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KBC Relay Interview with Sangkyun Chong (December 26, 2010) - "Working Towards a Better Approach to Testing in Korea”
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December 26, 2010 - KBC Relay Interview"Working Towards a Better Approach to Testing in Korea” Sangkyun Chong Prometric, Account Manager Sangkyun was interviewed by Emanuel Pastreich. (Click here for Emanuel's relay interview.) |
Emanuel Pastreich: Sangkyun, Thank you for joining us here today. Let us start out with a few words about your return to Korea. You grew up here, but then lived and worked in the United States for many years. What was it like coming back? Did you find Korea much changed?
Sangkyun Chong: Oh, yes! When I left the country, I was just a young boy, when I came back, I found there were lots of things I was able to do in Korea. There was a drinking culture, I could drive and explore, date and be involved in exciting business opportunities. The life in Korea as an adult was just another world. I was able to feel an emotional bond, jeong '정,' that I was not able to feel before outside of my family relationships.
I was born and raised here in Seoul until I reached 15. Then my family moved to the US where I attended high school and college. I worked in US for a couple of years after college. Then I I had the opportunity to work for HP in Korea. So I came back. It is already 12 years that I have been back.
I started my career in housing development. I was a part of a project team that was planning to develop a subdivision housing complex in Jeju island. Though it was a short-lived career, it gave me the taste of Korea that I never knew before when I was living here as a child. I was curious and started wonder what it'd be like to be living in Korea. I grabbed the chance to work here as a professional business/contract negotiator for HP.
Emanuel Pastreich: Would you say that you have managed to build social networks in both the Korean and the international communities? What challenges are there in doing both at the same time?
Sangkyun Chong: Well, yes and no. Coming back to Korea has definitely allowed me to build Korean social network (though I am a shy kind of person). My international social network is mostly built around to the company and the job I had at HP because the job I had there required me to work with a virtual team of people from all over the world.
I personally felt more comfortable around Korean people socially, but yet I am still not a great networker in the Korean sense. That is to say, I am not a master of the Korean social scene. I still feel that I am still missing something there. Many business relationships in Korea are established around schools, military experience, and even drinking. I don’t really fix that matrix.
Emanuel Pastreich: How about language? Do you work in both languages at the office, at home, socially? What is that experience like?
Sangkyun Chong: Well, I can't tell you which language I speak better. I am tempted to say that my Korean is better because I tell better jokes in Korean. but in business I find myself more comfortable with English. English is much more direct and simple when trying to get my point across.
At home I use Korean all the time. And I want my children to Korean first.
Emanuel Pastreich: So your work involves testing and certification. Well you might say Korea is a country just crazy about tests and certification. Are there any special characteristics about work in Korea?
Sangkyun Chong: Well, those characteristics are what I have been fighting to remake for the past several years. I am trying to bring some rationality and efficiency to the testing industry here. The Korean testing industry is enormous and extremely important, but it is also dominated by old thinking. What I mean by old thinking is the assumption that tests are only fair when everyone takes them at the same time and the questions are all the same. I have been in dialog with Associations like KRIVET (Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education & Training), HRD Korea (Human Resource Development Service), KICE (Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation) about a new vision of the examination. So far our progress is slow. Nonetheless, I think that there are some new ideas that are taking root. Some serious players are questioning whether memorizing facts is the best way to go. Wouldn't it be nice if Korea could rethink that part of the culture?
NHPLEB (National Health Personnel Licensing Examination Board), which governs exams for doctors and nurses in Korea, is considering a technology-based testing system, as are several other associations.
Emanuel Pastreich: How would a technology-based testing system change education in Korea?
Sangkyun Chong: I think we can eventually see an end to the nightmare college entrance exam. I hope that happens. The education system in Korea would then focus on the evaluation of comprehension and analogy, rather than rote memorization.
Emanuel Pastreich: Any thoughts as to why the test-based examination system continues to linger on in Korea?
Sangkyun Chong: Well, from my experience working with various government agencies and professional associations, the simple problem is that no one wants to take the initiative for something that big, and risk being accountable. The structure of organizations are also a factor. The head of most organizations is only there for a few years, so there is no way for him or her to develop a long-term comprehensive plan. Most leaders to do note feel the need to embark on a long journey of change.
Emanuel Pastreich: Tell us about your current work.
Sangkyun Chong: I work for Prometric as an account manager handling our business in Korea. I call myself a salesman!
We are in testing business. We provide development service, operation service, analysis service and even consulting service for multinational certification and assessment programs. If you have taken or seen people taking exams like TOEFL, GRE, GMAT (until 2005), Project Management-PMP, or some type of IT certifications like Microsoft, SUN, or if you know any physician practicing in the US, if you know any AICPA, or even people holding Irish driver's license, they all have received our services in one form or another. We make sure on behalf of our client that candidates all over the world can have an access to these certification/license programs. And we, through our psychometric analysis service, also make sure our clients' exam programs are reliable, fair, valid and legally defensible.
Emanuel Pastreich: So what is Prometric's strategy here in Korea and why is Korea an appealing market?
Sangkyun Chong: Well, we are trying to bring the new thoughts into the Korean system. Korea has a lot of potential since around 10 million exams are delivered each year.
We believe that if one association or government agency adopts the systems and technology that we can offer to the Korean market, we will see many more following in their footsteps.
On a day-to-day basis, we need to bring more new revenue stream into company while making sure our existing customers are happy with the products and services we deliver.The only thing is that because we have a small operation here in Korea, I look after all Korean business including P&L and financial modeling.
Emanuel Pastreich: Thank you for joining us today. Any last words of advice for those newly arrived to Korea?
Sangkyun Chong: Well, Korea is not a country full of mystery. It is a place where human beings live and work like anywhere. Try to see Korea as it is. I see many foreigners trying to analyze what the “Korean Way” is like, and what is the right way of doing things in Korea. My advice is just to follow your heart and become the human that we all are, then you will be able to understand and be understood more easily.
Replies to This Discussion | 이 토론에 대한 답글들
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Permalink Reply by Lara Tosh on
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Great interview!
...Sangkyun, your words fill me with hope:
"Some serious players are questioning whether memorizing facts is the best way to go."
I hope those "serious players" actually do take action & start moving towards testing at the analysis, synthesis & evaluative / critical thinking levels. That "simple" choice would revolutionize this culture^.^
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Permalink Reply by Steven S. Bammel on -
Lara, I'm not ready to say that there's a need to "revolutionize this culture", in terms of testing. No doubt, there's plenty to be improved, and rote memorization isn't the be-all-end-all of learning, but it's surely one form of learning that everyone should be exposed to in some form or fashion. And to say (or at least imply) that this is all Korean students do in school is wrong.
My daughter's finishing up 5th grade elementary school in Korea and apparently the unceasing rote memorization starts sometimes later because so far, she's been staying busy focusing on "concepts". It seems likely this will change soon when she enters middle school, but even assuming they focus on rote memorization for the next six years, it's not completely devoid of creativity. And going through the process of preparing for the university entrance exam has value in terms of work ethic and study skills no matter what they're memorizing.
Once the kids finish up the university entrance exam, they move on to university and military service. I don't think anyone would say the military brings out the creative side in people anywhere, but Korean universities let the kids catch up on some of the free thinking they might have missed in high school.
So, my point in this post is simply that, at the most, Koreans reach their 18th year having spent six years with an excessive emphasis on memorization. Lots of them move on to universities and turn into star pupils, even at universities in the West.
A little too much memorization for a few years didn't turn them into zombies, OK? :-)
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^.^ ...okay
I do agree, memorization is an important skill / discipline -BUT, I've witnessed it to be the focus of students' & teachers' lives during high school ...esp. where the nature of the university entrance & high school level exams is concerned.
I've encountered many teachers who feel "dead inside" because all they are "allowed" to do is : teach to the test -instead of motivating & inspiring their students' gifts & talents ...and have heard their descriptions of the forlorn, weary faces of their students. They say that children come from middle school with passion & energy & dreams ...and that the "function" of high school is to suck all of that out of them.
That's the stuff I hope will change -the descriptions I've heard from hiugh school teachers.
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Permalink Reply by Sang Chong on -
Well, I agree Steven that memorization has its value of course. But I think what I was trying to get across is that some times, or I can say often times, young kids are instructed to memorize how and what to feel or even how to concepturise (sp?), how and what to imagine.
I remember in my middle school in Korea, the Korean teacher was writing down what I was supposed to feel about a poem because it was going to be in the mid-term exam. When I was sitting in a first year college English class in Walla Walla, Washington, USA, my English professor told me to submit less than one page on what I feel about a particular poem. A special note to that instruction was 'you can say that he is a complete retard as long as you can defend your feelings, don't be afraid to let it out, but make it short'.
There are so many bright young kids who still shine no matter what. I am more concerned about the kids who are in the middle. If someone could hold their hands, they could shine just as well in their own ways. :)
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Permalink Reply by vince rubino on -
Very interesting perspective, Sangkyun!
The topic of education is one of my favorites. If you have not yet seen this animated video on the topic of education and creativity, I highly recommend it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U
I'm also interested in the comment about preferring English to Korean for business. Right now I'm investigating a particular set of OECD regulations written in English and have been translated into Korean by the government, and how the meaning has been changed. I will hopefully have material to write an article on this topic when this project is complete.
Any further details or examples you may have to offer about why you prefer to use English will be received with rapt attention!
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...aside to Vince: my husband has insisted that English be the language of our relationship (for important stuff) because he says it allows him to speak the truth in a simple, direct manner.
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Permalink Reply by Sang Chong on
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Hi Vince, I'll check out the video.
Well, I am not a linguist, but as a person who happens to be able to speak both languages, I would say English may be easier in business because it cares less about relationship but focuses more on facts while Korean has more emphasis on relationship. Since language derives from culture it can be noted in culture as well. In Korea, if your ages are different, it'd be difficult for you to be friends. The language itselt will immediately differenciate the relationship between the two - 'Hyung' 'Dong Seng' 'Nu Na' 'Eun Ni' 'Chin Gu'. While in English culture, such thing is often overlooked, and is simplified by the words like 'I' and 'you' 'friend'.
So, when I use English for business, it is much more direct and simple and I don't have to deal with all that relational issues I must consider especially when dealing with a customer. An older customer will make it even more difficult.
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Permalink Reply by Youngil Ely Loew on -
Hey Vince, thanks for the link. I have watched a couple similar animations, (not sure if they are by the same author or not), and they always get me thinking, although I usually have some serious objections to some of the concepts being given. I do have to say I agree about the ADHD point, since they were going to put my brother on Ritalin. Luckily he had an excellent kindergarten teacher, who realized he was just bored and taught him long division instead.I think it is that kind of flexibility that Korea might be lacking rather than one system being better than another...
In other words, I think that memorization is an excellent way to learn certain things, like languages, math, and scientific formulas and facts. It's slightly less helpful in learning history, and practically worthless in artistic pursuits. I am a product of a Korean education, and since I love Math and Science, I was incredibly grateful to have gone through Korean high school and middle school instead of an American one. That being said, if I was more of a artistic person, I probably would not have enjoyed it as much...
So I think the key thing for an education system is flexibility; being able to adapt to different kids' abilities, and to different circumstances. I think that is something the US does pretty well, especially in university. I can't believe how rigid and unforgiving many of the European university systems are, where all the courses are assigned each year, and if you fail one course you have to re-take the entire year... I'm not sure about Korean universities, but I think that they are modeled after the US system, so like Steven mentioned Korean students do quite well in University.
Btw, thanks for the interview Sangkyun. Good luck with your work, and I do hope that the Korean system can change to be more flexible, but at the same time be able to maintain its ability to produce very high quality students in the Math and Science fields. I think that will be the tricky part... I also think it is difficult for the Koreans to rush to embrace a different system when they see how the American system doesn't work so well.
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Permalink Reply by vince rubino on
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Wow, I'm glad your brother avoided the Ritalin and instead was given more personalized attention for his advanced ability at math. Do you think he had this math ability at such a young age because of a superior ability to memorize? Personally, I didn't understand calculus until I took physics with calculus. I'm sure lots of people memorize calculus equations and never understand what it means.
The US education system has some of the best schools in the world as well as some of the worst. I wouldn't write their entire educational system off just because the society that encourages and condones gross inequities.
I totally agree memorization is a good way to start the process of learning many things. However, memorization without internalization is a dead-end. Do you know the American folk story about "John Henry"? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Henry_(folklore) With machines like Google out there, memorization takes on a whole new role in personal knowledge. I wish I was better at memorization.
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Ironically, I didn't reach my full academic potential until I had a teacher who taught me to NEVER memorize anything ...simply because what we deem as "right" or "true" or "worthwhile" today is often the exact opposite in the future.
He was also the one who indroduced me to the concepts of "open book exams" & "multiple choice with justification & correction" ^.^
I guess everyone benefits from different things when it comes to education.
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Permalink Reply by Steven S. Bammel on
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Lara: How do you suggest learning a new language without any memorization?
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I think that what I understand as "internalization" might be what you're meaning when you say "memorization"? ...yes, internalization is essential (dare I say it's EVERYTHING when it comes to learning something "for real").
Example: I've memorized TONS of stuff in Korean -but without truly internalizng it, it rapidly "leaves" me. The things that I've internalized (attached the concept & word to a salient memory), however stay with me.
For some, memorization is one essential aspect of internalization ...for others, it's not.
make sense?
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