ERIC Number: EJ1296129
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021
Pages: 23
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0305-0068
EISSN: N/A
What It Means to Be Korean: National Identity in North and South Korean Elementary Textbooks, 1960-2019
Won, Chealin; Huntington, Anne
Comparative Education, v57 n2 p267-289 2021
This study explores what it means to be Korean as seen in North and South Korean elementary school textbooks. Mass schooling transforms students into national citizens belonging to specific nation-states, an exercise particularly important for both the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea. To gain insight into how these nations envision their ideal citizens and use national education for legitimisation, we analyze elementary school textbooks as data points for the respective Koreas. We find that North and South Korea define two separate and distinct national identities for their students, focussing more on the institutional differences between the two states than on their shared cultural and ethnic heritage. In their struggle to claim the true Korean identity, they exclude the other Korea from their definition of their respective identities, reinforcing the differences between the two nation-states.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Nationalism, Elementary Education, Textbooks, Textbook Evaluation, Educational History, Comparative Education, Citizenship Education, Asian History
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Information Analyses; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: North Korea; South Korea
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A