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5. Mark Peterson

More on invasions

One of the core elements of Korea's view of its own history is that of multiple invasions. It's a story almost everyone accepts. But it's the key element of my argument that Korean history needs to be rewritten _ at least revised, from my perspective as a frog that has come out of the well.

2018-07-20 16:57

More on problem of invasions

My frog-out-of-the-well view of Korea is one that sees more peace and stability in Korea more than what I call the frog-in-the-well view of Korea that sees multiple invasions as a hallmark of Korean history.

2018-07-08 17:17

View of the frog out of the well

In this series of articles, I will be sharing my perspectives on Korean culture and history - what I've come to call the view of the frog that came out of the well. Implied in that term is a criticism of the standard views of Korean culture and history is that of a frog in the well _ a limited perspective.

2018-07-02 17:08

Controversy in historiography

I was privileged to visit Korea recently, for a series of lectures. I’ve been on the city hall lecture circuit, it seems. I’ve given lectures to the city hall officials in Pohang, Busan, and Gyeongju. And I’ve given lectures to the parents meeting at a couple of elementary schools - the “hakpumo” meeting, what I would call a “PTA” [parent-teacher association] meeting. The lectures were my take on Korean history, titled “New Perspectives on Korean History,” and it was clear that I was presenting a foreigner’s view of Korean history. The basic argument was one that challenges several core assu...

2016-07-26 16:35

More on testing problems

In my last column I wrote about the college entry exam. I criticized the movement in the US and Korea to rely too much on the test for admission to college. I argued that “bubble sheet” exams, “multiple choice” exams, were not as good a measure of student competence as so-called essay exams.

2016-07-12 16:24

Testing problem

The United States and Korea both suffer from the malady within education of too much testing, relying on the test, and test-centered curriculum. As bad as the situation has become in the U.S., it’s much worse in Korea. The educational product is better in Korea; Korean students have a much higher graduation rate (from both high school and college), and Korean students who come to the U.S. have high standing among their peers in American schools. But still there are some drawbacks to the school system in Korea that is so heavily centered on the exam.

2016-07-05 16:57

About history textbooks

I don’t know quite what is wrong with Korea’s teaching of history, but from my perspective, there is something wrong. I am not referring to the recent controversy about producing government-written, single textbook. I am not referring to the way Japan treats Korea in their textbooks. But the issue that I know most about - my own research - might be a way of looking into the whole history textbook controversy and the issue of teaching history to see what is wrong with it all.

2016-02-18 16:45

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