일제강점기 춘천지역 민간야학 설치와 운영
The Establishment and Operation of Private Night Schools (Yahak) in Chuncheon during the Japanese Colonial Period
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일제강점기 지역 야학의 실상을 다룬 연구는 1990년대부터 꾸준하게 이뤄졌으나, 강원은 연구 공백지대나 다름없어 ‘야학의 무풍지대’라는 오해를 살만하였다. 강원의 주요도시인 춘천지역을 탐구한 결과 1910년대는 춘천공립보통학교 부설 및 헌병의 일본어 야학과 같은 극히 제한적인 관제 형태에 그쳤던 것이 3·1운동의 파급효과로 민간야학의 시대가 열렸음이 확인된다. 언론 출판 및 결사 집회가 허용되는틈을 타 대한제국기부터 활동 역량을 쌓은 상업계와 종교계 민족의식 보유자들에의해 야학이 시도된 이후 빠르게 저변으로 확대되었다. 특히 공립학교가 전무한 춘천 외곽지역 중심으로 활성화되었다. 읍내에만 공립학교가 있어 외곽지역은 도보로 통학이 힘든 열악한 교통사정 및 주간에 생계와 가사에 종사해야하는 경제적 문제로 인해 야간 학습이 요청되는 민중 욕구에 자발적으로대응한 결과였다. 마을마다 경쟁적으로 노농야학이 신설되면서 1920년대 성행하였다. 1929년 춘천 동면 1개 면에서만 23개소의 야학이 운영될 정도였다. 전반적인야학생 증가는 중등학교 설립 필요성을 촉진했으며, 여학생은 가부장제로 인해 중도탈락이 많은 불리한 환경이었으나 여권 의식을 심는 계기가 되었다. 교과는 보통학교 4학년 정도의 한글 우선에 산술, 일본어를 기본으로 하고 상식, 습자, 수예, 산업강화 등 특색에 맞게 추가하였다. 교사들은 재량껏 교재와 수업을구성할 수 있어 민족의식과 신사상 전파를 가능케 한 지점이 되었다. 마을의 물적, 인적 자원을 활용하여 무상 공간 확보 및 무보수 교수로 진행하는 것은 물론 운영비 확보를 위하여 자체 규약까지 만드는 등 주민 스스로 교육 공백 문제를 해소해가는주체성을 발휘하였다. 1932~1933년 관제단체인 춘천군·면농촌진흥위원회 등장으로 민간야학이 말살되어가는 체제에 야학교사와 학생 모두 순응한 것은 아니었다. 특히 신북 관내에서는 1932년부터 1938년 사이에 독립 의지를 심고, 여권의식 신장 활동을 전개하던중 두 차례 검거 투옥되는 항일사건이 발생하였다. 일제강점기 춘천 민간야학은 민중 주체적인 사회운동 성격을 띠고있다. 강원교육사 및 춘천교육사 규명의 주요 지점이자 사회운동사, 독립운동사, 여성사, 도시사등 다양한 층위의 맥락에서도 존재감이 드러난다.
Abstract
Since the 1990s, research on regional night schools (yahak) during the Japanese colonial period has steadily illuminated their realities, identified their characteristics, and explored their historical significance. Yet, Gangwon Province has remained virtually a blank spot in this field of study, giving rise to the misconception that it was a “night school-free zone.” An examination of Chuncheon, the provincial capital and one of Gangwon’s major urban centers, reveals that in the 1910s, night education was limited to a few official institutions—such as Japanese-language night schools attached to the Chuncheon Public Elementary School or organized by by individual gendarmes.. Yet, in the wake of 3·1 Movement of 1919, a new era of private night schools emerged. Taking advantage of the temporary loosening of restrictions on the press, associations, and public gatherings, individuals from commercial and religious circles—many of whom had cultivated organizational and educational capacity since the late Korean Empire and possessed strong nationalist consciousness— initiated night schools that soon spread widely among the populace. These schools were particularly active in the outlying areas of Chuncheon, where no public schools existed. As public schools were concentrated only in the town center, residents in rural outskirts faced serious transportation difficulties, and the working population—engaged in farming, labor, or household duties during the day—had a strong demand for nighttime education. With villages competitively establishing laborers’ and farmers’ night schools, they thrived throughout the 1920s. By 1929, as many as twenty-three night schools were operating in a single township (Dong-myeon) of Chuncheon. The overall increase in night school students accelerated the need to establish secondary schools. Although female students faced a disadvantageous environment—marked by high dropout rates due to the patriarchal system—night schools nonetheless became an opportunity to cultivate women’s consciousness and awareness of their rights. The curriculum prioritized Korean literacy at roughly the fourth-grade level of common schools, supplemented by arithmetic and Japanese, and further included subjects such as general knowledge, penmanship, handicrafts, and industrial development according to local needs. Teachers had discretion over teaching materials and content, making the schools a platform for spreading nationalist ideas and new thought. Using the community’s own material and human resources, residents secured free spaces, taught without pay, and even created their own internal regulations to raise operating funds—demonstrating strong local initiative in overcoming the educational vacuum. Although the establishment of the Chuncheon County and Township Rural Promotion Committees (1932–1933), as state-controlled organizations, gradually suppressed private night schools, not all teachers and students submitted to the system. Notably, in Sinbuk District, between 1932 and 1938, activities aimed at fostering independence and women’s consciousness led to two anti-Japanese incidents involving arrests and imprisonment. During the Japanese colonial period, Chuncheon’s private night schools exhibited the characteristics of a grassroots social movement led by the people. They hold significance as a key focal point in clarifying the history of education in Gangwon Province and Chuncheon, and their presence is also evident within broader contexts such as social movement history, independence movement history, women’s history, and urban history.