Hagwons

I am writing a reasearch paper and doing a multi-modal project on South Korean Hagwons. Part of my project is to analyze sources and rhetoric that extends beyond the usual textual sources. For this, I searched the web. The first source was from Time Magazine, so I will be talking about the picture they posted in their 2011 article on South Korean "cram schools". (Picture posted below).

Picture Credit:http://img.timeinc.net/time/asia/magazine/2011/1003/360_skorea_school_1003.jpg

 

This picture is interesting for several reasons. The first is that the students in the pictrure are reviewing English. I would be willing to say that studying extra after school at a formal institution for a foreign language is a foreign concept for most Americans. In my experience, foreign languages are not heavily focused on during the High School and Jr. High days, although I'm sure there is always an exception.

 

The second reason this is interesting is because, in the picture, all the students shown are looking down at their paper. In a lot of American classrooms, I would consider myself lucky to take a picture of students and have all of them looking down at their work at the same time. It is possible that the students are behaving because there is a photographer there, but I believe the message is the same: these students are working hard. Hagwons are not a fun place to be, but a place to work and study. It is interesting how much information can be gleaned off of a seemingly innocuous photo, but I believe the picture above speaks volumes as to how the hagwons operate.