일제강점기 고등여학교 학생들의 꿈과 이상, 그리고 현실－1945년 동덕고등여학교 학적부를 중심으로－

Abstract

School register in Japanese colonial period is a kind of family register of school which was recorded in line with the educational objectives of Japanese Government-General of Korea for ʻthe cultivation and drilling of the Emperorʼs Citizensʼ and was administered and inspected by Government-General of Korea. It is a record from which the colonial education policy of Japan and Koreansʼ response method to the policy are clearly exposed. Dongduk Girlsʼ High School was a cradle of nationalistic womenʼs education which was established under the educational philosophy of Choongang(春江) Jo Dong-Shik(趙東植) who perceived women education as the key factor for saving the country. The school was operated with the financial sponsorships of patriotic civil benefactors who sympathized Jo Dong-Shikʼs educational philosophy, and the fact that the school kept the school register in Chinese characters and Korean characters instead of Japanese characters clearly demonstrates the nationalistic intentions of the school, which is well proved by the viewpoints in the notes on student observation. Especially we can find the significance as a case study from the point that the school register of 1945 clearly demonstrates the dreams, ideals and reality of the students of Dongduk Girlsʼ High School who had to go through their high school days during the period of 1941∼1945, where the Japanese policy was to make Koreans as their emperorʼs citizens and the wartime emergency measure made the school as the place for war manpower supply and supports. Since the 1930ʼs, the competition rate of entrance examination for Dongduk Girlsʼ High School was going up every year and good quality girls from all over the nation entered the Dongduk. In the 1940ʼs, as the rate of school entrance of students from Seoul was going up, new cultural phenomena called ʻEarly study in Seoulʼ was emerged at that time. In 1945, almost two thirds of the parents of the graduates of Dongduk were from the upper middle level tier who were active and open to womenʼs education and were engaged in civil service and liberal professions. Particularly, four fifths of the parents of Dongduk graduates were from the upper level class who owned assets for more than ʻ15 thousand wonʼ. The students of girlsʼ high school in Japanese colonial era were a minor women elite group who were educated for modern new knowledge, and were the symbols of modernism who were usually called as ʻNew Womenʼ but their path after graduation was not so promising. Approximately 70% of the graduates for 1945 hoped to get a job or to study in the universities. Under difficult situation for employment at that time, however, only approximately 40% of the graduates could achieve ʻthe dream of new womenʼ with 32.7% for getting job and 7.3% of entering into universities whereas remaining 60% had to become housekeepers at home after marriages. However, in the case of graduates for 1945, they demonstrated very lively images getting jobs even at the ages over 20 which was recognized as ʻold single ladyʼ and working in the office even after marriages. From such image, we can realize that to the graduates of girls high schools, ʻwork and jobʼ are as important as marriage. Even though girlʼs high schools have still viewed as final educational institution for woman at that time, Dongduk Girlʼs High School had endlessly tried to respond to the ʻmodern desireʼ for new women group going beyond their nature of final educational institution called ʻBride training centerʼ, and eventually the endless efforts resulted in having the meaning of the resistance against Japanese colonial policy.