Practical Directions for Personalism-Oriented Humanity Education

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study is to examine the concept of humanity education, with a particular focus on fostering the persona, and based on that concept, to suggest practical directions for humanity education in schools. To this end, I carried out a literature review and analysis on humanity education in the Korean context from 1995 to 2015. In Korean society, humanity is interpreted variously as human nature, character, individuality, humanism, personality, morality, virtue, and moral character. This concept of humanity, in a broad sense, implies the positive characteristics of nature a human being pursues and fosters. However, it is a concept that is based not on the whole but on a phenomenological and social scientific understanding of the human being. In essence, this understanding is not all-encompassing because a human being is mental and spiritual as well as physical and sensuous. For this reason, persona is the word most appropriate to expressing the dignity of a human being. It follows, therefore, that humanity education aims to foster a whole and mature persona. In this sense, “personalism-oriented humanity education” would be a favorable direction for humanity education in schools. Personalism-oriented humanity education can be implemented through the integral development of three dimensions, namely, subjectivity, community, and dignity. This study suggests “collaboration” and “service” as key practical directions, as these are the methods best suited to the integral development of the three dimensions of persona, while simultaneously working as, effective approaches for awakening and practice. Further, the study suggests a “curriculum for humanity education” based on collaboration and service as a model for humanity education in schools. Such a model can be operated as a study course consisting of a curriculum and an extracurriculum that focus on the two axes(collaboration and service). According to this approach, students will unconsciously develop key competencies through over the three-year course through the ongoing experience of knowing(awakening) and practicing.