22 Questions About the May 18 Democratic Uprising
Rae-Hoon Park, teacher at Byeolryang Middle School in Suncheon
The May 18 Memorial Foundation and the Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education officially published a government-approved textbook on the May 18 Democratic Uprising in February of this year. They had already published one back in 2009 and distributed to schools. What made them publish another government-approved textbook on the Uprising again after ten years has passed? What does this textbook have to tell us? Let's take a look at the text book through Q&A, just the same format as it is written, composed of 22 topic questions and answers.
1. Is there a “May 18 Democratic Uprising” course?
For those of you reading this article, how did you learn about the May 18 Democratic Uprising at school? Maybe during a history (or Korean history) class, you may have learned that off a small section, less than one page in a textbook. However, Sangmu High School in Gwangju introduced the “May 18 Democratic Uprising” as a subject to its school curriculum for the first time in the country. During the class, students learn about the May 18 Democratic Uprising with a textbook dedicated to this incident, rather than a general history textbook.2. The May 18 Democratic Uprising textbook is called a government-approved textbook. What does the “government-approved textbook” mean?
Unlike history textbooks or Korean textbooks, the term “government-approved textbook” may be unfamiliar to you. In Korea, school textbooks are classified into three types by who develops and approves them; government-published textbooks, government-authorized textbooks, and government-approved textbooks. Government-published textbooks are written by people who are directly commissioned by the government. A case in point is a history textbook, which the former Park Geun-hye government planned to develop. Government-authorized textbooks are written by the private sector, such as publishers, and must pass the standards set by the government. Most of the textbooks currently used in middle and high schools are government-authorized textbooks. Lastly, government-approved textbooks are used for subjects which have no government-published or -authorized textbooks or they are used as supplementary textbooks to government-published or -authorized textbooks. After they pass certain evaluation criteria, they are approved by the government. This May 18 Democratic Uprising textbook was planned by the Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education, and was commissioned to the Foundation for development. It passed the evaluation of the Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education and was approved as textbook.3. What is different from the textbook published in 2009?
This textbook has new contents and format different from those of the previous one. It is written in a Q&A format on 22 topics related to the May 18 Uprising. To such questions as “Why did the May 18 Democratic Uprising take place?” and “Why did the citizens take up guns?”, answers are given, including key information students need to know about the Uprising. Yet, the answers cover more than just the facts about the Uprising itself but also deal with topics and activities that induce students to think about relevant issues facing our society. In addition, facts about the Uprising were updated by adding the “helicopter shooting towards Jeonil Building” and “registration as the UNESCO World Heritage”.4. What was the priority in writing this textbook?
It is often said the purpose of learning history is “to understand the present and plan on the future through the past”. What it means is that we need to look at the facts of the past, called history, from a perspective of the present, and find a way to move forward based on that. Those of us who wrote this textbook did not just aim to tell students what happened in Gwangju in May 1980. We wanted them to learn the various values of the May 18 Uprising and think about “How should we live in the future?”5. What values can students learn from the May 18 Uprising?
In classes where we taught about the May 18 Democratic Uprising, we often saw students feeling anger and hatred. Soldiers who were supposed to protect the lives and safety of citizens pointed their guns at them and condemned the citizens who died for democracy as rioters. Those responsible for the deaths of citizens still deny the truth and do not even say a word of apology. It is obvious that students feel outraged when they come across such reality. But they should not stop at just feeling anger. What Gwangju citizens did back in May 1980 are telling us much more than anger.We cannot talk about the democracy of Korea without mentioning the May 18 Uprising. We need to talk about democracy, human rights, freedom and justice with students by learning about the May 18 Uprising, which is called the foundation of democracy. In addition, we could learn about the value of sharing and caring from the stories of the rice balls which citizens shared among themselves in May 1980 and the May 18 victims’ mothers sending comforting words of consolation to the surviving families of the Sewol Ferry victims in 2016. We could also find and learn various values from this textbook, such as solidarity shown by journalist Hinzpeter who informed the world of the horrors of Gwangju, and the spirit of engagement demonstrated by the youth who participated in May 18.
6. Do students have correct understanding about the May 18 Uprising?
These days, students learn history not only in school, but also through the Internet and various media. The downside is, they are often exposed to distorted information. The May 18 Uprising is no exception. Students in the Gwangju and South Jeolla-do are relatively more informed of the truth about the Uprising since they learned in history classes and heard from people who did experience and remember the incident themselves. But situations are a bit different in other areas. People often mention distorted stories based on fake news about the incident drifting around the Internet.Hence, this textbook also deals with the topic of historical distortion. It verifies fake news such as North Korean military’s intervention in the Uprising and excessive compensation for people with national merits. In the “Historical Distortion: How to Respond?” section, students can talk about difference between historical distortion and freedom of expression, and the right attitude responding to historical distortion and denial. What about having a conversation with students who are often exposed to distorted information related to the May 18 Uprising, using this textbook?
7. How should we use the approved textbooks on the May 18 Uprising?
This textbook is designed to teach the May 18 Uprising to students in middle and high school for one semester or one year. The best way is to introduce a “May 18 Democratic Uprising” subject and teach for one semester. However, it will not be quite possible for schools to open an additional course and teach the Uprising through the whole semester. If so, it would also be recommendable to skim through the table of contents and choose interesting topics or ones you want to discuss with your students.
