Elementary School
Elementary school consists of grades one to six (age 8 to age 14 in Korean years—6 to 12 or 7 to 13 in western years). Students learn subjects including, but not limited to, Korean, mathematics, science, social studies, fine arts, English (from the third grade), P.E, moral education, practical arts, and music. Usually, the class teacher covers most of the subjects; however, there are some specialized teachers in professions such as physical education and foreign languages, including English.
Elementary schools are called chodeung-hakgyo (Hangul:초등학교 Hanja:初等學校,), meaning elementary school. The South Korean government changed its name to the current form from gukmin hakgyo (Hangul:국민학교 Hanja:國民學校) meaning citizens' school in 1996.
Those who wish to become an elementary school teacher must major in elementary education, which is specially designed to cultivate elementary school teachers. In Korea, most of the elementary teachers are working for public elementary schools.
Since corporal punishment has been officially prohibited in every classroom, many teachers and even some parents are becoming more concerned about worsening discipline problems.
Read more about this topic: Education In South Korea
Famous quotes containing the words elementary and/or school:
“As if paralyzed by the national fear of ideas, the democratic distrust of whatever strikes beneath the prevailing platitudes, it evades all resolute and honest dealing with what, after all, must be every healthy literature’s elementary materials.”
—H.L. (Henry Lewis)
“A monarch, when good, is entitled to the consideration which we accord to a pirate who keeps Sunday School between crimes; when bad, he is entitled to none at all.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)