作者: Michael Horn
編譯: 吳姵瑱
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Michael B. Horn 和前教育科學部部長李周浩合影。
韓國教改與技職學校的轉型
韓國政府向來對於非主流的教育觀點和做法一律採取抵制的態度。即便如此，還是有人勇於挑戰傳統，改變現今韓國教育體制的現況。
李周浩（Lee Ju-Ho）是南韓前任教育科技部長，目前擔任KDI 公共政策與管理學校的教授。一直以來，他致力於推動韓國教改，改善南韓現今教育規範、學校管理、以及政策執行的方式。
在我與李周浩的訪談中， 他首先提到改變現狀的困難之處。韓國的補教業年產值高達三千億，補習班不僅扮演課後加強補救的角色， 也加劇正規學校教育的競爭壓力。市場需求以及補習班客製化的教學方式讓民眾看不到改革的動機與理由。 政治利益與龐大的企業產值讓韓國的補教業在政經界有絕對的影響力。李周浩認為，這樣的情況雖然對教育本身並沒有直接的負面影響，卻嚴重阻礙公立學校的改革。
許多學生補習班下課後回家熬夜唸書，白天在學校無法專心甚至在課堂上睡覺。 因此，學校體系的老師開始失去自信與教學的熱誠。越來越多公立學校的老師擔心，補習班牴觸學校教育的價值與目的，開始提出改革的想法與方案。
李周浩認為，學校改革必須建立於幾個基本原則上──學校的選擇、多元化、自主自治、責任歸屬和透明化。 在訪談中李周浩自豪地提到，在南韓前總統李明博任期內，他推動教改達成的六項成就。 第一項是推動教科書數位化。 雖然2012年內閣改組導致此項改革進度落後，已經有一項學科的教科書完全數位化並正式上路使用。
另一項成就是教育方針的轉換。韓國的學校一向著重知能教育和學術技能的培養，卻忽略品格與創意教育。六項教改的成就之一，就是學校對音樂和體育活動的推廣。
李周浩也提到韓國大學在招生入學方面的改變與革新。當年，韓國政府補助約600名額外人力到各大學院校協助處理入學申請事宜， 徵選15%(約五萬名學生)的大學新生。除了學生學力測驗成績(KSAT)，更要以各方面的表現審核入學的新生。
另外還有教師評鑑制度和學校校長評鑑任用機制。由於過去任用門檻取決於年資，許多即將應屆退休的校長當選後，只能做完一年的任期，造成學校領導階層不必要的異動與困擾。現在校長的評選是由家長、老師和專家學者組成的委員會執行。當選後，校長服務任期為四年。
在訪談中，李周浩和我談到最多的是達人高校(Meister High Schools)的誕生。特定產業與技職學校合作，根據職場人力的需求設計課程與學習經驗，試圖改變社會大眾對於技職教育的負面觀感。多元發展教育資源，同時幫助企業找尋開發中階管理人才。
李周浩認為，韓國只有大約10-20%的大學具有國際競爭力。與其提供水準參差不齊的大學教育，不如推動高品質的技職教育，幫助學生學習一技之長，在畢業後順利就業。
達人高校鎖定金融、造船、機械工程和半導體製造業等特定產業，並雇用業界已卸任的執行長擔任校長，善用各產業專門人才的經驗與人脈，提供辦學獨到見解與實際教學設備的增設。
李周浩提到，學歷並不是成功唯一的要件，具備符合產業需求的技術才是關鍵。達人高校借鏡德國的技職教育和實習制度，讓學生提早適應職場及培養專業。工作四年後，學生可以利用網路教學、夜間部或周末進修的方式取得學位。家長也不需顧慮子女學歷與就業的問題。
這波改革最大的成功在於改變大眾對技職教育的觀感。職業學校成為就業的跳板和學生自信的來源。學生變得充滿熱誠並主動學習，因為他們相信自己可以成為身懷絕技的達人。
韓國的教改經驗讓我們了解通往成功的路徑絕對不只一條。社會大眾對教育的觀感和態度也絕對有改變的機會和空間。
【作者介紹：Michael Horn】
美國非營利組織Christensen Institute共同創辦人暨執行董事，致力推動破壞性創新。合著有Disrupting Class、合編有Private Enterprise and Public Education。
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Michael B. Horn and former Minister of Education, Science, and Technology Lee Ju-Ho, pose for the camera while each holds the other’s book.
Meister Of Korean School Reform: A Conversation With Lee Ju-Ho
Although there has often been a knee-jerk reaction within the Korean government to block new forms of education emerging outside mainstream, government-funded schools, not everyone who has served in government has been limited by that stance.
I met Lee Ju-Ho, the former Minister of Education, Science, and Technology and now a professor at the KDI School of Public Policy and Management, to understand his efforts to improve the Korean education system In the book The Smartest Kids in the World by Amanda Ripley, Lee comes across as a forward-minded thinker about the challenges facing Korean education and the need to make changes to the status quo of how education is regulated, managed, and delivered. In a wide-ranging conversation in his office, Lee did not disappoint.
He first explained why it is so hard to change the status quo. Korean hagwons are a $30 billion industry, but unlike private schools in the United States, they do not compete against and therefore create pressure on mainstream schools. Instead they exist alongside as complements. The wealthy in society have no incentives to lobby for education reform as a result because they have market-based solutions to provide a customized education for their children. And because politicians are under strong political pressure from hagwons because the private-tutoring industry plays an active role in political donations and elections, there are vested interests in protecting the hagwons. This situation is not damaging per se, Lee said, but it delays reforms of the public schools.
Lee said that an increasing number of public school teachers are enthusiastic about reforming public schools because hagwons are hollowing out the purpose and value of the classroom. As students learn concepts in their hagwons and stay up all hours of the night studying, more students are sleeping in class. As a result, teachers are losing their self-efficacy and passion for teaching.
The basis of school reform should revolve around a few principles, he said, including school choice, diversification, autonomy, accountability, and transparency.
In our conversation, Lee spoke proudly of six accomplishments from his time in President Lee Myung-Bak’s administration in moving education reform forward.
Under his leadership, Korea began digitalizing its textbooks. Although there appears to be delays in this effort since the change in administration in 2012, one subject has been digitalized and is being implemented.
Second, Korea has historically focused on cognitive skills at the expense perhaps of what Lee called “connective” skills that focus on character or creative education. He is proud of the efforts to bolster school orchestras and sports teams.
Third, Lee spoke of his accomplishments in moving Korean universities to emulate how students are admitted. The Korean government funded roughly 600 admissions officers to join universities and select 15 percent of the incoming college class—roughly 50,000 students—based on a more holistic look at the students, not just based on their KSAT score. This practice, Lee said, has encouraged too much of an emphasis on the Confucian traditions of rote learning.
Fourth, Korea now has a teacher evaluation system.
Fifth, in the past, Korea’s school principals were chosen based on a point system among school administrators. Seniority counted for the most points, which often meant that someone would be selected as principal literally the year before her retirement, which created a one-year rotating position in effect. This was damaging to leadership across the school system. Principals now serve 4-year terms and are chosen by an open search committee that consists of parents, teachers, and experts.
Lastly, Lee and I spoke the most about the creation of Meister High Schools under his and President Lee’s watch. Created in 2010, Meister—meaning master of a trade—High Schools are converted vocational schools that partner with companies in specific industries to create educational experiences tailored to the needs of the workforce. They emerged in an effort to turnaround vocational schools that were looked down upon within their communities; diversify educational options; and help industry find the mid-level managers who are both critical and hard to find. Partnering with these schools is a smart backward integration step by the companies.
In Lee’s view, only 10 to 20 percent of Korean universities are competitive globally compared to 50 to 60 percent in the United States. Pushing people to attend low-quality universities is a bad strategy, he said. A better one is to narrow the gap between learning to know and learning to do by creating these Meister High Schools that offer direct links to employment after graduation.
Meister High Schools focus on a particular field—banking, shipbuilding, mechanical engineering, semi-conductor manufacturing, and so forth—and hire a former CEO from that industry as the principal. For example, the former CEO of Renault-Samsung’s automotive group became principal of a Meister High School in Busan focused on automotive manufacturing. One school, called the Chungbuk Semiconductor High School, had a semiconductor company donate semiconductor machinery to it.
Out of roughly 400 vocational high schools in the country, seven were selected to become a Meister High School in the first year, and 35 in total were converted over President Lee’s five-year term. Even more have converted now to Meister High Schools by creating memorandums of understanding—with over 1,300 companies in total across the schools—so that they can guarantee employment opportunities.
Ultimately President Lee’s leadership made a big difference, Lee said, as he acutely understood industry’s needs for mid-level managers from his days as CEO of Hyundai Engineering and Construction. President Lee would often say, look at Germany. No one requires a soccer player to have a diploma.
The point, Lee said, is that you don’t need a degree to succeed; you need the right skills. The Meister High School takes a page from Germany’s vocational schools and apprenticeships to prepare students for careers earlier. And after four years of working, students can then get that college degree through an online, night, or weekend program while continuing to work to assuage the 93 percent of parents that want their children to have a degree. It’s the best of both worlds.
The biggest changes are that these schools go from being the shame of the community to being the pride of it. And the students go from listless participants in their education to enthusiastic learners in it, Lee said, with “fire in their eyes” as they know they can be the best in something. A master.
There’s nothing better than that, and it’s yet one more chip away to show that there can be multiple pathways to success in Korea, not just one, and that the Korean culture can change its views on education.
【Author：Michael Horn】
Michael Horn is the cofounder and the Executive Director of Education at the Christensen Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank dedicated to improving the world through disruptive innovation. He is also the co-author of the award-winning book Disrupting Class with Clayton M. Christensen, as well as the co-editor of the book Private Enterprise and Public Education.
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圖片來源：韓國仁德大學(인덕대학교)@WIKI
原文刊登於Forbes，經作者Michael Horn授權編譯，未經許可不得轉載
