[Editorial] State-designated textbooks hark back to authoritarian era

Posted on : 2014-09-25 18:18 KST Modified on : 2014-09-25 18:18 KST

On Sept. 24, the Ministry of Education unveiled its “integrated humanities-science curricula” for 2015. One of the key components was the use of state-designated textbooks in two shared courses, “integrated social studies” and “integrated science.” Social studies in particular contain a number of areas that are fraught with philosophical differences: world history, politics, law, ethics, history of thought. Even a course like integrated science can only truly be rich when it looks at things from a variety of perspectives, rather than arguing for one and only one “truth.”

The decision may not be set in stone yet, but if it does happen, it’s tantamount to turning the clock back to the 1970s and the days when the state tried to lock the curriculum in a uniform frame in the name of “state designation.” Not incidentally, those were also days when designated textbooks were used as tools for the authoritarian government to hold on to power by ratcheting up its controls over education. It’s also out of step with international trends. Of the major members of the OECD, not a single state issues designated textbooks. The ministry’s own data on textbook publication system show eleven OECD countries - including the US, Great Britain, France, Germany, and Norway - to have authorization, certification, and free publication systems, but no state designation. Most of the countries that do have designated textbooks are non-OECD members like North Korea, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, and Mongolia. If we really want to make the designated textbooks, maybe we ought to think about leaving the organization too.

The state designation system is also inimical to developing the kind of student and the “creative convergence mind” emphasized by the new education curriculum. Nurturing such students requires debate and diversity of interpretation. Classes that use designated textbooks are all too likely to become settings for rote, one-way learning.

The ministry’s officials can’t possibly be unaware of this, which suggests they may have other intentions. Some have suggested it could be laying the groundwork for one of President Park Geun-hye’s own goals: the “state designation” of contemporary Korean history. The brazen lies that are coming out of the ministry suggest they are not being too discriminating about achieving that. One official talked about how “first-time textbooks have always been issued as ‘designated’ to reduce confusion,” but this is simply not true. The first-time modern and contemporary Korean history, East Asian history, and convergence science texts introduced with the 2009 curriculum were all issued through a certification and authorization system.

The designation issue is not the only problem with the new curriculum. For all the talk about “humanities and science integration,” the actual number of courses required for both curricula is so small that teaching is almost certainly going to be focused inordinately on the subjects of Korean, English, and math. Those courses already make up 60% to 70% of the course load at South Korea’s autonomous private high schools and special purpose high schools. If that rate increases, it may kill any chances for our students to have a normal school education. The planned amendment is also filled with stopgap solutions to meet outside demands, without any kind of coherent educational philosophy. The most obvious example is the way industry appeals and the administration’s own goals have been shoehorned into software education.

Curriculum is a rudder. It sets the course for education in South Korea as a whole, and its impact on our schools is far-reaching. That’s why it is so important that we objectively analyze the outcomes and effects of past curricula and listen to people’s views beforehand. It’s for the ministry to stop and start from square one - taking its time this time.

 

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