The effort to promote Korean history and culture in the United States is bearing some fruit thanks to a Korean teachers’ association based in California.

The Korean Schools Association of Northern California (KSANC) in charge of educating the second and third-generation Korean students in the Silicon Valley region of California has released a new textbook on Korea after a year and a half-long research with the aim of broadening understanding of Korea in America.

The teachers of the KSANC came into the spotlight in 2008 in their quest to banish from the curriculum a book that American schools were using as a reference for history. “So Far from the Bamboo Grove” was written by Yoko Kawashima  Watkins, a Japanese-American who spent her childhood in Korea during the chaotic period of World War II. The book was voted out unanimously after examined by California’s education board.

The book, which is a semi-biographical novel, describes the author’s journey from Hamgyeongbuk-do (North Hamgyeong Province), in the northeastern part of the Korean peninsula to Japan, with vivid accounts of her tribulations faced at the hands of “violent” Koreans, without proper reference to war crimes that Japan committed in Korea after annexing the country by force from 1910 to 1945.

President of the KSANC Choi Mi-young explained the case has also triggered Korean teachers to develop a suitable Korean history book that could be adopted in U.S. classrooms for an accurate understanding of Korea. 
 
The new two-volume book “Find Korea” not only includes basic facts like Korea’s geographical location, the national flag (taegeukgi), the national anthem, holidays and cuisine, but also facts about Dokdo Island and the East Sea (Donghae) of which the ownership of the former by Korea and the proper naming of the latter are often challenged by Japan.

The history section details in chronological order, the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), the great admiral Yi Sun-sin and his turtle ships, Korea’s Independence Movement both at home and in America, the founding of the Republic and the division of the nation. It is basically written in Korean with English added as explanatory notes.

The publication of the book was supported by many Korean organizations at home and abroad including VANK (Voluntary Agency Network of Korea), the National Institute for International Education, the Overseas Koreans Foundation and other Korea-related organizations based in the United States.

There are 1,017 Korean schools in the United States, with 8,500 teachers and 59,000 students. The association explained that interest in the Korean language rose considerably after its inclusion on the SAT II in 1997. The importance of teaching Korean history has risen accordingly.

Meanwhile, early this year the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in San Francisco announced that the senate and House of Representatives in California had presented a bill that demanded an early resumption of a project to complement Korean history education in the school curriculum. The bill was approved the state’s education committee.

It was in 2008 that the State of California first came up with the bill to include contents on Korean history and culture in school textbooks. The authorities even prepared a basic draft for revision, only to be delayed until 2013 due to budgetary reasons.

 

The early draft includes Korea as a successful example of an economic model of the 1980s and 1990s, along with Japan, China and Singapore. Included is a mention that parts for iPods are being made in South Korea and Taiwan. The history section includes, for example, Korea’s profound influence over Japanese culture in ancient times in areas such as culture. So far, all that is contained in American textbooks on Korea is a brief summary of the Korean War (1950-53).

 

If the bill passes the state budget committee and the state plenary session, to be approved by the state governor, the above will be reflected in history and social studies textbooks at elementary, middle and high schools in California by next year at the earliest.

At home it is the Academy of Korean Studies (AKS) that is leading the way to reform school textbooks abroad. Every year the institute invites 20 or more textbook experts from abroad to Korea. The visitors get a better overview of Korea through special lectures on politics, economy and art and also through visits to historic sites and high tech facilities. The academy has also held several exhibitions on overseas textbooks to show how Korea is being described in other countries.

The Korea Foundation (KF) holds cultural exchanges and seminars for scholars, students and youths from overseas in regular basis. This month the foundation is convening a “Korean Studies Workshop for Australasian Educators” inviting 29 educators from Australia, New Zealand and other countries to Korea.

During the two-week session the group - made up of middle and high school history and social studies teachers and administrators in education departments - will attend special seminars, experience cultural events and traditional art performances and visit local high schools, hospitals and industrial sites.

 

By Kim Hee-sung
Korea.net Staff Writer