Micro Memoir -- Mini Pedagogical Adventures in South Korea

Teenage Worries

WIth my students, I teach a lesson from the textbook and follow up with some supplementary activities every class. For the supplementary activities, younger grades (7 and 8) usually play some sort of class game to reinforce the lesson taught from the textbook section. But with my grade 9-ers I try to conduct deeper discussions around topics.

[footnote 1] Emphasis on "try to." Because even though Korean kids are force-exposed to English from a young age, the focus is more on hardware like vocabulary and grammar. There is less emphasis on spoken dialogue. Although I try to engage in more verbal conversations with my grade 9-ers, factors like over-concern with following proper grammar and the class size (~40) both detract from it being done effectively. [/footnote 1]

One of the classes is centred around worries. I divide the class into smaller groups and pass around sheets of paper to ask everyone to list their top 3 worries. They would then talk with each other about their worries, ideally in English. Though usually in Korean -- not by my choice.

I walk around listening to semi-disgruntled conversations about the topic, mentally tallying up the most common worries people have listed. The top 3 are similar across the span of the entire grade, though the order is different between boys and girls:

Top Worries from Boys:

1. Height

2. Appearance

3. Grades

Top Worries from Girls:

1. Appearance

2. Grades

3. Height/weight

Stress over appearance I get. We are talking about teenagers here, a sub-species of extremely self-conscious beings all around the world. And in Korea, presenting yourself well is more or less a cultural obligation. Looking sloppy would disadvantage you in all aspects of life.

Stress over grades I also get. There are overwhelming cultural pressures to do well academically. University entrance is based on the score on a single standardized exam, which high school seniors across the country all take on the same day in November. The test is taken so seriously that work for regular employees begin later that day, to allow parents of teens doing the test to avoid traffic as they drive them to school. The exam legitimizes a modern academic caste system -- the highest scorers are whisked away to Korea's Ivy League equivalent and are destined for greatness and a lifetime of stability. The lowest scorers will have to live in poverty, making ends meet and bearing disdain from the rest of the society.

But the concern over height baffles me. Girls and boys alike want to be taller -- but as with all things, within a narrowly defined "acceptable range." Girls gush over the ideal height, between 5'4" and 5'7. Boys, between 5'10" and 6'3". Outside these ranges, you will be teased, chastised and given unwanted advice to drink more milk. The wishing for growing taller is sown in middle school and ends in high school, with victors and underdogs defined.

That's when I decided: that I'm going to be extra supportive of the outliers.