While I was considering how to provide both Christian education and English education for my children, I recently heard that a Christian school had opened a campus in Songdo. So, my wife and I are currently discussing the possibility of transferring our youngest child from public school to that institution. Having experienced firsthand in the United States how the overall social climate, policies, and even education became increasingly liberal with the advent of the Obama administration, I was initially filled with concern.
Sure enough, following President Yoon Suk-yeol’s declaration of martial law, the current South Korean government—which took office amid unconstitutional impeachment proceedings and allegations of election fraud—is now pushing the nation in a highly radical and communist direction, causing significant concern in the education sector as well. In fact, superintendents of education in major cities have already been appointed from among those with left-wing ideologies, and it is as clear as day that the curriculum will be revised accordingly. The only difference from the U.S. is that, due to the smaller population and a unified language, the pace of change is much faster, and the educational climate can shift in the blink of an eye.
However, my wife viewed the Christian International School as an early English education institution for admission to U.S. universities, and it seemed she perceived it as the “International Christian School”—a reversal of the word order. She also seemed dissatisfied with the fact that the Songdo campus had outdated facilities compared to public schools, and since it was a newly established school, most of the students were Korean and the enrollment was low. Furthermore, when the TV program “Chu-jeok 60 Minutes” aired a critical segment on unaccredited international schools, it appears her trust in the principal, who is a pastor, had also waned. Fortunately, thanks to some parents we know, we received a statement from the school that cleared up the misunderstanding. However, it seems the principal’s confident promotion of the U.S. campus during the school information session still weighed heavily on their minds.
However, even though I observed the same situation, perhaps because of a different perspective, my wife and I have slightly different views on enrolling our child in this international school. First and foremost, I believe that building a foundation of learning based on Christian values and the Word of God is of utmost importance. This is because the essence of education lies in knowing exactly who created this world, who we are, and the meaning of our existence. Once a child’s worldview is established on this biblical foundation, the next step is to cultivate the logic and critical thinking skills needed to acquire worldly knowledge through reading—and English is far more advantageous for this than Korean. This is because the majority of human knowledge is recorded in English, and that knowledge is then translated into the languages of other countries.
Not long ago, my eldest child, who is a college student, had the opportunity to mentor high school students on Ulleungdo. When my child asked me how to approach the opening remarks, I replied as follows: “The amount of information available in Korean versus English online varies by a factor of 55 for websites, 33 for YouTube content, 10 for Wikipedia, and over 100 for scientific papers. Therefore, learning English is highly advantageous, and especially in this age of AI, even just by using prompts effectively, you can communicate and interact with students from all over the world right here on Ulleungdo.”
I firmly believe that faith should be the top priority in my child’s education. Following that, I earnestly hope that, with English education as a foundation, my child will adapt to global culture and become someone “the world cannot contain.” To achieve this, I believe it is a misguided approach to shift the responsibility onto educational institutions or to expect such education to happen naturally through teachers and friends. When parents rise early in the morning to start the day with Scripture and prayer, and do not neglect their own studies by reading books, children learn by watching their parents’ example. That is why, even today, I rise early to read the Word, pray, and write this blog. I hope this record will serve as a precious foundation for my children.
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