Korean Education System Comparing to USA and Finland - Research Proposal Example

1.2 A Historical, Social, and Educational Context of the United States of AmericaThe United States, founded in 1776 by British colonies, plays an enormous role both in shaping the world today with respect to economic, political, and cultural dimensions (Strikwerda, 2000). The United States is the world’s foremost economic and military power and is also a major source of entertainment (BBCNEWS, 2004a, p. 1). The US market is home to around 4 percent of the world’s population, approximately 273 million people, and comprises 50 states and 1 federal district (“USA Country profile”, 2004, p. 1). Ethnic and racial diversity, sometimes called the “melting pot,” is celebrated as a core element of the American ideology.

The 1964 Civil Rights Act outlawed racial and other discrimination, but race and ethnicity continue to be divisive issues. Despite relative prosperity in the 1990s, the gap between rich and poor is a major challenge. More than 30 million Americans live below the official poverty line, with a disproportionate percentage of these being members of African-American and Hispanic racial/ethnic groups (BBCNEWS, 2004a, p. 1).During most of the 1920s, Finland enjoyed a period of unbalanced prosperity: prices for agricultural commodities and wages fell at the end of the war, while new industries, including radio, movies, automobiles, and chemicals flourished.

At the end of the 1920s and during the 1930s, Finland experienced severe economic depression, marked by punishing levels of unemployment, negligible investment, and falling prices and wages (“History of the United States”, 2004, p. 3).Finland has achieved almost universal access to education at the primary level and enrollment at the secondary level is quite high. For example, the proportion of children aged five to 17 enrolled in school has grown steadily, from 72 percent at the turn of the last century [nineteenth century] to 91.

7 percent in 1995-96 (Fiske & O’Grady, 2000). And in 2000, 84.1 percent of the population had a high school diploma or at least some higher, compared with 75.2 percent in 1990. Finland's public school system is huge. In the year 2000, the U.S spent roughly $314 billion on education. The school system included 5.4 million employees (2.7 million of which were teachers) and 46 million students (Long & Riegle, 2002, p. 147).