How to activate documentary production education in primary and secondary education

Cultural arts education is an integrated term for cultural education and arts education. It is operated as four different curricula in elementary, middle, and high schools, special schools, and alternative schools, including five fields including traditional Korean music, theater, film, dance, and cartoon/animation, excluding art and music that were previously included in the curriculum, centered around the Korea Arts & Culture Promotion Agency. These fields include elective subjects, creative discretionary activities, developmental activities, and clubs. After ten years of cultural arts education, and despite various trials and errors, film education was implemented in 629 elementary, middle, and high schools in 2010. However, just as the hastily formed cultural arts education system was implemented, film education has largely focused on producing instructors, with little educational theory or preparation for non-majors. This has led to stagnation in quality, notably compared to the early days of film education, despite quantitative growth. Until now, film education in Korea has been limited to university courses beyond high school, focusing more on nurturing professional filmmakers than on providing a foundation for artistic literacy. Just as music and art are taught as liberal arts subjects even if students do not become painters or musicians, film education as a form of cultural arts education that allows students to express their thoughts and opinions through video and film has become a critical necessity. Therefore, we must consider alternatives to ensure that film education, as a form of cultural arts education, develops into a satisfactory educational experience for students. First, based on the above findings, we will systematically analyze film textbooks in elementary and secondary schools. Second, based on these two analyses, we will examine the current state of the curriculum by school level and field, and then conduct a satisfaction survey on film education. Third, we will analyze the effectiveness of documentary education in elementary and secondary schools and overseas media education cases to ensure that they serve as effective models for strengthening media literacy education in Korea. Conclusively, we conclude that film education in elementary and secondary schools should shift from theoretical and formal education centered on feature films to documentary and media education centered on artistic experiences, fostering broad critical thinking and creativity.