I guess by now that I shouldn't be surprised by this. I know that Korea is obsessed with the appearance of success, but this is taking it a little too far. In the recent citywide elementary school English contest, my school did better than every other school. We did not place first in any event, but we were the only school in which every student who participated received a medal. We received two silver medals and two bronze medals in reading, speaking, writing, and the golden bell (English quiz). In the United States having 4 of 4 students earn either a silver or a bronze medal is something to be proud of. Especially considering the fact that the student who won the golden bell had spent the past 6 months in the United States going to school. We earned a silver and a bronze in that event.
However, according to my principal and my vice principal, if we did not win a gold medal we did not do a good job. I actually had two of my students apologize to me because they didn't win their respective competitions. Forgive me if this seems a little unreasonable. Yes, getting first place would be nice, but even without it we proved that our school is one of the better places in this city to obtain an English education. I think we should be praising our students for a job well done, not criticizing them because they didn't win it all. Now the criticism is coming from my principal and vice principal but still my co-teachers are sad because they see it as a failure on their part.
I guess it just comes down to differences in opinion, but I have to say that I think I'm right here. My kids did a wonderful job, and I know that most every other foreign teacher here agrees with me. Call it cultural, call it whatever, still, these kids are in 5th and 6th grade. At least tell them they did a good job.
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