In this world of cultural diversity, education needs to raise people with multicultural awareness, that is ability to understand cultural differences, to adapt themselves to these differences and to work well with all sorts of people with different cultural backgrounds. That can be achieved through multicultural education, and college education, especially, is asked to prepare students for contemporary world. An ultimate goal of multicultural education thus can be described as the raising of conscientious and conscious awareness of universal values or human rights. If we recognized other people who are of different skin colors, speak different languages, and etc, the global society we are living in would be more harmonious and peaceful one.
When it comes to multiculture, Korea is no longer a country of the same race and the same culture. As the number of foreign residents has passed over one million, Korea has rapidly become a multiethnic and multicultual society. Therefore, ethnic Koreans need to recognize mutual differences and cooperate with the peoples of different backgrounds. However, a recent study conducted by the researcher has revealed that foreign residents living in Korea have various difficulties ranging from language abilities, jobs and children’s educations to stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination. That proves the importance of multicultural education in the Korean society and also gives rise to the need to improve education methods, education activities, and educational environments.
Cultures have common features and differences. So, we can find similar cultures at the opposite ends of the earth. Conversely, we also can find unfamiliar cultures nearby. Harmonic coexistence among these similar and different cultures may make our global village, in which various races are living together, more healthy multicultural global society as a whole.
If human beings, who are part of Nature, follow the provisions of the Nature, the world will become more socially harmonized. In Nature, even flowers, a blade of grass, a tree and a stone do not discriminate against another. Nature takes its course and it accepts it for what it is. Likewise, in our global village, we must live together not only as a multicultural and multiracial society, but also as part of nature. From this notion, the researcher invent the “Theory of Eco-cultures.”
The “Theory of Eco-cultures”is derived from the word, ecosystem.
As ecosystem means a pattern of balanced relations among all things in nature—plants, animals, stones, and etc,“ eco-cultures” implies a balanced form of living together among the peoples of different cultures who, too, are part of nature.
Key words: multicultural Counseling, multicultural education, theory of ecocultures