1,6대 – 김치경 박사

According to a survey of Korean school teachers from 81 countries, 60% responded that the main reason for learning Hangeul is to find the identity of Korean people. [1] Now then, do our Korean teachers understand what Korean identity is? Identity consists of the intellectual act of making a connection between one’s principal human agent and his/her present and past, as well as the process of examining one’s self-introspection. [2] Identity is discovering one’s unchanging existence or its nature of possessing independent existence. [3] Central to this concept is perception of independent existence because the independent existence is the identity we are searching for. However, this identity is not reciting a part of historical facts in the textbooks, but is gained through a subjective process of making inquiry and self-examination. It is a process of self-discovery and introspection.

One premise I propose is that true independent existence or identity shall be at least ours that originates from self-experience and is developed from our own traditional culture which we are proud of. It is because at the foundation of independent identity is the notion that our history, including its culture itself, is by nature independent existence.

One day, upon the request of the Korean Consulate General Office in New York, I had a chance to interview a graduate Korean student who needed to fulfill military duty in Korea but wanted to apply for an extension of the military service requirement. The permission for an extension partially depended on the interview. I asked, “If you get a question from an American audience ‘what about Korea makes you proud?’, what would you say?” “There is nothing about Korea that I am proud of!” replied this graduate school student, without any hesitation. I was shocked but I controlled myself and calmly said, “Maybe you were caught by an unexpected question. Why don’t you step out of the room for 10 minutes to think about my question and come back? We can then talk about the same topic again.” Why wasn’t there anything to be proud of about his mother land, his people and his culture?

It was because of an obvious absence of national pride and spirit! It was tragedy that came from the absence of educational history! Why, in other words, didn’t he have national identity? It sadly pounded my heart, the heart of an educator! Can Korean people truly live on without Hangeul, Korean language, and their culture? No! Thus, are Korean’s spiritual power and its identity living in Hangeul, Korean language, and its culture? Yes. I believe this is true! Arirang was selected and recorded by the UNESCO as an “Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.” All over the world, our culture, showing its artistic beauty, is being inherited to the next generation. At the Pulmashi Festival in New Jersey, our Korean school students performed Korean dances. To me this event was a living display of Korean heritage and identity. Samulnori and Pansori were our identity. Kimchi and five color vegetables, barbecued short rib and Bulgogi, Gymbab and Dukboggi, and Sundai – they all are our identity. We have a lot to proudly show because they are all our identity!

Once Arnold Toynbee [4] told us, “The race which rules the world has had three distinctive national characters: hard-working, strong responsibility, and preservation of its own culture.” Thus, for a meaningful Korean study, the most essential educational task of our educators is to find the method of teaching our own traditional cultural heritage. This cultural sketchbook includes Korean traditional dresses, building structures, ceramics, Korean tiger, cloth handbag, the Turtle Ship, Cheomseongdae observatory, Seokguram Grotto, Emaile Bell, ssireum wrestling, Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving), etc. 250 Korean arts are presented in color, matching with B&W line drawings so that students can color each sketch and visually experience the Korean culture. It is not necessary to form a special art class, but any leisure time can effectively be utilized.

Finally, after many years of study, Chong Yull Um, an artist and writer, has publishing a visual-experiential educational sketchbook, Korean Cultural Heritage: Coloring Book, (2017). [5] I wholeheartedly recommend “Learning Korean Culture Through Art” by Mr. Um to every Korean school and every Korean family, for I believe this approach to teaching culture is an exciting way of helping our young students visually experience our own culture in the most meaningful way. Students can explore and discover Korean culture and experience its richness and beauty by coloring the sketches. This would be a natural way of coming to a better understanding about the Korean identity and growing to become our next generation to make our culture blossom all over the world!

I wish to express my deepest appreciation for Mr. Um and his dedication to the Korean study by publishing Korean Cultural Heritage: Sketchbook, (2018). [6] I also applaud schools and parents who will use this fun-filled coloring books for the purpose of inheriting our culture, that is Korean!
Let’s teach our beautiful Korean culture!

Profile: Chi Kyong Kim, Educator, Ed.D.
 2001~2009, University of Maine at Machias, Curriculum Theory and Educational Methods
 1969~2001, Teacher and Chair of Science Department, Cherry Hill High School East, New Jersey
 1993, Temple University, Ed.D. in Curriculum Theory
 1973, Rowan University, MS in Educational Supervision
 1961, Korea University, BS in Physics
 1979~2009, Principal the Korean School of Southern New Jersey for 17 years
 2009~Present, Honorary Principal/Vice Director of the Korean School of Southern New Jersey

References
[1] Jae Wook Kim, 2014.
[2] Ki Bong Kim, Pleasure of Korean Study, 2011.
[3] Standard Korean Dictionary
[4] English Historian and Philosopher, 1889~1975.
[5, 6] Korean Cultural Heritage: Coloring Sketchbook 2018.