Newsletter

Marking the 4th Dokdo Education Week, the Foundation developed self-directed teaching aids, “The Dokdo that I’m Making,” and distributed them to primary, middle, and high schools across the country. Let’s take a look at the facets of these teaching aids that will be used in schools.

Changing Dokdo Teaching Aids to Change Paradigm of Dokdo Education

“The Dokdo that I’m Making,” Dokdo teaching aids developed by the Dokdo Research Institute, is themed with self-directed activities. Students are supposed to choose and adjust, by themselves, subjects and project-centered assignments related to Dokdo. Breaking away from difficult knowledge-oriented, study paper-type, and content-centered materials, the aids revolve around students’ participation and collaboration and aim to arm students with Dokdo-related capabilities through self-directed activities. Dokdo-related capabilities, the forming of which is sought in these aids, refer to “knowledge about territory,” leading to the absorption of basic knowledge concerning Dokdo and the abilities to utilize such knowledge; “problem-solving abilities” to solve Dokdo-related problems in a reasonable manner; “communication and collaboration abilities” to express one’s views clearly through group activities, discussions, and project studies, listen to the opinions of other people with open minds, and interact with each other efficiently; “technology utilizing abilities” to use Dokdo-related videos and digital tools, such as 3D printers; and “awareness of territory” necessary to cultivate minds that love Dokdo and raise awareness about territorial sovereignty. 

Division of Grades for In-depth Education

The teaching aids have been developed and divided into 4 different levels, for third- and fourth-year students, fifth- and sixth-year students, middle school students, and high school students. Five topics are suggested to each group and each topic consists of 3 activities. Each topic is conducted in three stages, from “provision of basic information for activities” to “self-directed activities” and “sharing of activity results and evaluation,” to help students have realistic and internalized awareness of territory concerning Dokdo through self-directed, Dokdo knowledge-centered activities.

Aids for Third- and Fourth-year Students Conducted through Concrete Operational Activities

Aids for third- and fourth-year students in primary school are intended to aid in the understanding of Dokdo through concrete operational activities and the internalization of values about Dokdo. Topic 1 consists of studying Dokdo’s shape, location, name, and facilities while letting students make pop-up cards based on this information to also educate others. Topic 2 consists of activities to make a picture book that introduces rocks, animals, and plants of Dokdo. Topic 3 is based on studying sea creatures and resources near Dokdo and building an exhibition hall introducing the sea near Dokdo using clay art. Topic 4 consists of activities that remember the achievements of people who protect Dokdo and making postcards to express appreciation. Topic 5 wraps up activities by planning and going on trips to Dokdo after synthesizing what the students learned.

Aids for Fifth- and Sixth-year Students Preparing for Middle School and Connecting New Information with Knowledge Gained in Third and Fourth Years

Aids for fifth and sixth graders in primary school consist of activities to link study experiences from third and fourth years and to prepare for studying in middle school. Topic 1 consists of exploring Dokdo’s location via a digital image map and using contour applications to materialize Dokdo’s shape through an augmented reality technique. Topic 2 consists of looking at Dokdo’s sea, sky, animals, and plants and making an exploration journals concerning life on Dokdo. Topic 3 is intended to figure out the value of Dokdo by creating a newspaper about the utilization of Dokdo’s resources. Topic 4 consists of activities to study Dokdo featured in old maps and records from other countries, as well as Korea, and learn about people who strove to defend Dokdo. Topic 5 wraps up what students learned about Dokdo through activities to create models of Dokdo’s location, shape, animals, plants, and resources.

Middle School Teaching Aids to Widen Students’ Perspective through Dokdo

The middle school teaching aids can be utilized in extracurricular activities in the free-semester system, as well as in studies related to Dokdo. Topic 1 lets students experience Dokdo vividly through virtual reality and make a creative Dokdo replica using contour lines. Topic 2 is a treasure hunt in Dokdo in which treasures are hidden so that students can explore the diverse living things on Dokdo and the island’s cherished value. Topic 3 consists of activities to make a three-dimensional chronological table based on old literature and maps from Korea, Japan, and other countries, play a Dokdo sympathy king game, and create a Dokdo visual cloud. Topic 4 consists of expressing Dokdo in school in relation to public art based on diverse study experiences about Dokdo. Topic 5 is designed to enable students to cherish Dokdo in their everyday lives by letting them make household items related to Dokdo, such as mood lighting, through three-dimensional modeling and Dokdo-branded stencils.

High School Teaching Aids Boosting Overall Thinking about Dokdo

High school teaching aids chose topics that can enable students to think comprehensively on the basis of thinking skills learned in previous years. Topic 1 is intended to help students understand Dokdo’s history, raise interest surrounding the islets, and help them appreciate Dokdo’s historical value while carrying out a contest to protect them. Topic 2 consists of activities to materialize the awareness of location and images of Dokdo by letting students make QR codes concerning Dokdo’s geopolitical location and natural and human environments. Topic 3 is an occasion for students to figure out Dokdo’s value from economic and social perspectives and to think about Dokdo’s value and meaning through the creation of an eight-frame cartoon. Topic 4 is intended to help students confirm how spatial awareness surrounding Dokdo has changed throughout our long history and understand diplomatic circumstances surrounding Dokdo and the logic of international law through activities by scrutinizing old maps of Dokdo from home and abroad and arranging events chronologically. Topic 5 consists of letting students make videos related to Dokdo sovereignty and internalize the preciousness of Dokdo, our land.

Teaching Aids Boasting Both Effectiveness and Utility

“The Dokdo that I’m Making” boasts effectiveness in allowing students to arm themselves with capabilities related to Dokdo, as well as utility, being used as multi-faceted study materials in Dokdo-related classes. These aids will help students and teachers break away from existing reading- and writing-oriented studies about Dokdo and reinforce students’ capabilities and potential through self-directed research. “The Dokdo that I’m Making” is certainly a self-directed study tool for Dokdo that would enable students to cultivate awareness of territory concerning Dokdo.