[Kim Tae Hyun's Teen Education] Essential Abilities Every Teacher, Parent...

[Korea Lecturer News | Columnist Kim Tae Hyun] Have you ever heard the phrase “classroom gap”?

After working directly in many educational settings, I realized that every school has its own learning culture and characteristics. I began calling this phenomenon the classroom gap.

When you step into different classrooms, you quickly notice that students’ attitudes, energy, and learning environments vary greatly depending on the region, school, and grade level. That is natural, because every child is different.

But the most important question is not how different students are.

It is this:

How much of their potential is being brought to life?

Before entering a school, I often receive information about each class to prepare customized lessons. But in reality, I usually encounter two possibilities:

The teacher’s description matches the students exactly.

The teacher’s description is completely different from reality.

If we break it down further, there are four common types:

Students who appear excellent exactly as described

Students who seem hopeless exactly as described

Students described positively but inwardly anxious

Students described negatively but who actually show remarkable attitude and potential

I use classroom information as reference, but it is never absolute.

That is why I enter every classroom with multiple plans.

What saddens me most is that fewer adults seem able to truly see children for who they are.

If we genuinely want to educate children, we must develop eyes that can see beyond labels.

We must recognize how far their potential can go.

But because all humans carry assumptions and bias, the real solution is not forcing ourselves to “judge better.”

It is creating environments where children can reveal their own potential.

Only then can adults break their prejudice and see children with new eyes.

And the classroom gap does not exist only in schools.

It appears anywhere children gather:

Homes

Academies

Counseling rooms

Churches

Clubs

Community spaces

Where adults draw out children’s potential, they grow limitlessly.

Where adults trap children inside fences and force their own life as the only correct answer, children’s inner fire begins to fade.

So the real question is:

What kind of adult am I becoming for children right now?

Am I someone who draws out their potential—or someone who extinguishes it?

Today, I would like to share three essential abilities every teacher, parent, and educator must have.

1. Relationship-Building Ability

The Power to Open Hearts

Relationship-building is one of the most basic principles of education—and one of the most neglected.

Ironically, those with the most experience sometimes rely too heavily on their own methods and neglect genuine connection.

Some depend on appearance.

Some depend on humor.

Some depend on lesson materials.

But what matters most is connecting hearts.

Think about it:

How can children easily trust an unfamiliar adult?

Trust does not appear automatically.

That is why relationship-building is the responsibility of the educator.

A child’s heart can only be opened from the inside.

An educator must keep knocking patiently until the lock opens.

When I first meet students, I always:

Learn their names

Make eye contact

Offer sincere praise

Speak warmly

Why?

Because children are precious exactly as they are.

And children detect sincerity more sharply than many adults.

That is why educators must love children as they are.

When Connection Is Real

You may have heard the expression of being “love-struck,” where everything about someone feels lovable and you naturally care how they are doing.

Relationships with students can be similar.

Even during class, I sometimes jokingly send heart gestures to students.

At first they feel awkward.

Soon they laugh and send hearts back with both hands.

When true connection is formed, something beautiful happens after class:

Students leave letters.

Inside those letters are worries they have not shared even with friends or family.

That means the lock has opened.

A good class may leave reviews such as:

“It was fun.”

But a class built on real connection leaves students’ stories behind.

2. Speaking Ability

Knowing the Power of Words

Because I work as a lecturer, I call this lecture ability.

But in truth, this applies equally to teachers, parents, mentors, and anyone guiding children.

Every moment of connection requires speech.

Human beings live through language.

And for children still drawing the picture of their lives, adults’ words carry enormous influence.

Children’s lives are like clean white paper.

What color we paint onto that paper matters.

That is why understanding the power of words is essential for every educator.

Many people think speech means standing on a stage before a crowd.

But often what matters far more is everyday conversation.

I once taught a concept I call:

Big Speech = formal speaking on stage

Small Speech = daily conversation in classrooms, homes, and counseling rooms

Children’s hearts open and close in these small moments.

The “Mi-Mi-Mi Principle”

When I think about impactful education, I use three key elements:

Fun

Beauty / Authentic Self (ME)

Meaning

If these three are present, education can remain in children’s lives.

① Fun

All education must contain fun.

Fun does not merely mean laughter.

Laughter:

Creates happiness

Builds trust

Opens relationships

Increases engagement

That is why skilled speakers use humor to connect quickly.

Education should do the same.

Humor, relatable stories, shared interests, and joyful energy create immersion.

I sometimes teach six class periods in a day or lead overnight camps.

At the end, students say:

“Teacher, six periods felt like six seconds.”

“Two days felt like one day.”

“Please be our homeroom teacher forever!”

These are not just compliments.

They are evidence of immersion.

Fun helps children forget time and remember learning.

Please—give children joyful classes.

In happy environments, children give their best.

② Beauty / ME

The second principle is beauty—not surface beauty, but authenticity.

True beauty means being fully yourself and helping others become themselves too.

That is why I connect beauty with ME.

An educator’s words must contain their own story.

Not recycled information from the internet.

Not empty theory.

Real experience.

Real struggle.

Real life.

When I meet students, I often say:

“I did not come here just to teach theory. I came because I want you to live well, happily, and meaningfully. I want to show you how.”

When students hear sincerity, their eyes change.

Why?

Because many have only seen adults who deliver content and disappear.

In career education, I share my own teenage challenges and decisions like a movie story.

Students become deeply immersed.

Sometimes they cheer.

Sometimes they feel regret.

Sometimes they cry.

Then, when the lesson ends, I do not need to force the message.

They have already accepted it within themselves.

That is the power of authenticity.

Children know quickly whether words come from lived truth or copied material.

That is why I always teach from my own story.

③ Meaning

No matter how fun or emotional a class is, if nothing remains afterward, it is not education.

Education is not a stage for the teacher.

It is time for the child.

Meaningful education leaves something students can actually use in life.

For example:

In career classes, I help students build principles they can stand on

In job-readiness classes, I help them create resumes or self-introductions they can use anytime

In workshops, I help them produce real outcomes with their own hands

Recently, I even introduced students to an AI tool version of myself—“AI Tae Hyun”—so they could continue receiving support after I returned home.

That is education becoming meaningful in daily life.

Many forms of education only help students search for meaning.

Real education becomes meaning for them.

3. Environmental Design Ability

Creating a Space for Immersion

Even with strong relationships and excellent speaking skills, education collapses if the environment is weak.

Because true learning requires participation.

Many educators ask me:

“Can all of this really happen in a short amount of time?”

My answer is simple:

Yes.

Short time can create intensity.

Long time can create depth.

The issue is never length.

The issue is design.

To unlock potential, children must participate.

They must:

Trust the educator

Feel fun and story in the lesson

Discover meaning

Practice it themselves

That is why I always say:

Please do not speak endlessly alone.

Long, one-sided explanations rarely create great learning.

Why Classroom Gaps Happen

Two teachers may have the same content.

But one teacher:

Focuses on essentials

Lets students practice

Gives feedback

Creates experience

Another teacher:

Talks the whole time

Controls the room

Ends with no student ownership

The result is obvious.

One class grows.

The other simply passes time.

The 90 / 20 / 8 Rule

Educational psychology offers a useful principle:

Do not lecture for more than 90 minutes without a break

Summarize every 20 minutes

Create interaction every 8 minutes

In short:

Rest. Summarize. Interact.

These are not optional.

They are essential.

I apply this constantly.

I begin with stories and examples.

Then activities and discussion.

Then student output and presentation.

Then coaching and feedback.

That is when education becomes alive.

Children Change When Environment Changes

I once taught a student who hated presentations.

But in the right environment—safe, engaging, participatory—that student slowly began expressing ideas.

By the final session, the student confidently held the microphone and spoke before peers.

Whenever I witness moments like that, I am reminded:

When the environment changes, the child changes.

When motivation is planted and immersion becomes possible, hidden potential appears naturally.

Then adults begin seeing children differently.

And loving them more deeply.

That is the positive cycle of education.

Closing Thoughts

Depending on an educator’s ability to design environments, children living in the same era and the same time can experience completely different educational realities.

The three essential abilities are:

Relationship-Building Ability

Speaking Ability

Environmental Design Ability

Only teachers, parents, and educators equipped with these can turn children’s infinite potential into reality.

So today, ask yourself:

What kind of adult am I becoming for children?

Am I drawing out their potential—or dimming it?

That question should remain deeply in all of our hearts.

Columnist Profile

Kim Tae Hyun is a youth education expert and curriculum designer specializing in career development, self-directed learning, and leadership education. Known widely as Girin Teacher, he is recognized for helping young people discover their potential and grow through meaningful, future-focused education.

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