The 7th National Religious Curriculum for Christianity and Christian School in Korea

ABSTRACT

This paper aims at an alyzing critically the 7th National Religious Curriculum for Christianity(NRCC), which has been developing since 2000, and providing some ideas for effective operation of NRCC at Christian schools in Korea. More specifically, this paper, first of all, describes following results that researcher would try to analyse the 7th NRCC: (1) Compared with the 6th one, it has a characteristics to develop curriculum based on conceptual-empiricists' curriculum theories which would emphasize on effectiveness and system of curriculum. (2) As th e 7th NRCC focuses on liberal education, public school will be able to select it as one of the liberalarts like Christian school. (3) The 7th NRCC has a characteristics to integrate the two different functions of curriculum development, i.e., faith educational approach and religious approach. The former is more focused on supporting evan gelicalmissions to students, the latter is highly related in objective understanding on Christianity as one of various religions. (4) Because of unbalance between two approaches in spite of trying to integration, the 7th NRCC has a possibility not to be accepted from many Christian schools and Korean churches as well. (5) The 7th NRCC has in clined to reduce many Christian traditions into on etradition. (6) In order to succeed in effective implement ation of the 7th one, it is very urgent to recruit the professional religious teachers and to train them as s oon as possible they can.Based on these explanation of characteristics on the 7th NRCC, lastly, this paper attempts to provide a proposal for Christian school by suggesting reconstructed ideas in four ways : (1) Christian school is required to re-clarify the definition of curriculum as "practical process toward transcendence, "or" making curriculum" in terms of reconceptualists, who are interested in curriculum asprax is rather than objective reality like textbook. (2) Christian schools and religious teachers should be overcome the narrow meaning of religious education that it would often be regarded it as Christian subject-matters like religious/Bible classes. Instead of that, they need to imbue all kinds of subject matters and students' mind with Christian values. (3) The religious education focused on subject matter or Christian dogma-centered education in Korean Christian school, is required to trans form into personality-centered education which is more related in human erelationship based on conversation and encounter. (4) Christian school needs to create an Christian environment where teachers and students could mak e feel God's love. The potent effect on religious education is really high not through the classroom but school environments like teachers attitude and school's educational settings which is under stood as a "sacramental beings" toward God.