최소주의 인성교육

Abstract

After the promulgation of the Character Education Promotion Act, one is left asking the question: is character education, which is currently being conducted in all directions and at all levels, from elementary schools to universities, actually succeeding in reversing the deteriorating character failures seen throughout society? I think it’s fair to say that it would be difficult for anyone to answer this question positively. Nevertheless, research papers boasting the many successes of character education have continued to pour in. How can this disparity be explained? In order to adequately answer this question, one must understand that character education is missing a key component. Therefore, we need to reexamine the fundamental premise of the discourses and programs surrounding character education in its various applications, both before and after the promulgation of the Character Education Promotion Act. This paper intends to propose ‘minimalistic character education’ as a new paradigm of character education-one that will replace the fundamental premise found in the type of character education we’ve been implementing thus far. Briefly put, minimalistic character education starts by changing the paradigm: “Basically, doing is better than not doing” to the paradigm: “Basically, not doing is better than doing.” This new paradigm will enable us to overcome the paradox found in the current manifestation of character education by preventing it from becoming a key link in the vicious cycle of avoiding responsibility.