On a recent visit, Education Governor Tae-Hee Yim of the Gyeonggi Province in South Korea observed as Belmont High School students dissected crabs, solved math problems, and debated the merits of artificial intelligence.
His visit was inspired after meeting Fernando Reimers, a Harvard professor and director of Harvard’s Global Education Initiative, at a conference in Korea.
Reimers invited Yim to give a talk at Harvard University on the use of artificial intelligence in Gyeonggi Province, and helped to organize Yim’s visit to Belmont High.
During his time at the school, Yim met with students, teachers, and administrators — including Superintendent Jill Geiser and Principal Isaac Taylor — to exchange ideas about the educational systems of South Korea and Massachusetts.
“I found that students have more opportunity to choose what they want to do,” Yim said of the Belmont School system, adding that teachers and principals in Belmont have more autonomy to build their own school cultures.
He said he wants to provide a similar sense of autonomy to the schools of Gyeonggi Province.
Another difference between the educational systems of Belmont and Gyeonggi Province is that students in Gyeonggi Province are encouraged to use devices in the classroom to personalize their learning, said Yim.
“We provide individual devices [to] each of the teachers and students,” he said, noting that students are able to use these devices to connect to online educational platforms at any time.
According to Yim, it’s also vital for classrooms to integrate artificial intelligence into student learning.
“Nobody knows what is [to] come through our future, so everybody needs to understand what it means to use all the AI tools and other technology,” he said.
Yim also said AI can contribute to a more “innovative classroom” in which students are able to learn new critical thinking and problem solving skills.
“We’re trying to think about it carefully, but we don’t hesitate to adopt new technology into our education,” he added.
Yim’s visit, which was planned and organized by Belmont High School’s secretary, Angie Hernandez, created an opportunity for students and staff to engage in cross-cultural dialogue.
“It’s always a great opportunity to have a high-profile visitor coming from another country, another culture, another system,” said Principal Isaac Taylor. “I think it’s very flattering that someone who is in charge of such a high performing district from overseas would want to come out to the school and see what we’re doing.”
Taylor said he hopes the visit will contribute to an enduring partnership that will expand over the coming years.