고령 사회 친화적 문화 환경 조성을 위한 문학교육의 방향 - 한국 고전문학에 나타난 노인의 형상을 중심으로 -

Abstract

This study is aimed at devising a teaching and learning method that can contribute to building the aged society-friendly environment. In order to achieve this aim, we first tried to find a reason why the aged society-friendly environment should be built in Korea. We studied two topics of Korean subject education—cross-curricula learning topics and the experience and attitude of the Korean educational system. We also investigated into how activity sections were written for the work that contain examples elders’ figures among eighteen different Korean high school literature textbooks. As a result, we found out that the educational content concerning elders, even classical literature that focuses on them, was scarce. Above all, it was hard to find textbooks that contain work related to seniors. Even if the work was about the elderly, we rarely found any clear line to depict figures of the elderly. And, even in work that clearly depict elderly people, the activities that led to an interest in seniors were very rare and slim. The cause of this problem lies in the fact that the current curriculum, as a part of the cross-curricula learning, is lacking in the education to prepare people for the aging society, that is to come. Through their work, it is clear to see that textbook editors are not concerned with the aging Korean society. Although it is noteworthy to mention that elders are depicted positively in Korean classical literature most of the time. It is true that, in Gongmudohaga, an old-aged character passed away after fulfilling his duty, and in some folk literatures, seniors fade away after losing their stands to younger generations. But mostly, elders are depicted as the owner of wisdom and the communal role. It is still not clear whether these positive depictions are influenced by Confucian beliefs such as “Seniors Priores”. However, it can be said that Korean classical literature can be a motivational force that can help learners get accustomed to the age-friendly environment that should be established. To realize these benefits, systemic incentive is required to make editors interested in preparing students for the aged society- friendly environment. At this point, the pan-course learning topics on the Korean curriculum should be reflected in a balanced manner. Reflecting learning topics presented in the curriculum is not mandatory, so the decision depends solely on the editor. Considering the status quo, it seems the best option we have for building the aged society- friendly environment that is politically recommended is to systemically advise a ‘balance in cross-curricula teaching topics’.