About history textbooks
By Mark Peterson 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.The issue that I am most acquainted with is that which I wrote my dissertation about: the changes in the social order and family structure in the late 17th century.The 17th century might sound like a long time ago and might be seen as irrelevant in today’s world, but I think it teaches us a lot about Korea, both then and now. And in the process, it teaches us about the Korean historiographic process in Korea today. What I mean by the historiographic process is the process by which original research is conducted,
