Won-Buddhism and Alternative Education:Education Aimed to Heal Marginalization and Promote Social Reform

ABSTRACT

Won-Buddhism currently operates and manages 5 high schools, 4 middle schools, and 10 alternative schools. Educational authorities acknowledge these alternative schools for their academic ability and thereby include them in the list of approved alternative education institutions. The operation of Won-Buddhism’s alternative education as well as alternative schools is the first of its kind in Korean alternative school history. This being the case, what kind of ideological background does it use as a foundation to develop and maintain this form of alternative education? This study uses Won-Buddhism’s doctrin althought as a basis to reveal that Won-Buddhism alternative schools develop by focusing on the section, “Educating Others’ Children” of The Four Essentials. Inparticular, this study emphasizes that the spirit of The Four Essentials has the Truth of Il-Won-Sang as its basis which is another expression of The Fourfold Grace. In other words, it is to consider the relationships that we relyon for our existence. Hereafter, it becomes clear that Won-Buddhism’s alternative education aims for an education that starts from The Four Essential’s spirit of ‘socialreform,’ ‘marginalization’ and ‘discrimination’ to ‘healing’ and ‘recovery.’ Through such ideological awareness, this study examines the direction of Won-Buddhist alternative education and argues that we should not use alternative education as a means of competition from the perspective of the flourishing along with the universalization of Won-Buddhist’s alternative education, but instead examine existing education and determine what kinds of opportunity for equal education we are going to give to those who are marginalized and then propose a plan for the future direction of alternative education.