Dedicated to the Truth

This past week my lesson for my eighth graders required me to teach them how to correct wrong information. This seemed easy enough since I was given a set of correction phrases to work with such as: “Sorry, but that’s not right,” “I’m afraid you’re wrong,” and “You’re mistaken.” Using Korean pop culture as my backdrop, I created a slide show where I provided students with three sentences: two correct and one incorrect. I instructed them to seek out the wrong sentence and then fix it using the phrases we discussed. They quickly caught on and corrected all eleven sets. After the slideshow was over, I planned to make the next activity about them. I ask students to write three sentences about themselves: two correct (truths) and one incorrect (lie). I asked all of my students if they understood and they all nodded and exclaimed “Yes!”

Walking around the room to check on student work and progress I noticed a trend—all students stopped after writing the two correct sentences. I quickly knelt down next to Ye Eun and asked her why she had stopped. Ye Eun looked at me and said “Teacher, I don’t understand number three.” I restated the instructions in a different way, saying she needs to write something about herself which is not true. Ye Eun just looked at me and asked “Why?” After having a similar conversation with a few other girls I realized they were not writing because they weren’t capable, but because I gave them a task which they are not familiar with—lying.

In Korean culture, honesty is not an ideal it is the norm. Here, everyone is honest and to the point, regardless of how harsh what they are saying sounds. To a Korean, being truthful is like making an observation; you simply state what you see. One example of this honesty is everyday at school at least three students say to me, “Teacher, you have a big nose.” I have learned over the last few weeks that my students are not saying your nose is ugly, but that I simply have a big nose (thanks Dad!).

Furthermore, this level of honesty is uninhibited by social taboos; nothing is off limits here. Here, talking about and discussing a person’s weight and physical appearance to her face is as normal as discussing the weather. Numerous times students have approached me to tell me they think I am beautiful. Flattered, I always say thank you and return the compliment. One day when this happened, the friend of the girl who complimented me retorted my kind remark with, “No. She is fat and ugly. Why do you think she don’t have boyfriend.” I did not know what to say. The girls weren’t laughing; they had just stated the situation as they saw it. From the numerous interactions I have had and witnessed with teachers/students at my school, it is evident that self-esteem is not a concept here. The rule is you state what you see and what you think without regard to how it might make someone feel. This is something I don’t think I can ever get used to. From now on my personal mission is to find something nice to say about every student I encounter. The concept of self-esteem may not have a name here, but that doesn’t mean my girls can’t feel good about themselves.