Understanding Political Education through the Lens of High School Curriculum and Contents in Korea and the U.S.

Abstract

STEAM education in Korea has originally begun in order to solve the problem of students avoiding science and mathematics. The necessity and importance of STEAM education lied on resolving the current educational problem of severe examination and entrance-centered Korean education environment.Korean educators believe STEAM can contribute to improve the global literacy of students in their future of a new global era(Yakman & Lee, 2012). In the US, STEM education has been a major component to 21st century learning, and the idea of moving STEM to STEAM is a hot topic in the field of education because the arts have the ability to open up new ways of teaching, learning, and thinking.The aim of this study is to examine the status of STEAM education both in Korea and Unites states as one of the exemplary educational frameworks for the 21stcentury. This study employs cross-cultural research and qualitative content analysis by analyzing and synthesizing the findings of the accumulated theory and practice on STEAM education. It is expected that the study will provide distinct standards for art educators to understand the value and importance of the arts in a STEM education and STEM-integrated convergence education. As a result, this study will bring up discussions and implications about what developments, improvement, and changes are needed for the better direction towards STEAM education in the field of art education.