Experience and Cooperation based Educational Methodology for Cultivating Democratic Civility in Liberal Arts Social Science Courses - Focusing on cases of experience-based education engaged with ‘the socially disadvantaged’

Park, Hyun-Hee

Korean Journal of General Education 2017;11(4):41-80.
Published online August 30, 2017.

Hyun-Hee Park

교양 사회과학에서 민주적 시민성 함양을 위한 체험과 협력 기반 교육 방법

박현희

Abstract

Courses in social sciences, as part of college curricula in liberal arts, aim at fostering democratic civility within the students that enroll in these courses. Until now, social science courses have not been able to fulfill its role as one of the main arenas of civic education. This particular point is stressed by the way research in educational methodology regarding social science subjects are almost nonexistent. Education that focuses on fostering civility requires emphasis on the need for ‘critical thinking’, ‘sympathy and consideration for others’, and ‘mutual cooperation and reciprocity’ mixed into its educational curricula in order to promote participation of its citizens in public matters and increase the general civic quality of its citizenry. As such, college courses in social science that aim to foster civility will need to stress the significance of changes in the heart and attitude and in the growth of personal character all the while promoting education based on experience and cooperation. The fundamental principle of education based on experience and cooperation is that the instructor facilitates for the opportunity for students to carry out the learning in their own accord. Experience-based education in the following order: first, background information is handed out to the students to catch their attention; next, students carry out experience-based activities; students hand in their work and present their results, then the results are discussed among the group; lastly, students are encouraged to reflect back on their work and assess it in a critical manner. Looking at case-studies of classes conducted in this manner, the results indicate an increase in democratic civility of students in the midst of a neo-liberal, individual-centric, competition-driven times. Through this educational methodology, students were able to learn to sympathize with others, consider the needs of others, and more actively engage in resolving societal issues and problems. Through a series of education courses based on experience and cooperation, we were able to identify a change in the student’s attitude from being ignorant towards societal issues, disinterested in the socially disadvantaged, insensitive towards other people’s hardship, and towards having fostered a sense of consideration towards others, interest in societal matters, and actively engaged in promoting social change. Additionally, students were able to recognize the importance of cooperation based on mutual understanding and respect in creating a democratic society. Hence, we were able to conclude that cooperative exercises that students carried out contributed to an opportunity for them to learn from each other in how to communicate with each other and develop their thought. As students are faced with various societal problems and issues, as they attempt to resolve these issues using their critical thinking skills and seek to find solutions to these societal problems, as they reflect back on their experiences in the course of their learning, students are able gain a heightened sense of civility. As such, we have a need for a larger number of instructors to take interest in this educational methodology as well asfor the government to invest more resources in the fostering of democratic civility in relation to college social science curricula.

Key Words: social science as liberal arts, democratic civility, experience-based education, cooperation, the socially disadvantaged, critical thinking, sympathy and consideration for others