family. However, the mother usually gains full control of the students education. the mother schedules every minute of her child's after-school time at special academies and institutes or in private tutoring. In this society, the mother takes on this role as the caregiver, while the men have the jobs. Parents take control of their childrens education because of multiple reasons. As a result of the importance of family, the parents will eventually be taken care of by their children. Without a successful career that is a result of a successful education, they will not lead a comfortable retirement life. (Sorenson, 1994) However, the bigger reason why academics are stressed in the family is that the student will gain a positive social status which in turn encourages self-concept. However, the students social status represents the family, not just themselves. A low social status will shame the students family. However, in the American individualistic culture, the social status of a student will not be connected to the family. How a student performs in their classes doesnt affect how a family is treated or respected. The families dont place a strong importance on a childs education. Korea is a place where receiving an education has become competitive. Only the best students will recieve the best education. However, The United States is known to offer many opportunities to all different types of students. This is why many students who cannot succeed in Korean high-schools immigrate to the United States (Sorenson, 1994). Many times, the families in America are dealing with other problems. Therefore, the families dont consider academics a first priority. In Korea, parents work extra hours just to pay for extra tutorial sessions. However, stressing academic importance is important because American students performed better in school if their families stressed academic importance (Kaylor and Woolley, 2006) In Korea , their educational program has guaranteed a lot of success. However, along with the stress to achieve in this kind of society comes a lot of pressure on the students in Korea

. in a recent six-month period, 51 high school students committed suicide over poor grades (Gittelsohn, 1992). Depression is the leading cause of suicide in teenagers in American students; however, grades arent the direct cause of the depression found in American teenagers. The United States , on the other hand, can apply the value of education into the society. This global value of education in Korea is at times harmful; however, has also improved the success of students. Growing up in a Korean-American family has forced me to enforce the Confuscian values into my life. Although by citizenship I am an American, my culture and values stem from my culture. I think that culture is a huge influence on what one values and the morals one holds. I hold education very highly because succeding not only benefits me, but it also benefits my family as well. However, the stresses for me to succeed and to do well are overwhelming at times.