장애인 야학의 전개와 운영상의 쟁점에 관한 문화기술적 사례 연구: 두 야학을 중심으로

Abstract

This study purposed to examine the developmental process and major issues related to operation of Yahak for the disabled and to suggest their implications for special education. Yahak have provided education to the grass-roots over 11 decades in our country. In movements for the disabled, the slogan “Nothing about us without us” became prevailing, and Nodle Yahak and Jillalabi Yahak for the disabled were established respectively in 1993 and 2000 when activists conducted a series of progressive movements for the disabled. Disabled people were eager for learning, and the two Yahaks played a central role in Korean movements for the disabled by conducting a campaign for disabled people’s right to mobility when the Oeido station incident took place. The Yahaks offered hands-on culture programs as part of their extra curriculum to step up the change of the legal system and local community, and tried to serve as communities that could create a new life. Currently, there are about 30 Yahaks for the disabled in our country, which organized the National Association of Yahak for the Disabled to find a way out of their operating difficulties and attempt to turn into lifelong education institutions under the Act on Special Education for People with Disabilities. Yahaks for the disabled have posed problems to our society and institutional education and sought after possible alternatives against all odds, and they have some implications for special education. First, the existence of Yahaks is evidence of the institutional vulnerability of special education. Second, there haven’t been full-fledged efforts to provide special education to disabled adults who are past the legal school age. Third, they offer hope for the possibility of education without being restricted by place and make it possible to go beyond the boundary of school. Today, we are living in society where the importance of lifelong education is highly emphasized. In the situation, it is an undeniable requirement to provide new programs and contents of education for meeting the desires to learn and lead a new life in people with disabilities who have grown into adults with few opportunities even in public education. Yahak’s criticism of public education and their concept of alternative suggest challenging tasks to planning and practicing lifelong education for people with disabilities in special education, which has educated school aged people with disabilities until now, and provide important opportunities for expanding its denotation and expertise.