The emergence of postmodern study of history has entailed a lot of changes, affecting history education. In history class, there has typically been no further efforts than merely conveying and acquiring knowledge, At present, however, a variety of tea...
The emergence of postmodern study of history has entailed a lot of changes, affecting history education. In history class, there has typically been no further efforts than merely conveying and acquiring knowledge, At present, however, a variety of teaching methods are being studied to provide an opportunity for students to interpret history on their own and improve their historical awareness.
The purpose of this study was to explore the utilization of literary works in history class as one of the diverse ways to focus on historical awareness and interpretation. Students are familiar with literature, and the way of writing a literary work is the same as the way of describing history. Besides, participatory poetry and social novels testify to historical incidents. That was why literary works were selected in this study as a means to conduct history education. Specifically, how to provide instruction on Korean modern history that has been disregarded was suggested by taking advantage of the characteristics of literary works.
Literary works could be utilized in history class since both literature and history have been written in the form of narrative. The application of literary works written in that form makes it possible to stimulate the historical imagination of students through empathy, Nacherlebnis or insertion in order for them to have an easier understanding of history and create new knowledge. In particular, the utilization of literary works in history class produces five different effects. One is to understand causal relationship, and the second is to realize that the master of history is ordinary people, not great men or heroes. The third is to understand human experience, and the fourth is to broaden one's outlook on history. The fifth is to deal with minor incidents to get a more profound grip on history.
There should be strict selection criteria for literary works when the works are utilized in modern history class. The literary works should handle historical incidents that took place after the national liberation, and the authors should have a distinct awareness of reality and history. The literary works should capitalize on contemporary subject matters to let learners learn what contemporary society was like. When students have a discussion about a particular historical incident, literary works that were written after the occurrence of the incident should be adopted. A variety of materials should be presented when they have a discussion so that they could build their own view of history.
Specific lesson plans were mapped out in this study by selecting several literary works. First, Oh Jang-hwan's poems entitled 'Welcome to the Allies' and 'Sick Seoul' were selected as reading materials to portray the delight of the poet about the National Liberation and post- liberation chaotic society. Second, Lee Moon-yeol's novel entitled 'The Era of Heroes' and Jo Jeong-rae's novel entitled 'The Han River' were selected to have a discussion on the wounds of the Korean War. Finally, Hwang Seok-young's novel entitled 'A Strange Land' was selected as a script of role play to shed light on the negatives of economic growth. As the lesson plans weren't actually used in class, it's required to apply the lesson plans with some modification.
Yet the application of literary works might put some strain on history teachers as well as college-bound high schoolers, and it should be considered to link history and language arts education as the application of literary works is not possible in every class.