Post-Congress Workshop

One of the most exciting opportunities that I had as an Einstein Fellow was the invite to participate in a three day post Congress workshop with U.S. and Korean educators.  There were 20 from the U.S. and about 30 from Korea.  We met at the National University of Korea and the focus of the workshop was on curriculum and classroom implementation.  The format of our meetings was for U.S. to start with a 30 minute overview of our education system, followed by small group discussion for 10 minutes, then large group question and discussion for an hour and a half.  Then the Koreans would have a 30 minute presentation with small and large group discussion.  This pattern continued for two and a half days.  We talked about curriculum, textbooks, classrooms, teacher preparation and more.  The Koreans had a hard time understanding our system of local control with districts and school boards and the limited influence of state and Federal.  They have national curriculum and textbooks, so every school teaches the same thing and uses the same books.  I could write a whole paper on what I learned (and I am writing it and will provide a link to it when I finish if you are interested).

Food was a big deal and I have several pictures of my eating experiences.  A small group of us also ventured out at night to try our hand at karaoke.

National University of Korea where the workshop was held.

Some of the Korean teachers at the workshop.

One evening we all went to eat roast duck Korean style.  The tables were low and we sat on the floor on little mats.

Koreans have lots of little dishes for sauces and pickles and other sides.  It is communal eating and everyone eats out of the same dishes.

Night life on Friday night.  The three people on the bottom left are with me.  We were looking for someplace that had karaoke.  They would not let me take any more pictures that evening.  "What happens in Korea, stays in Korea."

Lunch at the university wit the Korean and U.S. teams.