Purpose-Driven Education System Transformations: History Lessons from Korea and Japan

JICA in the last decade or two does seem to be using a process of learning from iteration and adaptation, in the field and based on close observation of schools, that is indeed reminiscent of how Japan engaged with Western ideas in the late 19th C and early 20th C, and is reminiscent of the strongly empirical spirit of the “lesson study” approach (but applied to schools and systems). [...] Two of the most commonly perceived “negative” features of the Korean and Japan education systems are the pressure on the students and the possibility that Korean and Japanese students are simply good at regurgitating pre-formulated knowledge or only the simplest forms of problem-solving. [...] Is the borrowing done as a form of cargo cult copying, in Cowen’s terminology (Cowen 2000) or “isomorphic mimicry” (Pritchett 201127), in the sense that adoption of the surfaces of the practice is not deepened into the structures and drive and deep purpose of real reform, or does not recognize the need for adaptation, or does not note that recognizing that need is a first signal that the borrowing. [...] Thus, the pace of increase was about the same, though of course both the initial year, and the number of years of schooling by 2010, are very different, about 6 for the African countries and 12 for Japan and Korea. [...] The more qualitative factors, especially those that are amenable to educational policy, planning, and pedagogy, are discussed in the narrative sections of the paper, though some of the indicators that denote the achievements of good planning and policy are also highlighted in this section, below, as well as in the Introduction.