How far is too far?

Yesterday, I walked into my last class of the day to find one of my students crying. I asked her what was wrong but she doesn't speak much English and was unable to articulate what happened. Fortunately, the other boy in the class is more fluent and he pulled as many English words and hand gestures he knew to help translate for her. The student told me they had a test in the previous class and the student who was crying only got 2 answers right out of 10.

I asked the student if she was crying because she was sad about her score and she shook her head no and said "Angry my mom." She then used her hand to indicate she would be disciplined once she got home.  

I found myself becoming increasingly frustrated as the clocked revealed the student would soon be going home. When this child was put in my class in March, myself and another foreign teacher told the Korean staff this level was too high for her and she would not be successful. Despite our multiple attempts to get her moved down to an appropriate level, we were ignored. 

In Korea, classroom space and financial compensation from the parents take precedent to the actual needs of the child. We have had children placed in a class 4 levels higher than where they should be because "the other classes are full" (A full class being 6 students) or "His/her mom won't be happy if we move him/her down." 

The flip side of being pushed through too quickly is students that are pushed far to hard. Every Monday, I ask my students if they had a good weekend and what they did over the weekend. And each Monday, I hear several students respond saying "Study, to get 100% correct." 2 weeks ago I got a new student. A precious 6 year old who is in the first grade. At 6 years old, she is already fluent in Korean, English and Japanese and is in a class that is normally filled with Korean students who are 10 and 11 years old. 

 

I hurts my heart so much to know so many of my kids are being robbed of a normal childhood. We vent at work about the behavioral problems of our students but I wholeheartedly believe if they were given the chance to run around and be a child, they wouldn't be running around the school all day. I hate that the Korean children keep getting pushed through the Hagwon's despite their inability to excel at their current grade level. We aren't helping them, we are hurting them. And in Angela's case, the school's lack of concern for the child's well being is causing her to get a beating at home. :(