Essay Example on Cultural Values and South Korean Higher Education

This discussion seeks to find out the influence that educational fever has towards the development of education and economy of the Republic of Korea. It will analyze this in the context of culture and history of the nation. To examine this study, previous authors works would be deduced since they explain the element of educational fever. These previous work further elaborates on the association between Confucianism and the love of education. The South Korea culture and society revolve around: religion, beliefs, celebrations, family, social stratification, gender roles, socialization, economy, food, and art. Koreans support religious freedom through Confucianism, Buddhism, and also Christianity being the major formal religions. The main celebration includes two major holidays and New Years Day. The family units in Korea form very integral elements of customs. People conduct common marriages, but divorce is very rare basing on the previous years. The social stratification has no traditional gentry. About sixty per cent of the population considers themselves as middle class. The class position in this region is usually associated with the educational attainment of an individual. The social standing of people is contributed majorly by the manner of upbringing, wealth standards, educational levels and occupation of an individual. The status symbols are seen by substantial homes, chauffeured cars, dress codes and club membership.The educational fever and human capital in the Republic of South Korea higher education will be analyzed right from an opinion which is comparative. This study would evaluate the potential impacts and issues of the educational fever that the countrys present higher education faces.

There will be a conclusion made whether the Koreans educational fever lies as the primary factor through which national economy development is achieved by the rapidly expanding higher education element (Yuan, 2013). Koreans still bear with them very negative memories of their colonial era that have failed to be entirely erased. They have instead used them as incubators for different kinds of social conflicts and ideological differences that emanated right from the Cold War era. Some people and groups have maintained the actions just to gloss over the history of Japan, their aggression, and their imperialism. Such phenomena depict very formidable barriers towards the tasks of building a healthy and cooperative kind of association between the two nations. However, this discussion seeks to represent a newer viewpoint of the history and how the obstacles may be overcome. It hasnt been easy looking at these histories straightforwardly though it has not been fully impossible either. The Republic of South Korea may find it desirable to observe their colonial past as a way of a passive and destructive era where they suffered deprivation in their long process of seeking to get modernized and build their society. The period has been regarded as a particularly active and very creative era that took into account the opportunities that came by and dealt with the colonial modernity.In this aspect, the study attempts to prove the colonial experiences of the society in Korea. This is seen by the progressive history brought about by the modernization vision of dynamic replies and resistance from colonial rulers. This study will focus on the levels of association of the ideologies of people and experiences through the process of reviewing various current influence.

Most anti-Japanese ideologies were cultivated consciously by the masses who awakened the intellectual kind of activists. These masses revolved between the system of colonization and the movement that relate to their independence right through the entire spectrum. Gender roles range from equality of different sexes as per the constitution. The routine life of people has been mainly dominated by elements of patriarchal societies. The social organization is driven by gender and age. Women have been seen to be submissive enough towards people during social gatherings and public situations. Socialization has a lot to do with daily care for infants before they attain the age of two. There is also a huge element of patriarchal obedience, their cooperation, respecting the elderly and family piety that have been imbued right from childhood. The economy of South Korea has since changed from being underdeveloped to being the 11th largest economy in the world in a generation.

The South Korea government relies mainly on exports for the growth of its GDP since half the businesses tend to export their products and services. The Korean cuisine is based on rice, vegetables, meat and the national dish that is consumed mainly during meal time. During ceremonies like weddings and birthdays, food is served in plenty. The South Korean art has been influenced by aesthetic concepts and motives that have since been shared right from long ago. The music and art have been linked to other cycles and religion that offer a rise to folk kind of cultures in rural areas. Finally, there will be conclusions and recommendations whether Koreans zeal for higher education lies as the primary factor through which the national economy development is based (Yuan, 2013).

Chapter 1:Chapter One: Introduction and Background Information

Introduction

Several people have been bewildered by the manner in which South Korea has grown so quickly and continued having amongst the best educational outcomes across the world. In 2009, results from a Program for International Student Assessment ranked South Korea to be within the best ten overall in the subjects of mathematics, science and reading literacy. Additionally, President Obama praised South Korea by acknowledging that the US had to measure up to the standards displayed by the South Korean educational system. Apparently, this educational success has been influenced by several factors. The historical impact on education plays a key role in influence the favorable results. In over four centuries, Korea had chosen to close itself from any external contact. Besides them were the Japanese who had slowly made their way out into the Republic of Korea but they took over fully in the early nineteenth century. Japan became their colony forcing the Koreans to conform to the colonial administrations of the Japanese.

The imperial system swallowed some movements that sought to liberate the entire nation and classes. There have been contests that act between colonialists and independent fighters who win some other people at the side. However, because of the anti-Japanese forces that bind Koreans together, they have been led to modernizing their region while creating awareness in times of absurdities or even the time that is guided by spirit. This study seeks to review the importance of colonial experience with the Koreans who in the end strive to attain modernization. However, due to limited observation by the situations of others, the colonial era has led to incomplete securities. The recognition of different limitations has promoted the concern for this study. Koreans have identified various rapid social differences from the Japan annexation. The market was open for Japanese and colonial capitalism that came about hurriedly. The economy in the area emerged because of the Japan administrative rules. Races and different classes emanated due to the deep conflicts. In the meantime, the colonial administration tried to explore the wealth sources that served the entire region while demonstrating the imperialism strength. This served by promoting the improvement of colonies. During a certain time gap, there have been few political actions that happened to Koreans to accommodate the liberation demands of the colonial era. Most Koreans have acknowledged the current technology trends while admiring the great Japanese status. These movements served in splitting the relations of colonial institutions. Korean involved themselves to an element of technological modernization that led to inequalities between different classes and conditions. Colonialists went through some limitations that embraced Koreans to survive the authoritative rule. The Koreans too desired to be liberated and modernized through reduced freedom that they found in the political action arena. The Japanese found it within themselves to suppress the spontaneous social actions relentlessly with few nationalism movement. This brought about a path that which liberation followed towards prolonging their colonial administration.

The Japanese administrative system involved the combination of autocracy, systemic, thorough and heavy ethnic numbers applied at the metropole to take up the main niches such as civil service, education, business sector, and industry (Ochiai&Johshita, 2014). The Japanese rigidly controlled Korea to ensure that there was the assimilation of the ethnic kind of Koreans. At this time, the ethnic Japanese and Koreans separated educational systems where the secondary level was mainly restricted for ethnic Koreans. However, the instruction medium in each of these schools no matter the system that prevailed were the Japanese who taught the Koreans.

The other reason that promoted growth were the educational changes that were brought about. These alterations assisted greatly in mitigating the multi-tiered social segregation system that the Japanese colony had left behind. The people of South Korea implemented a Basic Educational Law in mid nineteenth century that brought about a unified educational system. The new law created a compulsory six years of education as soon as a kid attained the age of seven. Middle and high school remained non-compulsory, but there were tuition programs that took two levels each having a span of three years. Despite the fact that teaching and high school were voluntary, this rule did not deter the Koreans from further pursuing their education. The people had an emphasis-on-education mentality that was nurtured right from the time of Japanese presence. For about a half-a-decade after the launch of...