| An Analysis of the Formation of the general education Curriculum in Korean Higher Education |
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Seung-Su Paek |
| 한국 고등교육의 교양교육과정 형성 과정 분석 |
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백승수 |
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| Abstract |
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The formation of general education curriculum in Korean higher education was established during a 10 year period from 1945 to 1954. This article analyzes this 10 year period, focusing on the purpose of the curriculum, characteristics of its structure and contents and the issues in operating the curriculum. Korean general education developed in the context of reforming a single ladder higher education system and the need for an efficient academic system for a large number of students. The legal status of general education was recognized, allowing the education structure of general education in the university system to be settled. Korean general education curricula have the following characteristics: rigidity, uniformity, instrumentalism, lack of difference with high school curriculum, preparatory courses for major courses, adoption of comprehensive education model and the absence of interdisciplinary subjects. Its operational issues are: a limited number of general education courses, courses for junior students, courses opened by individual departments, absence of faculty teaching exclusively general education and negligence of liberal arts education.
It is necessary to consider a new way to reconstruct the general education curriculum for the 21st century and it is critically important to overcome the distorted general education curriculum which was inherited from the 1950s. |
| Key Words:
general education, the formation of general education curriculum, the legalization of general education, Higher Education. |
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