Education and Social Change in Korea

Don Adams, Esther E. Gottlieb

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN:
  9781138501386
• eBook ISBN:
  9781351387200
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Ethnic Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

This book, first published in 1993, provides students and scholars with an introduction to Korean education and the dynamics of interchange between the educational system and rapidly changing Korean society. Severe political, social and educational problems may be found in modern Korea: these conditions, together with certain persistent issues pertaining to the purposes, structure, and pedagogical characteristics of schooling make for serious contemporary debate.

CHAPTER I

Historical Roots of Modern Education

For several millennia prior to the 20th century Korea was linked politically and culturally with China. Chinese art, literature, social philosophy and language dominated the tastes of the Korean court and upper classes. In education, the continuing impact of Chinese influence was visible in the content of studies and in the structure of educational advancement. Learning centered around Chinese language and literature. The writing of Chinese ideographs, in addition to being a basis for written communication, was an art form much admired.

Korean culture and education in the 20th century continue to be molded by international forces. In addition to the Chinese legacy, the Japanese, during their period of hegemony, introduced patterns of governmental organization and administration whose influence persists today. Further, since World War II and the division of the country along the 38th parallel, the special relationship between South Korea and the United States has left its mark in many of the modernizing trends and especially in educational policy and practice. Lastly, industrial Korea looks outward to the world and has been very conscious of the powerful globalization process of trade and technology shaping its future.

Contemporary Korea linguistically and ethnically is a remarkably homogeneous society. With a few natural resources it has had one of the highest economic growth rates in the world over the last 20 years and during the same period one of the highest rates of educational growth. Its institutions, often reflecting a lineage of foreign influence in form, are fully Korean in substance. Korea has evolved its own unique national identity. A nation of approximately 40 million people, Koreans in the last decade of the 20th century remember the turbulent past, but give most of their thought and energy to reshaping the present institutions in order to better meet the challenges of the 21st century.

This chapter offers a brief overview of Korean education from earliest times to the present. The history is important not only to complete the picture of educational change but also to understand fully contemporary educational problems and issues. Korea’s educational past is part of the context of contemporary debates and decisions.

Traditional Educational Patterns

The religious, cultural, and ideological influences of ancient Korea are dominated by the cosmology of shamanism, present since ancient times, and the introduction through interactions with China of Buddhism and Confucianism. Shamanism, its mythology and rituals, appears to have given little attention to life hereafter or to previous life, but rather concentrated on the needs and interests of the ongoing life of the people. The gradual introduction of Confucianism and the later introduction of Buddhism in the 4th century brought two powerful and lasting influences on Korean culture. Buddhism and Confucianism have exerted profound impact on social, political and educational institutions throughout ancient and contemporary Korean history.

Confucius, a Chinese sage, is assumed to have lived during the 6th century BC. He and his followers left for posterity several books which came to be regarded as basic classics and over the years volumes of commentary have been added by scholars. Confucius “set up an ideal ethical-moral system intended to govern all the relationships within the family and the state in harmonious unity. It was basically a system of subordinations; of the son to the father, of the younger to the elder brother, of the wife to the husband, and of the subject to the throne. It inculcated filial piety, reverence for ancestors, and loyalty to friends. Strong emphasis was placed on decorum, rites, and ceremony. Scholarship and aesthetic cultivation were regarded as the prerequisites for those in governing other official positions” (COIS, A Handbook on Korea 1979:200) particularly allegiance to the sovereign.

Formal education in Korea is usually traced to the Three Kingdoms period when the geographical area roughly encompassing contemporary North and South Korea was controlled by Koguryo (37 BC- 668 AD) in the north, Paekche (18 BC-661 AD) in the southwest, and Silla (57 BC-935 AD) in the southeast of the Korean peninsula. The first public educational institute, modelled after Chinese (Confucian) institutions, was created in 372 AD in the Koguryo period. Sometimes referred to as the National Confucian Academy (Taehak), this institution fostered certain core Confucian ethics.

Although little is known about educational undertakings in the Paekche period, several educational institutions developed and prospered under the Silla kingdom. A training system for young aristocrats was initiated early in Silla’s history and eventually developed into Hwarangdo a “public semi-official social educational system” (Park, Sun-Young, 1991:13). The teachings of Hwarangdo were grounded in Shamanism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism, and at various times emphasized such virtues as patriotism, loyalty, filial piety, and martial arts. The elaboration of the bureaucracy and increased power of the sovereign led to the establishment of the National Confucian College (Kukhak) in 682, an institution modelled after Chinese institutes of higher education. Park describes the Confucian domination of the curriculum of the Kukhak:

Its curriculum, which focused on subjects keyed to the inculcation of loyalty to the monarch and filial piety to parents, was divided into three different courses of study based on elective subjects which varied from philosophy to history and literature. Upon graduation from the college, students underwent a state examination in the Confucian classics and were appointed to public posts according to their grades. It was the first of a long tradition of state examinations for civil service recruits which later came to be known as (Kwago). (Park, Sun-Young, 1991:14)

The kingdom of Silla was eventually absorbed into Koryo which further developed many of its institutional structures. Although Confucianism continued to exert strong influence on education, Koryo (918-1392) accepted Buddhism as its official religion. The educational system slowly evolved with several Hyanggyo located in the countryside teaching Chinese classics and history, and private village schools, Sudang, which introduced the reading and writing of Chinese ideographs. The Kuk Ja Gam, somewhat similar in function to the earlier Kukhak, provided advanced education. (See Figure 1.1) The Kuk Ja Gam, however, developed a curriculum which included in addition to Confucian classics such practical studies as calligraphy, accounting, law, and military tactics.

Figure I.1 School System in the Koryo Era (12th Century)

Source: Kim, Jong Chol. Educational Development, Seoul University Press, Seoul, 1985: 147.

Table I.1

Kuk Ja Gam in the 12th-Century Koryo

Source: Kim, Jong Chol. Educational Development, Seoul: Seoul University Press, 1985:148.

Choson in 1392 replaced Koryo as General Yi declared himself king initiating the Yi Dynasty (1392-1910). Perhaps the most important intellectual development under the latter stages of the Koryo had been the introduction of Neo-Confucianism. Historically, Buddhism and Confucianism had existed in relative harmony; however, corruption of some Buddhist monks and subsequent blame placed on Buddhists for their influence in weakening the Koryo court, which led to a military victory by the Mongols, had generated anti-Buddhist outcries among Confucian officials. Neo-Confucianism professed to have added to the philosophical depth of Confucianism by further explanation of the good (righteousness, wisdom, empathy) and the bad (material and ego-centered desires) sides of human nature.

The overall Confucian educational goal was to extend learning and self-cultivation. The ideal man was a “sage” (Gun Ja) whose wisdom contributed to the guidance of the state; the state itself had a responsibility to educate the people, that is, to lead them in the right direction. Good education was assumed to lead to good government and good government was assumed to guarantee a good society.

The selection of Confucian scholars was limited to the Yangbang or nobility class and the key to acceptance as a scholar was a set of national examinations which were created in the Koryo period and functioned until the latter part of the 19th century. Success in a number of examination hurdles could take a scholar to the final test in the presence of the king. The level of civil service appointment or social status depended on the ranking on the examinations.

The royal examination system played an important role in the life of Korea from the 10th century until the latter part of the 19th century. Achievement in these examinations became the highest individual educational goal for such achievement was not only practically a guarantee for a lifetime official position and a promise of coveted social prestige but also a devout expression of filial piety. The immediate purpose of these literary examinations was to select government officials on an unprejudiced basis of knowledge and scholastic ability. Another purpose for filling vacancies to official positions by means of free competition was to create a continued stimulus to cultural advancement. Neither purpose was fully achieved in Korea. First, this system had been originally developed to serve the peculiar needs of the Chinese power structure, where few nobility existed between the monarch and the people. In Korea, however, a numerically and politically strong landed gentry which jealously sought to maintain its privileges obstructed the usefulness of these examinations.

The educational system undergirding the examination system was a combination of public and private institutions of various quality and level of curriculum. At the top of this loose configuration was Songgyun-gwan, the national university. Songgyun-gwan could trace its origin to 1288 AD and from this date until Japanese annexation it was considered the highest educational institution in the nation. In 1398 this school settled at its present site in Seoul. More than merely an advanced school, the Songgyun-gwan was long the educational center of Korea. On its faculty were some of the most distinguished scholars of the nation and in its library was a priceless collection of the finest works of Chinese scholars. Its grounds served as the location for the royal examinations. The original purpose of the Songgyun-gwan was that of “… reorganizing the people’s life demoralized by the preponderance of Buddhists in the former dynasty and of training able officials for the administration.” To accomplish this goal “… it gathered here the best gifted youth of the Chinese classics so that they might acquaint themselves with Confucian moralism and philosophy as a guide for politics and economy” (Rim, 1952).

Thus from Hyanggyo or private institute to Songgyun-gwan the scholar traveled along an extremely narrow scholastic path. He studied to understand the ancient Confucian canon. The epitome of scholarship was the polished essay which typically reflected an attempt to produce a balanced mosaic of classic wisdoms. This process of emulation of a near sacred body of knowledge eventually was to prove inadequate preparation for the changes stirring in the late 19th century when Korea confronted western institutions and learning.

The 500-year history of Choson was a period in which Confucian roles and precepts were incorporated into the life and institutions of Korean society. Confucian principles became deeply infused into the structure of government, community, family and education. Each person, i. e., mother, father, daughter, son, teacher, student, official, ruler or subject, had a prescribed role defining in considerable detail appropriate behavior and responsibilities in social relationships. The purpose of education was to impart the rules, ceremonies, and moralistic principles associated with each status or rank. As Park Sum-Youn (1991) has n...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• INTRODUCTION
• CHAPTER I: Historical Roots of Modem Education
• CHAPTER II: The Educational System: Structure, Content and Administration
• CHAPTER III: Transnational Transfer Of Knowledge And Its Influences On Korean Education
• CHAPTER IV: Educational Policy Making and Planning
• CHAPTER V: Education, Economic and Social Change
• CHAPTER VI: Epilogue
• INDEX