Discursive Struggles for Multicultural Curriculum in South Korea

Abstract

This paper examines how discourses on multicultural education are constructed in the recent curriculum reforms of South Korea. In response to the rapid demographic change in the last two decades, the South Korean government has revised its national curriculum to promote multicultural education. However, contrary to the benign intention, multicultural education often serves to perpetuate the dominant group's perspectives. By employing critical discourse analysis, this study investigates implicit messages of multicultural education embedded in the recently revised national curricula of social studies. The findings of this study reveal that the revised curricula contain five competing discourses including pluralist, conservative, essentialist, neoliberal, and critical multiculturalism, each of which has conflicting values and approaches to multicultural education. This discursive conflict in the new curricula shows ambivalence and conceptual instability of multicultural education promoted by the Korean government. By demonstrating how multiple and conflicting discourses coexist in the national curriculum at the same time, this study complicates previous research focusing on unpacking a single predominant discourse in multicultural education.

Shifting student attitudes while minimizing grading bias: Pedagogical considerations in a multicultural psychology course.

“…This is important considering (a) the need to honor students desire to grow in regard to diversity (Littleford, 2013), (b) the need to infuse social justice and diversity into courses (Cho, 2017; Lawyer, 2018; Littleford, 2013), (c) the responsibility to provide liberal education (Association of American Colleges and Universities, 2020), and (d) the need to grade students fairly and objectively regardless of their attitudes and values. Further, bearing in mind the international debates regarding the inclusion of multicultural education and critical race theory in curriculum (e.g., Esson, 2020; Kang, 2021; Moeller, 2021; Salahshour, 2021; Sawchuk, 2021; Warmington, 2020), this study provides valuable data for educators and policymakers, along with valuable pedagogical techniques for educators.…”

“…However, students may be wary of being exposed to a “liberal agenda” versus a liberal education when attending higher education (Steinke & Fitch, 2017) and may be unaware of the distinction between the two terms. Internationally, debates about the presence of critical race theory and multicultural education in school curriculum have become political, cultural, and organizational debates (e.g., Esson, 2020 [the United Kingdom]; Kang, 2021 [South Korea]; Moeller, 2021 [Brazil]; Phan et al, 2021 [the United States]; Salahshour, 2021 [New Zealand]; Sawchuk, 2021 [the United States]; Warmington, 2020 [the United Kingdom]). Juxtaposing this wariness is a widespread understanding of the importance of multiculturalism in our increasingly diverse and global world.…”

Learning Design on Social Studies Through Digital Book in Senior High School

“…The characteristics of the social studies subject are different from other monolithic disciplines [30]. Therefore, to embrace multicultural ideas more actively, it is necessary to develop learning media through digital books [31], [32]. Referring to Kong et al [33] preservice teachers needed learning development as a systematic way to identify and evaluate a set of learning materials and strategies to achieve specific goals.…”

Implementation of Multicultural Education as Efforts to Strengthen the Five Main Character Values of Student Moderation at SDN Kutuh Kintamani

“…Conditions facing cultural pluralism require a new paradigm that is more tolerant and elegant to prevent and solve the problem of cultural clashes, namely the multicultural education paradigm. It is essential to direct students to respond to the diverse realities of society so that they have an appreciative attitude towards differences [5] [6]. The rise of riots and conflicts based on ethnicity, custom, race, and religion shows that education has created awareness of the importance of multiculturalism.…”