BR English Korean Spirit Speech Contest

In June, I was honored to be one of the judges for the BR English Korean Spirit Speech Contest. The contest was held on June 6th, which is Memorial Day in Korea, and was sponsored and hosted by the Institute for Traditional Korean Studies (Kukhakwon).

At BR English, students learn English in a way that includes brain-based approaches to learning and learning a language. Students of all ages (the youngest was 5 to high-school) made speeches or presentations about Korean history or culture. Some examples were about Mugunghwa, Korea's national flower; Memorial Day; and Dangun and Gojoseon, the founder and first Korean nation. I learned a lot. The students memorized their speeches, spoke confidently, and used really good presentation skills. I was impressed. Great job, everyone!

BR English News

BR English is an organization here in South Korea that offers programs for students to learn English and includes techniques used in the brain-based approach of Brain Education.

This recent newsletter includes an interview with a teacher who recently joined the BR English team and an article about BR English students' experiences at a camp in the US and here at Kookhakwon (The Institute for Traditional Korean Studies) in Korea.

Andong--Home of Confucianism in Korea

Andong is a city on the Nakdong River in the Eastern part of South Korea. During the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), Andong attracted scores of Confucian scholars, becoming a pioneering city in Confucian thought. This city also contained the highest number of private and Confucian schools during that time. To this day, Andong still has around 26 private schools from the Joseon Dynasty period. The city also acted as a home to the noble class during the Joseon period. Queen Elizabeth visited the city in 1999.

Confucianism was introduced to Korea by a Chinese scholar. Although often considered a religion, it is more accurately described as a detailed code for interpersonal behaviour, a practical social and political doctrine. A system of education, ceremony, and administration were developed based on Confucian teachings.

It is easy to see the influence of Confucianism on Koreans today. Respect for elders, even when there are slight differences in age, and loyalty to one's kin and authority figures when required is considered to be very important.

In Andong, we visited the Korea Studies Advancement Center--a large complex with a museum devoted to preserving and transmitting Confucianism. Due to the strong history of Confucianism in this area and the way history has been taught in schools throughout Korea, many people are not aware that Confucianism, like Buddhism and Christianity, was introduced to Korea and that it is not the root of Korean culture.

After taking a training offered through our Korean Traditional Cultural Institute (Kookhakwon), an Andong city councillor realized the error that had been made in the naming of the Korean Studies Advancement Center in his city. He, along with the Mayor of Andong and other city officials and scholars, attended the event hosted by Kookhakwon in Andong this weekend and are interested in correcting the error that was made and in bringing Brain Education and training about the root of Korean culture to their city.

At a lecture sponsored by Kookhakwon, Dr. Lee, who studies the ancient Korean culture of Hanminjok, discusses the three elements of traditional Korean culture: Heaven, Earth, and Human, as distinct from the two traditional Chinese elements of yin and yang.

The Institute for Traditional Korean Cultural Studies

Today I was fortunate to have a tour of the displays at the Institute for Traditional Korean Cultural Studies.

The building was completed in 2002, although the Institute has been doing work as a not-for-profit research and educational organization for many years.

The Institute was created to help the Korean people recover over one thousand years of traditional history, culture, and philosophy that were literally removed from Korean history when Japan occupied Korea. Similar to Poland during the Russian occupation, the Korean history was distorted and changed by the Japanese and taught in schools and universities so even today, many Koreans do not know the extent of their rich history.

The institute does training here as well as in schools, companies, and organizations. Currently, there is a group of employees from the National Tax Agency who are staying here and participating in training.

This is a picture of Korean pilots having a tour of the displays at the Institute. They are looking at the Chun Bu Kyung, a traditional spiritual text; a picture of a three-legged blackbird, a traditional symbol whose three legs represent heaven, earth, and humanity; and a cute statue of Dan-gun, known as the "founding father" of Korea and the first king of the Gojoseon Kingdom (2333 B.C. - 108 B.C.). Under Japanese occupation, the existence of this nation was considered to be a myth.

This kingdom was said to be one where people lived to help each other and where the physical health, emotional well-being, peacefulness and spirituality of all people was nurtured.

This article describes how Korea is changing its textbooks to reflect its history more accurately: http://www.korea.net/News/News/NewsView.asp?serial_no=20070223009

Pictures of UBE

Some of the beautiful gardens and landscaping on the university grounds.

This is the Kuk hak, or Traditional Korean Studies, building.



This is the Graduate Studies building (offices, classrooms, and the dormitory are located here).

This is the view in the morning from the dormitory room.