Energetic and electric, "samulnori" is a contemporary formalization of traditional Korean percussion music known as "p'ungmul." A description will be offered of the music, and of key musician, Master Kim Duk Soo who has dedicated himself to the design and dissemination of this highly regarded genre. A learning pathway on Korean…

Teaching dance in physical education offers many positive benefits in the psychomotor, affective and cognitive domains. This article introduces Korean fan dance, a traditional form of Korean dance that can be an excellent addition to the physical education curriculum. It can be easily incorporated into an elementary school dance unit as it is easy…

The purpose of this article is to present a Korean theory of epistemology and to provide an epistemological embodiment of Korean epistemology as it appears in a traditional, local village school called a seodang. A seodang's curriculum is grounded upon individualized instruction and whole person education and emphasizes mutually respectful…

A number of scholars have investigated the roots of the "Arirang," although the origins are debated. Most agree that the original form of the song "Arirang" was first found upstream from Seoul along the Han River. The lyrics told the story of a woman waiting for her lover on the bank of the river. The term "Arirang"…

This article provides guidance for music teachers who want to introduce Korean folk music to their students. It introduces "Arirang"--both a specific folk song and a category--and describes three different versions: the "Miryang Arirang," the "Jindo Arirang," and the "Gyeonggi Arirang." The…

South Korean society is in transition toward a multicultural society. Integrating multicultural education into current citizenship education is challenging for the society. Historically, many national tragedies have created the unique characteristics of what being Korean means. South Korean social studies curriculum emphasized that Korea is a…

This article is an attempt to make sense of the emerging culture of mobility in Seoul in the 1990s. The 1990s in a South Korean context is emblematic of a changed social reality and transformation. Grand narratives of development, anti-state democratization activism and Cold War politics were losing their effect and authority. Meanwhile, new…

Like teachers in many countries with a national curriculum and standardized testing, South Korean teachers find it challenging to include in their curriculums knowledge students will need in the future that doesn't fall within the purview of tested areas. The arts education, character education, environmental education, geography, and education…

"Reading in Asian Languages" is rich with information about how literacy works in the non-alphabetic writing systems (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) used by hundreds of millions of people and refutes the common Western belief that such systems are hard to learn or to use. The contributors share a comprehensive view of reading as construction…

Korean society has for long been shaped by Confucian ideologies wherein age and gender among other factors predetermine one's position in relation to others among friends, family and society as a whole. Especially the determiners pertaining to age and gender lead to sexism and ageism which in essence encompass the widely spread prejudicial…

This article provides an explanation for why the Critical Thinking (CT) movement has failed to make significant inroads into the Korean education system, notwithstanding the fact that it addresses and seeks to rectify a widely acknowledged weakness of that system, namely, its over-reliance on teacher-centered instructional methodologies involving…

Music education does not exist independently, but is influenced by changes in society. Music educators must be responsive to those influences. By relating music education to political, economic, social, cultural and educational developments in the Republic of Korea during the period from 1945 to 2005, this article aims to put that education in a…

In the early 1990s, university faculty members, early childhood educators, and preschool teachers in South Korea created a new paradigm for education. Eco-early childhood education uses an ecological point of view to reform existing child-centered education. This perspective proposes moving from child- to life-centered, individual- to…

Presents circumstances of literacy education for young children in Korea, the characteristics of the Korean writing system, and literacy activities unique to Korean children. Asserts that although Korean children's literacy development does not exactly follow the emergent literacy perspective, supportive components are contextualized within the…

This article discusses the concepts, principles, and practical application of serving children who live in bilingual/bicultural households; explores possible reasons for delays identified in these children; and offers a population-based approach to intervention, using a case study of bicultural South Korean children and proposing a solution that…