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g
un
Lee
Yo
Jin
by Guang-Lea Lee
lthough Korea is a
modernized nation, the
underlying beliefs and daily
practices of its people are grounded in traditional values. Many
of the important values that Korean parents try to instill in their
children have their foundation in Confucianism. Since the Choson
Dynasty in 1392, Confucianism has been the dominant force
shaping Korean cultural values and social structures (Park & Cho,
1995), and it continues to have a profound effect on Koreans daily
lives. These values are taught in large part using folk literature,
a collection of tales passed down through generations by word of
mouth and, more recently, through printed and digital materials.
Korean parents and educators believe that folk literature is an
effective way to teach traditional values because it reflects the
thoughts and values that have guided the lives of ordinary
people for hundreds of years. Folk literature contains unique
lessons about being righteous and ideal humans, capable of
making sound moral judgments. This is a goal that remains
very important, even in modern-day Korea. The
fundamental values that permeate Korean
folk literature are filial piety, honesty, good
deeds, and wisdom (Louie, 2005; Yoon,
2005).
Through such folk literature,
children learn that individual merit
and worth are determined by a
persons actions and ability to
display them. Folktales usually
conclude with rewards for virtuous
characters who exhibited
traditional values. These
ideal human values are
considered important
to possess, more so
than ever now that
Korea has become
a fast-developing,
highly technical and
capitalistic country.
In fact, as the world
becomes more of a
Filial Piety
Honesty
Honesty
Good Deeds
Good Deeds
Wisdom
Wisdom
Creating Sequels
Imagining what comes next is a creative and
important critical thinking activity. To create a
sequel, children brainstorm ideas for alternate
endings or new events that would follow the end of
a story and then write about them. Children also
can create new versions of the story using different
perspectives. Children are required to think about
rationales for the new events. The key idea is
to have children consider the reasoning behind
their suggested sequels and alternate endings. For
example, children can be asked to think how the
powerless rabbit is able to catch the fearful tiger
in Rabbit Caught the Tiger, and then to write a
rationale for their predictions about how the story
might continue.
Cause-and-Effect Analysis
The ability to determine why events in a story
happen is also very useful in developing critical
thinking skills. In cause-and-effect analysis
activities, children connect the actions of characters
with their consequences. For example, children
can analyze the results of the dishonest and greedy
actions of Nolbu in Heungbu and Nolbu. After the
analysis, they can explore ways that the characters
might have acted differently to make the situations
better. Also, children can synthesize the causes of
Heungbus poverty and evaluate its effect on his life
and actions. In addition, children can create charts
illustrating characters changes of emotion as they
appear in the tale and identify the causes.
Summary
For centuries, Korean folk literature has been a
pervasive tool in sustaining cultural heritage and
furthering the nations traditional values, which
are essential to the development of healthy social
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