Ideological context of American educational policy in occupied Korea, 1945-1948
Lee, Gil Sang
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/22292
Description
Title
Ideological context of American educational policy in occupied Korea, 1945-1948
Author(s)
Lee, Gil Sang
Issue Date
1989
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Karier, Clarence J.
Department of Study
Education
Discipline
Education
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Education, History of
Language
eng
Abstract
When the United States occupied Southern Korea and found themselves in the position of having to justify their use of force, they claimed that their actions are educative, liberating, and temporary. Three years of Korean education under the United States Army Military Government in Korea (USAMGIK) from 1945 to 1948 was used as an instrument for justifying these claims and actions. The reality of these claims and actions can not be understood without an understanding of the ideological context in which the USAMGIK was established.
The first phase of this study is an investigation of three main ideological contexts pertinent to the USAMGIK period: ideologies of twentieth century American foreign policy, progressive education, and American missionary education in Korea. The military occupation of the United States and establishment of military government in Korea was the logical outcome of the United States foreign policy tradition based on age-old racism, cultural superiority, and anti-revolutionary ideology. The American occupation of Korea was also understood in this study as a pre-determined course which was based on the large scale and intensive wartime studies on the postwar world rather than an accident.
American education in the first half of this century, represented by the progressivism, was not based on democratic ideals that all people should determine their own political and social order. The fundamental ideology of progressivism was not compatible with this democratic ideal. Many progressive educational reforms were implemented for the purpose of preventing the ignorant masses from changing their dissatisfaction into collective action which could threaten the social order.
American missionaries in Korea during the Japanese colonial period contributed partly to the coming American domination by manipulating the minds of the Korean people. They were partly of the Japanese colonial policy and did their best to teach the Korean people to give up any revolutionary mind.
American educational policy during its military control of Korea was the product of this ideological context. The main purpose of the USAMGIK educational policy was not to prepare the Korean people for an independent nation but to maintain the people's mind favorable to the United States military control. The United States used Korean education for the purpose of ideological control and finally constituted the fine basis of the cultural hegemony of the United States in Korea.
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