Education has been present throughout the history of Korea (1945–present). Public schools and private schools have both been present. Reforms to education began in the late 19th century. Since its founding, Korean education has been heavily influenced by Confucian values. Confucianism instills the facilities of governance of men by merit, social mobility through education, and the civil examination system based upon the system used during Tang Dynasty China. As a result, reading, writing and knowledge of Chinese classics became the primary method in choosing individuals for bureaucratic positions, gaining them a respective social status and privileges.[15]
The Joseon period was significant in shaping the dynamics and foundation of the Korean education system. Schools ingrained loyalty, orthodoxy and motivation for official recruitment into its students. The primary means to receive an education during the Joseon dynasty were through village schools (seodang; seojae) and through private tutoring. The seodang was the most common method of formal education until the late twentieth century.[15]
It was usually available only to a handful of neighborhood boys, starting at the age of seven. The role of official schools gradually started to decline from the mid-sixteenth century with the emergence of private academies (seowon), which were rural retreats and centers of learning. The majority of them were closed in the 1870s in an effort to centralize authority.[15]
Preparing students for competitive examinations was pronounced during the Joseon dynasty as a means of social mobility and selection of official positions, and remained a basic tenet in Korean education throughout its history. This extreme emphasis on education and meritocracy was contrasted by hereditary aristocracy during the Joseon dynasty, where bloodlines and kinship were particularly pronounced. Due to Confucian influences, education was able to maintain an equalizing presence over society because of its belief in each individual being capable of benefitting from formal education and achieving enlightenment.[15]
Education was dominated by the exalted scholar-teacher relationship, where teachers held a sacred status and were seen as a principal source of ethical counsel. This convention engendered the tradition of remonstrance, which obligated the scholar to criticize the actions of the government and the king in order to avoid threatening the Confucian concept of the moral order of the universe.[15]
The dynastic period did not prioritize specialized training, and thus a preference for a non-specialized and literary education has remained. Many of these developments were pronounced towards the end of the 19th century when the Joseon dynasty began implementing a Western-style education system as a result of the intrusion of foreign powers. By 1904, public education was confined to Seoul, which was generally resisted by both the public and government officials.[15]
This maintained the dominance of seodang and other traditional institutions as the primary means to receive a formal education. As a result of financial support from members of the royal family and American missionary activities and schools, the number of schools began to increase in the early 1900s. In order to promote literacy, a mixed script of Hangul and Chinese characters was added to instruction.[15]
During the Japanese occupation (1905–1945), Korea established a comprehensive and modern system of national education, through centralization and deliberate planning to integrate Japanese occupational professionalism and values. Education was based on Japanese values, literacy and history so that Koreans would become loyal to Japan and wipe out Korean culture and history.[15]
However, there were severe restrictions like the lack of access to education beyond the elementary level and the manipulation of education to indoctrinate Koreans to become loyal to the Japanese Empire. This led to turmoil and discontent among those who were forced to assimilate. Koreans were only offered a low-level and non-professional education, in contrast to their Japanese counterparts.[16] This was pronounced by the Educational Ordinance of 1911, where Japanese residents had fourteen years of schooling available, whereas Koreans only had eight years available to them.[15]
Higher education was a central issue for Koreans, who were provided very limited access to these institutions as well as positions of administration and teaching. With the introduction of the Educational Ordinance of 1938, Korean schools became identical to Japanese ones in organization and curriculum, making education a highly regimented tool for forced assimilation and militarization.
