The 13th Korean Studies Work-shop for educators from English-speaking countries, organized by the Foundation in cooperation with Korea University's Graduate School of International Studies, was held from June 26 to July 11. The workshop, designed to enhance understanding of Korea, was attended by 40 secondary school teachers and educational administrators from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States.
In the morning, participants attended lectures on a wide variety of subjects, including the Korean language, history, culture, politics, economics, and education. The afternoons were devoted to visits to cultural performances, local schools, Korean homes, the DMZ at Panmunjeom, and a viewing of the popular Korean movie JSA (Joint Security Area). After the workshop in Seoul ended, participants left on a four-day trip to Gyeongju and Haeinsa Temple to explore Korea's cultural heritage and natural scenery.
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Workshop participants taking lectures
on Korea-related topics. |
The Foundation's annual Korean Studies Workshop originated in 1989 when the International Cultural Society of Korea (ICSK), the predecessor to the Foundation, realized that there was very little Korean content in the curricula of most secondary schools in the United States. To remedy this, an invitation programs was established so that American teachers could visit Korea. The program has since developed into an international event in which teachers and educators from different countries can exchange thoughts and information about Korea's place in secondary classroom instruction.
The Foundation took over this program ten years ago, and has now played host to 514 educators from English-speaking countries. It is hoped that these teachers pass on what they have learned about Korea to their students and fellow teachers as well. In this way, the real returns from the workshop are considerable.
In addition, collaborative organizations in each country handle not only the selection of individual participants but also follow-up activities after the event by having teachers submit reports about their experience and holding follow-up discussions and workshops, thereby increasing the effectiveness of the workshop efforts. As such, the teachers who participate feel a responsibility to share with their colleagues as well as their students what they saw, heard, and felt during their visit to Korea.
Over the years, hundreds of lesson plans have been submitted in the form of reports with the best of these being compiled and published as reference material and textbooks. The Korea Society, the Foundation's collaborative organization for the workshop in the United States, has published a series of Korean studies textbooks over the last two years entitled Korea: Lessons for High School Social Studies Courses, Korea: Lessons for Elementary School, and Korean Voices: Growing Up During a Time of Crisis. These texts, which were edited by Choi Yong-jin, director of Korean studies department at the Korea Society, were written by teachers who had participated in the Foundation's Korean Studies Workshop. The Asia Education Foundation, the Foundation's collaborative organization in Australia, in cooperation with the Curriculum Corporation and Access Asia, published student textbooks and teacher's handbooks last year entitled Exploring Korea and Inside King Sejong's Gate, parts of which can be assessed on the Internet. The authors of these texts are teachers who attended the Korean Studies Workshop in 1994.
Many workshop participants have also begun to set up websites about Korea on the Internet in lieu of submitting written reports. Four of the participants in the 2000 workshop have opened Korea-related websites, and another ten of those who took part in this year's workshop have indicated their intention to pursue similar projects. These Korea-related educational websites are introduced in the Korean Studies Workshop cyber alumni section on the Foundation's own Internet homepage. As additional Korea-related websites are launched, it is hoped that they will serve as a valuable reference resource for gaining easy access to varied and plentiful teaching material on Korea.
An equally important by-product of the workshop that should not be overlooked is the friendship and camaraderie that is built up among the participating educators. Participants spend a fortnight in Korea talking with their counterparts from different countries, discussing their different education environments and exchanging helpful information, and then return to their home countries with memories and friendships to last a lifetime. Personnel exchange projects, which are all about exchanges between people, are by nature fraught with problems in the process of preparation. But with every passing year, the significance of this personnel exchang program seems to further expand thanks to the accompanying friendships and memories made during the workshop.
[Guide to Korean Studies Workshop-related Homepages]● 재단 홈페이지 한국학워크숍 싸이버동창회 :
www.kf.or.kr/alumni●The Korea Society (U.S.) :
www.koreasociety.org● Asia Education Foundation/Curriculum Corporation (Australia) :
www.curriculum.edu.au●Asia 2000 Foundation (New Zealand) :
www.asia2000.org.nz● Asia Pacific Foundation (Canada) :
www.asiapacific.ca
한국국제교류재단
