This study aimed to examine how the core values of the 2022 Revised National Music Curriculum are reflected in middle school music textbooks through Korean traditional music (gugak) content. The study analyzed all fourteen versions of the middle schoo...
This study aimed to examine how the core values of the 2022 Revised National Music Curriculum are reflected in middle school music textbooks through Korean traditional music (gugak) content. The study analyzed all fourteen versions of the middle school Music ① textbooks developed under the 2022 Revised Curriculum, focusing on the curriculum’s general directions, music subject competencies, grade-level content organization and sequencing, music elements presented in the content framework and achievement standards, the proportion of gugak content, and the genres of gugak repertoire included in the textbooks. Furthermore, based on the textbook analysis, the study investigated teachers’ perceptions regarding the appropriateness of the gugak content in relation to the revised curriculum.
The research was conducted in three stages: a preliminary study, Study 1, and Study 2. The preliminary stage involved a review of relevant literature and an examination of textbook structures. In Study 1, a textbook analysis framework was established and applied to fourteen versions of the middle school Music ① textbooks. After expert validation, the analytical criteria were revised and refined, and final results were derived. In Study 2, a teacher perception survey was conducted with seven secondary school music teachers specializing in Korean traditional music. The survey explored their perceptions of the findings from Study 1, and the collected responses were analyzed.
The findings of the study are as follows. First, the core values of the 2022 Revised Curriculum were generally reflected in the gugak content of the textbooks; however, differences were identified in the extent and manner of implementation across specific curriculum components. Second, the average proportion of gugak content across the fourteen textbooks was 32.91%, with noticeable variation among publishers. Regarding activity domains, gugak content was most frequently presented in performance activities, followed by listening, composition, and basic theory. In terms of repertoire genres, art music accounted for the highest proportion, indicating a clear concentration on a particular genre. Third, the teacher perception analysis revealed generally positive evaluations of the gugak content included in the textbooks. However, teachers also identified several areas for improvement from a practical educational perspective, including career-related education, learner agency, the presentation of music subject competencies, and the imbalance in the distribution of gugak repertoire genres.
Based on these findings, this study suggests the continued development of curriculum-based teaching and learning materials for gugak education, the design of instructional approaches that effectively convey the characteristics and educational significance of diverse gugak genres, and the establishment of support systems that facilitate teachers’ implementation of the curriculum in educational settings. Furthermore, this study is significant in that it highlights gugak content in music textbooks not merely as instructional material but as a medium through which the core values of the curriculum are embodied and connected organically with the curriculum framework. Since this study examined gugak content in textbooks and teacher perceptions from a comprehensive perspective within the context of the 2022 Revised Curriculum, further research is needed to investigate each analytical dimension in greater depth and detail.