" A child miseducated is a child lost." – John F. Kennedy
Education gives you the ability to change your life by opening doors of opportunity and access. Without the privilege of education we would not have the ability to help our selves or others in life. Education is the fundamental glue that holds our society together. Without it, we would not have any opportunity and would not move anywhere in life. In this paper, I intend to compare and contrast my educational experiences with the countries of South Korea and Palestine. I am using educational access and opportunity to compare and contrast these three countries and their educational systems, programs and experiences with my own experiences as well. Through this I will focus on how differently they impact their students and what type of educational opportunities are available to them and how they are benefited from it. Also I will talk about the different types of education given for everyone of all opportunity. Lastly, I will compare the teacher professionalism in those countries because with good teachers comes better education.
Social Fabric
My educational career consisted of only public schools. I went to Carlsbad schooling system my entire years up until college. When I was in third grade my parents decided that they wanted to move and get more land around their house so they decided to move to Vista. Unfortunately this meant I had to be transferred to an entirely new school district. I was so devastated because of losing the friends I made but also because Carlsbad had a better educational system.
COMPARISON ANALYSIS OF EDUCATION 3
Due to the better educational opportunities for my brother and I, my mother had to drive us twenty five to thirty five minutes each way to school and home. The school had a high economic status due to the location and it being a wealthier schooling system. Fortunately for me this made the education better and the teacher professionalism better because they were well educated. Culturally and diversely, there was a broad range of students of all cultural backgrounds. This makes it easier to be taught because it didn't change the teachers biased or nonbiased opinion on the students. For the most part we were all equal in their eyes. This was unlike many of the other schools I might have ended up at if I was unable to get an interdistrict transfer. The school was in a very urban area and was a normal size high school because it was public.
My mother wanted us to get the best education that we could so that we could in the end have a better, well educated life. She compared and contrasted the schooling systems in Carlsbad and Vista and quickly came to the conclusion that Carlsbad was the better of the two. Due to this she sacrificed a lot. She was an RN and decided she would rather stay home and drives us to school everyday there and back and make sure we get the best education we could. I am so grateful for how much she gave up for my brother and I. Without her I do not think I would have had the motivation or education to get to where I am today. Carlsbad teachers were more professional, more educated, had better student curriculum, and students showed more improvement and had better results. She would encourage us that education was a number one priority and would help us with anything and everything we needed. She still until this day tells me that without self-motivation, self-drive, and perseverance you will have a hard time succeeding. Therefore I learned to find
COMPARISON ANALYSIS OF EDUCATION 4
what most motivates me and follow my dreams, which is pursuing nursing and following in my mother's footsteps. I hope one day I am able to provide her children with the educational access and opportunity my mother provided. I think the successful outcome of all this was that I was able to get into a good college and pursue the career of my dreams.
Stories of Schooling
One thing that stands out about my schooling is the special education program at the high school that I attended. My freshman year of high school I took physical education and the special education students were also in my class. We had the morning physical education class so they joined us for early morning exercise. At first many people were skeptical because they were just thinking that it was weird they were in a class with special education students. On the other hand I thought it was fantastic. I took it and ran with it. I broke my wrist therefore I was unable to do any really physical activity. Everyday we would have to run a mile or four laps. I was unable to run, so I decided I would take the great opportunity and walk with the special education students. I always say everything happens for a reason. Every morning for a year I was blessed with the privilege to take walks with some of the most amazing people I have ever met. Despite their disabilities, they were the kindest hearted, warm, funny, happy people I have ever met. No matter if my morning was not going so well, they always had a way to make it bright. Weather it be with a smile, a hug or even just a little chat around the field. They showed me what it is to truly be happy. No matter what happened they did not let anything get them down and I learned so much I will never forget. I was so blessed to be given the amazing opportunity to be apart of their lives. Very few people in the class became their friends as I did. They were
COMPARISON ANALYSIS OF EDUCATION 5
either unsure how to act around them or unsure how to compare their lives to their own. I saw all of us as equals just with different experiences. I think it is amazing how students with disabilities are not segregated and are put into the other students' classes to have the same opportunity as everyone else. It is such a wonderful thing that in the US there are programs and opportunities for all.
Comparative Analysis
The first country I will use to compare/contrast the purpose of schooling in the US based on my experience is South Korea. South Korea have high quality special education for students. Teachers are taught in special education specifically, " Special education offers schooling instruction, therapeutic education, and vocational training through curriculum, instructional methods, and educational media to meet the unique needs of students with visual, auditory, mental, physical, emotion, linguistic or other impairments. There are 137 special schools with a total enrollment of 24,192 children with severe disabilities" (M & W page 59). In South Korea special school teachers are educated according to the level of education they are expected to teach. This impacts the students in huge ways. For example, they prepare students for college and the real world. The special education teachers are recruited from the graduates of the special education departments in universities. This impacts the students in a great way because they are provided with the top notch education and are going to succeed from there. This will show that with hard work and dedication they can succeed.
For my second comparison I will use Palestine to examine and contrast access and opportunity in the US based on my own experience. In Palestine they do no t have special
COMPARISON ANALYSIS OF EDUCATION 6
education programs. Teachers are aware and, " With regard to policy in special education, special education services for school-age children with special needs in the country are underdeveloped due to the act that there is no policy in place within the general education legislation to emphasize education for such a group of children" ( M&W page 132). There are some in Palestine who understand that inclusive education is viable and is in effective means of working toward achieving "Education for All." There has been collaborating established among the students, parents and staff to fix the special education programs. Putting special educational students in with regular classrooms are starting to be practiced. Over 350 teach