22년 동안 나의 고향인 독일을 비롯해 네덜란드, 미국, 러시아, 피지 등 세계 다양한 나라들의 대학에서 경제학을 가르쳤던 나는 작년 10월부터 창원대 경제학과에서 학생들을 가르치게 되었습니다. 각 나라의 대학들마다 학생들의 학습 태도는 각각 달랐습니다.

 일부 국가에서는 학생들이 교수의 충고에 따라 공부하고 그것을 하나의 기회로 여깁니다. 러시아의 경우에는 학생들이 학습에 관한 문제를 알기위해서 치열하게 그리고 아주 열심히 공부를 합니다.(그들 중 일부는 하루 종일 책을 읽기위한 모든 준비가 되어있습니다.) 반면 독일이나 피지학생들의 경우 학업보다는 여가에 더 많은 시간을 투자하여 학교생활 자체를 즐기려 합니다.

 제가 생각하기에 한국학생들은 이 두 그룹 사이에 있는 듯합니다. 하지만 한 가지 이해할 수 없는 것이 있습니다. 왜 일부 학생들이 강의 중간에 잠을 자는가 하는 것입니다. 그 학생들이 왜 자신들의 침대에서 잠을 자지 않고, 학습하는 동안 자는 것인지 모르겠습니다. 이런 행동에 대해 나는 단호하게 말해 'NO'입니다. 이런 행동을 볼 때면 다른 나라로 가고 싶다는 생각이 듭니다. 또한 영어로 하는 나의 수업시간 동안 한국학생들은 매우 소극적입니다. 학생들의 이러한 문제를 해결하기 위해서는 학생들의 영어실력, 특히 구술 능력과 경제학에 대한 이해를 높여야만 한다고 생각합니다. 이는 쉽지 않은 일입니다.

 몇 주 전 학생들이 MT를 간 곳을 방문하였습니다. 그곳에서 조금은 적극적인 학생들과 함께하는 자리를 가졌습니다. 이는 새로운 경험이었고, 학생들을 잘 알지 못하는 나를 위해서 마련된 이러한 자리는 교수와 학생들 사이의 관계를 향상시키는데 큰 도움이 된다고 생각합니다.

 한국 학생들은 소극적인 태도를 버리고 시간이 걸리더라도 문제의 핵심에 대해 다시 생각한 다음 진정한 학습을 할 수 있습니다. 또한 학생들이 교수나 미래의 고용주 때문이 아닌 자기 자신들의 삶을 위해 공부할 때 자신이 배우는 것이 쉽고 재미있어 질 것입니다. 하루에 30분이면 충분합니다. 내가 가르치고 싶은 것은 학생들이 어떻게 지루한 문제들로 머리를 꽉 채우는 가가 아닌 어떻게 문제를 효율적으로 해결하는 가입니다.

 모든 학문은 사회의 혼란과 불안을 해결하기 위해 시작된 것입니다. 많은 학생들 또한 이를 기대하고 있습니다. 그러나 순수한 학문 그 자체만으로는 이러한 사회의 혼란과 불안을 해결할 수 없습니다. 하지만 누군가 그 학문에 대해서 정확히 이해하고 있을 때에 비로소 그것과 관련된 많은 문제들을 해결 할 수 있게 되는 것입니다.

 나는 항상 학생들의 두 가지 어려움(영어와 전공과목)에 대해서 고려하고 있습니다. 그리고 학생들이 과목을 잘 이해하도록 좋은 기회를 제공하기 위해 노력하고 있습니다.

그렇기에 제가 생각하는 몇 가지 방법이 학생들의 문제를 해결하는데 도움이 될 수 있을 것입니다. 저는 모든 학생들이 한 국가의 주요 언어를 터득하는데 3~6개월이 걸린다고 생각합니다. 학생들은 일주일에 최소한 1시간이라도 영어로만 의사소통을 해야 합니다. 신문을 보고 하나의 테마, 예를 들어 '정치에 대한 한국어 타임즈'와 같은 것을 정하여 토론을 해야 합니다. 이렇게 하면 저는 학생들이 기초 영어를 가지고 구술능력을 향상 시킬 수 있다는 것을 알고 있습니다. 나는 학생들을 지원하기 위해 최선을 다할 것입니다.

 우리는 정상에 도달하지 못한 것이 아니라 도달하지 않은 것입니다. 시도하지 않으면 정상에 가는 길을 알고 있다 하더라도 도달하지 않습니다.

By Peter J. Stauvermann

The impressions of a German professor at the CNU

Since October last year I am working at the Department of economics at the CNU, in principle I am teaching since 22 years in the field of economics at various universities around the world- I have worked in my home country Germany, in the Netherlands, USA, Russia and Fiji. Attitudes of the students and also the colleagues in the different countries are very different. At first I would like to concentrate on the differences with respect to the student’s learning behavior. In some countries it is a real opportunity to study and absolute necessary to follow the advices of professors. In the extreme that was the case in Russia, the students studying very hard and are almost prepared regarding the learning matters (some of them reading the whole day all kind of books, really astonishing in our times), in some countries like the Netherlands, Germany and especially Fiji the students spend much more time for leisure and enjoying their student lives. In my opinion the Koreans are in between of both groups, however what I do not understand is; why some of the male students fall to sleep in the middle of a lecture. This kind of behavior would be an absolute “no-go” in the other countries. There the students would be asked why they do not sleep in their bed; and learning while sleeping seems to be a difficult task. Additionally, the Korean students are very shy, which has of course to do that I am teaching in English. With respect to that the students have to solve two problems; to improve their English, especially oral abilities and to understand economics, which is also not so easy. A few weeks ago, I was with the freshmen on a field trip and since that time they have lost a part of the shyness. This kind of field trip was new and unknown for me and I think that is really a good institution to improve the relationship between professors and students. However, I am always trying to take into account this double-learning problem (language and science) of the students in the tests and exams, so that they will have a good chance to pass through the courses. In general, it must be said that the Korean students and also the Koreans in general are very nice people and very helpful, even that they sometimes do not I understand what I want to know. In so far I would like to conclude the comparison between foreign students and Korean students that they have a nice behavior and I assume that their study is hard and difficult for them. The only thing they should learn is that they shall throw away their shyness and to take the time to rethink about the subject matters, after they learned it. They study for their life not for me or a potential employer, then economic science will become easy and they will enjoy it. A half hour a day would be enough. I try to teach them how to solve problems efficiently not to teach them how they can fill their brain with a maximum amount of boring subject matters. If they do so, then they will become very good economists. Or in the words of my wife; “It is not necessary to have all things in mind you only have to know where it is written down.”

Of course, in the beginning of studying economics it is confusing and disturbing, the pure economic world is far away from that what most students expected from it. On the other hand in some sense economists like me are restricted to maximize or minimize something given exogenous restrictions. In principle that is all. If someone has understood that, then he can solve all economic problems, where it plays no role if it is international trade or economic policy. The only objective is to reach “Efficiency” given the specific circumstances (which could be income equality).

Secondly, I would like to say something on my personal findings in Korea since I am living here.  I am living here in a dormitory on the campus and like that very much. It is near to my office, very well equipped and enough space for me. I am only confused if the loudspeaker in my dormitory starts to work and give some information in Korean, what I do not understand. And of course my preferences regarding food are very different from the preferences of an average Korean one; especially I like French fries and pizza, which is available here. My colleagues are very nice and support me as much as possible. Maybe that I lived in so many different countries it was possible to solve all problems of my life here. The people in the shops are also very friendly and helpful. Now I know people (from the German language institute and Koreans who studied in Germany) who are able to speak German very well and that is nice for me. Together with a Cambodian PhD student I explore Changwon from time to time, which is also very enjoying. And what I really like is the structure of the university in relation to former jobs. My tasks are clear defined; it is well-defined what is expected from me and what I can expect from the university. That is really like in Germany, in Germany Koreans are called the “Prussians” of Asia, and I think that is right. Of course, I will be happy to see my wife in the summer and to visit some European conferences, which includes a lot of work to write the papers.

At least I will give some ideas of me how some problems of students could be solved. I think every student should try to stay at minimum in a country where English is the main language for a period of 3-6 months, they should organize for themselves one hour per week to speak only English with each other. Maybe, they should discuss a theme from “Korean Herald” or “Korean Times” on politics, business or whatever. I know they got the foundations of English but the oral English must be improved. I am doing my best to support them and I am also willing to push the economic department forward in the rankings. I know that is a long way to the top, but if we do not try it, we will never reach it.    

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