School Swap: Korea Style

scn0s.com

Kids in South Korea can rack up a huge 90 hours of learning in just 5 days. In fact, it is even considered the norm. Kids here in the UK spend only 6.5hrs or so at school each day - sometimes less - dedicating themselves to education. Of course there are exceptions, but the differences across the two education systems, are staggering and plain to see.

South Korea is rated at the top of the PISA education rankings table, Wales is (at the time of broadcast) rated 36th. However, if you look at the happiness levels of the same pupils, it becomes increasingly obvious that South Korea falls at the bottom of the table. So why the disparity?

bbc.co.uk

The suicide rate of young men aged between 10 and 30 in South Korea, is the highest in the world. we meet one man, who lost two close friends to suicide along the way, put down to educational pressures and exertion. And with up to 18hrs of studying a day leaving kids sleeping at their desks, it's no wonder that the figures are that bad. In a country that's economy has rocketed over the last ten years, where illiteracy feels almost phased out and where education is embedded as part of religious ceremony, exam results might just be the most important date in the calendar, which is an undeniable achievement, but is also putting an incredible amount of pressure on young people.

bbc.co.uk

In South Korea teachers are respected and education is valued, seeing approx 99% of students continue to study beyond the age of 16, as opposed to around 50% of Brits. As our Welsh students maintain, there is definitely something to be learned from their education system, though perhaps the way forward is to find a middle ground. There needs to be a culture of self-improvement, a desire to be educated in the UK, that simply isn't there at the moment. The 6 kids seemed to unanimously agree that a system somewhere in between the two cultures would be a healthy compromise. A system that allows time for creativity, for free expression for recreation and relaxation but one that also values learning, offers additional support and encourages educational engagement.

dailymail.co.uk

The show couldn't have chosen more polite kids to partake in the 3 day experiment. After 3 days of intense study and lack of sleep, our kids from Wales were definitely pleased to get back to the UK's more relaxed approach to schooling. There may not be roads filled with private tutors open until 10pm, nor schools that are open until midnight but there is an education system that allows us not just to memorise facts but to learn, think, form our own opinions and challenge our knowledge and others. Perhaps trips like this are the way to inform our governments on how to reach a happy medium that will allow us all to better ourselves intellectually but never at the expense of our happiness.

Read more about the School Swap here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-38080752

The Privatisation of Channel 4

Television has been the backbone of British culture right from the UK's first public service broadcast in 1932. It’s connected us with others worldwide and now, with privatisation on the agenda, its unique position and reputation is under threat. Channel 4 is at risk of being hijacked.

The biggest challenge is that C4’s remit of taking risks, will now be at risk. Although Lord Burns is preparing proposals to allow C4 to continue providing distinctive and diverse public service programming, I’m not convinced. The challenge in becoming private, is that C4 is less likely to take risks, in order to secure financial gain for private investors. This will only ever come at the expense of new talent, as recruiting reputable programme makers will take precedence over younger, less experienced talent, in the quest for greater financial return. Say goodbye to talent schemes and diversity then – isn’t that what C4’s all about?

centennials - standard.co.uk

Perhaps there’s an opportunity here then. With a £1billion pound sale, C4 could devote funds to the talent schemes that privatisation threatens. The future and quality of Channel 4 programming and television in general, depends upon the social representation of its workforce. We cannot freeze out talent, by jeopardising internships, talent schemes and opportunities, on and off-screen, for those who may otherwise never get the chance.

It seems Channel 4 is in danger of losing its identity, damaging the culture it stands a part of. In the current social climate, where we at the bottom are already feeling neglected, it’s an insult to sell the TV channel we believe in, to the people that we don’t.

It’d be unfair to assume that every avenue will lead to disaster. There’s an opportunity here to invest in new, future-proof digital platforms, encouraging private owners with digital expertise, to apply their own product innovations to C4. C4 could offer more to Millennials and Centennials via second and third screens, subsidising its long-form broadcast content and All4 platform.

My main fear though, is that quality alternative programming will be neglected in favour of cutting costs, that private companies will have editorial judgement over content and the value of programmes and their unique standpoint, will be undermined. Substantial profits will vanish from production budgets into the bonus packets of private owners - it’s the banking crisis coming for culture. Despite small glimmers of hope, my view remains that the only real ‘public value’ that the Dept. of Business stands to gain, I fear, is a financial one.

'Days of Hope'

Days of Hope follows the stories of many who are waiting to cross from Africa to Europe for work as well as some who have already made it across, only to find it is not quite as blissful as they'd imagined.

Ditte - dfi.dk

Director Ditte Haarløv Jensen manages to capture some extremely intimate moments with her contributors, aided by the stunning quality of some close range cinematography from Minka Jakerson. The two ladies really know how to identify with what makes us human, focussing on the face, the eyes, the stories. The shots linger long enough for us to find meaning in everything, whether it be a phone call where all parties insist that they are fine or when a young girl prays for her mother's happiness. This clarity in pacing I suppose is an additional bonus considering that there is no voiceover to help us along.

I do have one negative thing to say in that, I found it difficult to keep up with the contributors as we switched from location to location. I actually lost track of how many there were which makes me feel almost guilty that I too am forgetting them. But due to the fact that I was reading the subtitles, I sometimes failed to really take in the face, which meant that it became difficult to sometimes tell who was who.

However, there are moments within the film that really stand out and will consider to swim in my mind for some time. The first, is the mobile phone footage of the washed up bodies of those who didn't make the crossing across the ocean. The person operating the camera is not shy of going too close and so we are faced with some horrific images that really drive home the feeling of desperation.

Thelma - serenoregis.org

The second moment, is when Thelma prays so devoutly for the well-being and happiness of her mother. The camera is invisible to her. She is alone, with Go and we very much feel the intensity of her faith as an audience. 

The third moment is the celebration of a birthday within the immigration centre. It is touching to see so many men wishing another well at a time when all of them, fear for their futures and need nothing more than to find work for themselves. And yet they share their wishes and they play music and they sing happy birthday. That for me really showed the spirit of these young men that make the journey to Europe for work.

Harouna - bullittfilm.dk

And so, we see the horror, the desperation, the faith and courage and we see the relentless spirit that these men and women carry forward throughout their lives, despite such endless hardship, to provide for their families.

A really great film about an issue I know very little about but have always wished to learn. I look forward to seeing some of Ditte's other works in the future.

To read the Q&A with director Ditte, click here: http://watchinabitotheatrenstuff.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/days-of-hope-q.html

Rt Hon Theresa May - Why Holocaust Education is so Important

Last year, in 2014 I had the pleasure of spending a little time with UK Home Secretary and constituent MP, Theresa May. I was extremely grateful that Ms May set aside a little time within an extremely busy schedule to allow me to ask her a few questions about why holocaust memorial and education is so important for us globally, both socially and politically. Here's what Ms May had to say on the issue:

1) Q: Why is learning about holocaust so important within compulsory education?

Well I think it is important that young people understand what happened during the holocaust and hey see and understand the depths to which man’s inhumanity to man, can go. Sadly of course, we’ve seen in recent years, genocides such as in Rwanda, but it’s so important people understand what happened during the holocaust.

And I think what the Holocaust Educational Trust does in actually taking youngsters to Auschwitz, showing them what it was like, just brings it into much sharper focus for people and so I’m very pleased that schools in my constituency do actually participate in this and give young people that opportunity.

And of course, in terms of [Key] Stage 3 history curriculum, there is education about the holocaust as part of that, which I think is important.

2) Q: And what about its political significance?

I think it’s important particularly in fact, for the same reasons it’s important that young people learn about it. First of all it is important that we all remember and recognise what can happen when a regime such as the one in Nazi Germany takes the actions it did, takes the attitude that it did, towards groups of people, and then takes the action that led to the many millions of deaths that occurred during the holocaust.

It is a sharp wake up call to politicians to remind us of the depths to which human beings can go and that’s important in itself but it’s important today as well, for another reason which is that sadly we still see people wanting to take up violence against others, hate crimes occurring.

I recently participated in an event run by the community safety trust and visited a group that is funded by the Jewish community, that works to provide security to synagogues, to provide support and information to young people at university for example about how to protect themselves from anti-Semitic behaviour and abuse and hate crimes. How sad it is that that is still necessary today. Despite what we saw happening during the holocaust and despite what we should have learnt from that.

And so for politicians today, we have to recognise, the problems that still exist in society, in relation to hate crimes and those can be hate crimes against people of a variety faiths for example but we still see hate crime out there today and we have to be aware of it and recognise it.

And Holocaust Memorial Day reminds us of the extremities that human beings are willing to go to when there is that hatred among them.

3) Q: And it’s resonance globally?

I think we all would have hoped that, as human beings, we would have learned and would have recognised that that was not what should occur. Sadly of course we have seen, as in the genocide in Rwanda that once again people, because people happen to belong to a different sort of group within their society, we saw genocide on the scale that we did.

What we want, obviously what we all want is to ensure that events like that do not happen again. That’s why Holocaust Memorial is relevant, not just for us here in the UK, but relevant globally.

But it is also relevant because we see hate crime, at a lesser level, elsewhere as well, in parts of Europe, I am aware of. So these are messages that we need to KEEP giving to people and keep reminding people of. We would all want to be in a situation where we didn’t need to but sadly, the evidence is, we do need to continue. That’s why that constant memorial, reminding people of what did happen and what can happen, is so important.

4) Q: What’s your view on educating adults about the holocaust?

Well, young people go through school, and they become adults obviously, and they can take that through into their adulthood and take that understanding through into their adulthood.

I think what’s important in what the Holocaust Educational trust but particularly the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust does is there is a point in time each year, when the issue is raised and the profile of the issue is raised, so that reminds adults about the issue and can act as a trigger. Hopefully some people will say, well actually I want to know more about this, as a result of seeing that memorial and see people taking that time to say we need to recognise, we need to remind ourselves of what CAN happen between human beings. And hopefully people will then take that forward.

But In the whole arena of trying to reduce hate crime, trying to deal with hate crime, and also to do with extremism of course, government has a role to play.

One of the things we’ve done is to encourage the proper recording of hate crime so we get a much better understanding of what is happening. And also as a government we’ve taken a more robust view, than has been done previously in relation to extremist preachers, for example.