Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education Successfully Completes '5·18 Democratization Movement Education Training'

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Cho Hyung-joo] The Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education successfully completed the ‘5·18 Democratization Movement Education Job Training’ held from May 14 to October 22, inviting 477 teachers from 15 cities and provinces nationwide.

According to the city education office on the 24th, this training was organized to share and inherit the spirit and values of the 5·18 movement and to strengthen nationwide democratic citizenship education. Considering the COVID-19 situation, the training was conducted not as a uniform group training but as a voluntary participation type where participating teachers planned and executed the program themselves.

The training was held a total of eight times. Teams of four teachers visited Gwangju for one night and two days to autonomously tour 5·18 historical sites such as the Old Jeonnam Provincial Office, 5·18 Democratization Movement Archives, Jeonil Building 245, and the National 5·18 Democratic Cemetery, followed by watching the May play “Oh! Geumnam Restaurant” performed by the theater troupe Tobaki. Especially on the 22nd, after watching the play, participants took part in a special program, the May Mothers’ invited lecture “Memories of That Day,” sharing the pain of losing family members in the horrific scenes of May 1980.

A teacher from the Gyeonggi-do area who participated in the training said, “Breaking away from the conventional training method, planning the training and tours autonomously in teams allowed us to concretize the questions we had and explore them practically. Through this training, I reflected on myself for not fully empathizing with the pain of Gwangju citizens until now, and I will fill that regret by engaging in activities at school where students learn about and empathize with the 5·18 Democratization Movement in detail.”

Superintendent Jang Hwi-guk said, “This training served as an opportunity to promote teachers’ autonomous research activities, and we expect the base of 5·18 education to expand through teachers nationwide who participated in the training. Along with 5·18 education, we will actively strive for educational activities related to the history of Korean democracy, including the Jeju 4·3 Incident, Daegu 2·28 Democratization Movement, April 19 Democratic Revolution, Bu-Ma Democratic Uprising, and June 10 Democratic Uprising.”