This study looks into developing curriculum education method in art
education middle school through utilizing observing and appreciating of traditional
Korean painting which contains aesthetic value intrinsic to Korean consciousness.
Since the independence from the Japanese occupation, Korean art education has
been centered on Western art legacy. This lack of balance has led to biased sense
of aesthetics in the impressionable minds of middle school students.
Hence, the author of this research explored curriculum education methods that
can potentially restore a more balanced sense of aesthetic between the East and
the West to the adolescent students through introducing ways to observe and
appreciate Korean traditional painting in the art education. By studying the
strengths and weaknesses of the current middle school art education’s way of
appreciating Korean traditional painting, the paper aimed at formulating a
foundation on which Korean traditional paintings can be better understood and
appreciated by the adolescent subject of education.
Bearing the aforementioned as the base of the study, the paper offers three
perspectives in the method of appreciating Korean traditional painting so as to
systematically articulate the focal point: ‘understanding the historical context’,
‘visual-perceptual emotional development’, and ‘appreciating Korean traditional
painting as a way of cultivating personality character’. Through such method, the
study looks at the issues and problems arising from middle school art education
which is overly centered on Western art contents, and seeks curriculum education
method employing understanding and appreciating of Korean traditional painting
which is embedded with traditional aesthetic legacy.