This study is a review of the development of a community-based art education curriculum for the Korean School of Columbus, Ohio, where I have served 5 years as an art teacher. From my teaching experiences in the school, I realized that Korean-American students in the United States suffer from a host of psychological problems, such as feelings of rejection and discrimination because they are not able to identify themselves with either the culture of their parents or that of the society they are growing up in. This results in serious outcomes for the Korean-American children because a lost identity takes away one's motivation or purposeful activity in society. In addition, these children are not able to fully express their chaotic feelings, which is a huge reason for many of the psychological problems they suffer. This is where I believe art comes in: art gives the Korean students a chance to express what they feel, think and experience in a form that is nonverbal.
Based on this understanding, my desire is to develop a community-based art education curriculum for the Korean School of the Korean Church of Columbus, Ohio. The major goals of this study are: (1) to help Korean students develop their artistic talents, find their identity, and nurture their Christian faith, (2) to create a connection between Korean churches and the Korean immigrants in the United States, (3) to teach visual arts and cultural heritage in order to effectively address the problems of language barriers, cultural conflicts, and racial discrimination, (4) and to help children achieve basic art education disciplines and studio art techniques in order to better express their personal beliefs, ideas and responses to the visual arts.
This case study is based on Stringer's (1999) community-based action research as the primary methodology, as well as the theories of communitarians like Etzioni (1993), Gusfield (1975), Selznick (1992), and Sites (1998). I choose Stringer's community-based action research because his strategies and philosophies give this study a strong research foundation. The communitarian theory also provides this project with a standardized definition of the term, community, for both the purposes of this researcher and the other Korean participants of this case study here in the United States.
As the results of the research project, there are 30 lesson plans divided by three units: (a) Unit I relates to a general art education, (b) Unit II responds to theological issues in art education, and (c) Unit III includes five lesson plans around the themes of Korean history and culture.