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Donghak (Eastern Learning), Self-cultivation, and Social Transformation: Towards diverse curriculum discourses on equity and justice
Educational Theory and Philosophy
  • Seungho Moon, Loyola University Chicago
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2017
Pages
1146-1160
Publisher Name
Taylor & Francis
Disciplines
Abstract

This inquiry aims to advance curricular discourses on equity and social transformation by reviewing Korea’s indigenous philosophy and religion, Donghak [東學 Eastern Learning]. I explicate the ways in which the democratic ideals of equity and justice were implemented in nineteenth- and twentieth-Korean society, founded upon the “my mind is your mind” [吾心卽汝心] ontology. Three major philosophical-theological concepts are investigated, including serving God in the subject [侍天主 Shi-chun-ju], keeping a pure mind and correcting the energy [守心正氣 Sushim-jungqi], and creating a new cosmic world [開闢 Gae-byeok]. These concepts extend curricular discourses on equity, social transformation, and community in the crisis of market-oriented curriculum practices. Garnered from Donghak’s teaching, suggestions for curriculum theorists encompass: challenging the self–other dichotomy, including self-cultivation as an important curricular goal, and supporting an eco-centered life and its curriculum in the twenty-first century.

Comments

Author Posting © Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia, 2016. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Educational Theory and Philosophy, Volume 49, Issue 12, 2017. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2016.1216386

Creative Commons License
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0
Citation Information
Seungho Moon. "Donghak (Eastern Learning), Self-cultivation, and Social Transformation: Towards diverse curriculum discourses on equity and justice" Educational Theory and Philosophy Vol. 49 Iss. 12 (2017)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/seungho-moon/23/