hankyoreh

outside the Central Government Complex in Seoul

September 2 was a monumental day for opposition to the Park Geun-hye administration’s ideas for state designation of a single Korean history textbook. An opposing statement of opinion was delivered to the Ministry of Education with signatures from 34 of the 44 professors (77%) in Seoul National University’s five history-related departments, while another declaration of opposition was presented with the names of 2,255 history teachers in elementary, middle, and high schools around the country. The educators‘ opinion and declaration read as a kind of answer sheet pinpointing all the reasons why the state-designated history textbook - a policy first introduced in South Korea during the Yushin dictatorship of Park Chung-hee, and abandoned when the country became a democracy - should not be reintroduced.　

Unconstitutional　

“A policy of state designation of a single [Korean] history textbook has been widely espoused by the administration and ruling party,” noted the SNU history professors in their document, titled “An Opinion for Minister of Education Hwang Woo-yea.”

“Such a debate among politicians does not accord with the spirit of the Constitution, which prescribes autonomy, expertise, and political neutrality in education,” the document continued.

The conflict between textbook designation and the Constitution and law was also cited in the history teachers’ “Statement by 2,225 History Teachers on the Front Lines Who Oppose Korean History Textbook State Designation and Changing the History Department Curriculum for the Worse.”

“As a product of the independence movement against the Japanese empire, the Republic of Korea’s Constitution specifies the reconciliation and cooperation for the people and democratic reforms as paramount values, while the Framework Act on Education states the goal of education as shaping democratic citizens,” the statement read.

“If the Park Geun-hye administration does issue a single state-designated textbook [reflecting the historical views of an administration with a five-year term], we will wage a large-scale disobedience campaign to preserve and honor the true values of a democratic republic,” the teachers warned.　

As an example of an essential change that would result from a single state designation, the SNU professors pointed to the monopoly the administration would gain on the narratives in history textbooks.

“When students throughout the country are taught with the same historical materials, it seriously diminishes the historical imagination and cultural creative abilities of our society, and creates obstacles to both democracy and economic development,” they warned.

“What history education in South Korea today needs is not a change in institutions with a single state-designated textbook, but permissions for broader autonomy in history textbook development,” the professors suggested.

Against Educational Principles　

As educators in charge of instructing students, the professors and teachers also noted that state designation would not benefit actual teaching of history.

“The idea of a state-designated textbook simply instilling students with one particular ’government-approved‘ interpretation of history goes against the very essence of history education,” the history teachers said.

The SNU professors noted that even the currently operating certification system “has resulted in excessive uniformity in the content of Korean history textbooks.”

“If the problem has to do with different teams being used in different textbooks, then that is something to be resolved through the instruction process, writing standards, and a long-term, painstaking certification process,” they advised.　

According to the SNU professors, the approach of an administration monopoly on textbook narratives “does not suit the standing of the Republic of Korea that has been achieved today after a long struggle through democratization and industrialization.”

Similarly, the history teachers issued their own “heartfelt plea” for the Park administration to “abandon its ideas for the kind of a single state textbook designation system that exists nowhere else among the advanced countries of the OECD” and “seriously discuss with the various actors in education a suitable direction and method of practice for history education that is appropriate for training the democratic citizens who will live in an area of globalization and multiculturalism.”

“There are virtually no countries that ‘publish history’ in the form of a single state-designated textbook,” the teachers continued. “We should note that before their reunification, West Germany had certified textbooks while East Germany had state-designated ones.”　

Both the public school teachers and the professors said opposition to state designation was “the public’s view” and the “general opinion,” arguing that the policy would not be beneficial in social terms.

“The Education Ministry’s own public opinion polls have shown that two-thirds of middle and high school teachers oppose state designation, and surveys show that 97% of history teachers oppose designated textbooks,” the teachers noted.

The SNU professors said their opinion stemmed from “academic loyalty” based on concerns that “a single state designated history textbook is not advisable for the state or society.”

The professors’ message also included their own heartfelt plea to Education Minister Hwang Woo-yea.

“We would appreciate it greatly if this wasteful debating could be minimized and our sense of loyalty in contributing to history education could be considered in the pursuit of education policy,” it read.　

By Jeon Jung-yoon, staff reporter　

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