• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
• /
• v.31 no.2
• /
• pp.268-294
• /
• 1996

Social and population geography in Korea has been developed somewhat later than other special subjects of geography. But in recent years, it has attracted much interests of geographers, and accumulated a considerably large amount of research products. Seen in this context, it is resonable to expect that social and population geography will not only lead the development of geography in the future, but also contribute to the resolution of socio-spatial problems in Korea. From this point of view, we shall retrospect in this paper the progress of social and population geography in Korea since the 1950s, and look out its future prospect and further research tasks. In the first place, we discuss general concepts and major themes of social and population geography, and overview its development process, and than review in more details some important research products which would be categorized into five main subjects, that is, research methodology, urbanization and urban population phenomena, population movement and changing rural life, residential differentiation and urban redevelopment, and urban social life and regional social well-being. Finally, we consider briefly the future prospect and further tasks of social and population geography in Korea.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
• /
• v.51 no.6
• /
• pp.935-955
• /
• 2016

This study aims to analyze the changes of goals and contents of middle school geography education following up the changes in the Korean social studies curriculum over time. The main findings are as follows. First, From the Syllabus period to the Third Curriculum, geography education, history education, general social studies education in the middle school social studies were directed and managed independently. However from the 4th to the 7th Curriculum, the demand for the virtual integration in middle school social studies increased sharply. Since 2009 revision, social studies suffered an identity crisis as integrated subject matter because history education was separated from the social studies and interdisciplinary units were abolished. In spite of much criticism, however, an odd form of social studies integrating geography and general social studies still remains. Second, the stronger the demand for the social studies integration in middle school, students' social studies learning load had become heavier due to severe competition with other areas to ensure more portion in the integrated structure of social studies. Since geography education did not reflect the new tendency of the geography in the integrated structure of middle school social studies, the gap between the geography and geography education has increased and knowledges of geography growing became separated from students' experience. In conclusion, the integrated structure of social studies in the middle school hindered the geography education development as it limited the autonomy of geography education in terms of curriculum development.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.912-930
• /
• 2016

This paper suggests to bring the idea of social construction of nature or social nature discussed in social science including geography to geographical and environmental education for breaking traditional divide of people(or society) and nature. And this paper analyzed relationship between people and nature, meaning of environment and the concepts of social nature represented in the geography curriculum and textbook of England, Australia and Korea. Recently in terms of focusing disciplines or education on integration or convergence, introduction of social nature in teaching and learning geography and environment has an important implication. With rapid growth of capitalism, nature is constructed socially by the political, economical, social and cultural practice. Thus geography education reduces the distance between human geography and physical geography and needs to focus on exploring not just the relationship between people and nature but social construction of nature. Another implication of the introduction of social nature in teaching and learning geography and environment is that students can develop the relational sensitivity about the relationship people and nature or people and place.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
• /
• v.47 no.5
• /
• pp.735-754
• /
• 2012

Korean society in the 2000 has experienced new many social and spatial issues such as the process of neoliberalism and changes in urban and spatial policies, the development of information and communication technology and reconfiguration of informational social space, radically increasing foreign immigrants and transformation to multicultural society, global warming and environmental injustice, and these new issues have promoted development of social geography in Korea. In addition to a review on them, this paper provides a review on empirical researches on traditional issues which have been dealt with in social geography in the 2000 in Korea. Even though there have been numerous sub-issues, they can be divided into two categories: one is urban and communal social geography including urban housing and residential segregation, urban social problems such as poverty, crime, education, health care, social welfare, urban and rural community building, identity, sense of place, and social movement; the other is social geography of population and migration, including population movement, aged society and social welfare for elderly people, and foreign immigrants and formation of multicultural social space. As some difficult conditions such as path-dependent process of neoliberalism, transformation toward informational, aged, and multicultural society would continue, so social geography in Korea to tackle with these external conditions should deepen its theoretical insights and widen its research issues.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
• /
• v.9 no.4
• /
• pp.546-558
• /
• 2003

Social justice has been an interest of whole geographers for almost four decades. The conception of social justice includes fairness and equity in the distribution of a wide range of attributes. The purpose of this study is to understand social justice in geography of welfare. The theories of social justice are needed to describe relationship between social justice and geography of welfare. The evaluation of spatial variations in welfare is closely associated with social justice. Equality, equity, efficiency, and fairness are the reasonable criteria to apply to the evaluation of distributions of welfare, relating to distributive(or territorial) justice. However, there are complications in the spatial application of welfare evaluation criteria, including access across space, boundary crossing and ecological fallacy.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
• /
• v.47 no.5
• /
• pp.775-790
• /
• 2012

This paper considers chronologically the discourse of space as one of key concepts in geography, and then argues that geography education ought to be the critical pedagogy of space. Recent social science including geography and education has more empathized the sociality and spatiality of space than the physicality of space, and argues that space is constructed socially. Thus, it has been considered that space is no longer empty container to be filled with social relationships, but is concerned with the production and reproduction of social relationships through political struggles with diverse meanings. Now, geography education has to examine the different ways which space has been conceptualized, and develop geography education as critical pedagogy of space that focuses on reading the multiple and contested nature of space.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
• /
• v.19 no.4
• /
• pp.775-786
• /
• 2013

Although the Dept. of Geography in Korea has contributed to the social development of Korea with a remarkable growth for a short period, their social status and influence have not greatly improved and the graduates in Geography do not have many job opportunities. The low social statue and the limited job opportunities of the Dept. of Geography in Korea was due to the failure of the creation of their demand and the expansion of their sphere in response to the social changes and developments of Korea. In France, the Dept. of Geography has raised their social standings through the suited curriculum system to generate their demand and enlarge their domain with the social changes and development of French. The Dept. of Geography in Korea also needs not only the expansion of sphere but the building of the proper curriculum system for the creation of demand.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
• /
• v.11 no.5
• /
• pp.458-473
• /
• 2005

This paper begins with a critique that researches of geography education in Korea have not reflected the ideological debates in education and geography. The purpose of this paper is to figure implications for socially-critical geography education being studied in England as openly-ideological approach. First, ideological viewpoints of geography education was categorized through analysis of ideology in education and geography. Especially, a limit of conservative and liberal approach is indicated, socially-critical viewpoint is intrinsically justified as alternative logic. Socially-critical theorizing can change teacher's role as an agent of curriculum change and their conduct knowledge as well as geography curriculum. Second, (social) concern-oriented geography education to be more concerned to 'the social' can be realized through the third space approach and committed geography education as critical pedagogy. And, critical literacy is needed to teachers and students for practice of socially-critical geography education.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
• /
• v.40 no.3 s.108
• /
• pp.353-368
• /
• 2005

Social geography in Korea has been studied centering around urban social geography which has been developed mainly in English world, and then there have been a few concepts and theories that were tested in the rural social geography of Korean rural landscape. This article tried to grasp the conceptual basis of German social geography, and had views on the rural social geography in the relent English world. As a result, the author concluded that the rural landscape would be a representation of rurality, a component of local and national identity, and thought to be not only a physical reality but social, mental, cultural reality On the basis of this consideration, the author explored major concepts which would correspond with the universality and speciality of Korean rurality. They are as follows: 'lineage group' as a geographical socio-group, the 'regionalization' by social groups, and 'the territoriality of settlement' as a social space.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
• /
• v.47 no.4
• /
• pp.554-567
• /
• 2012

It can be suggested that social geography in the 2000s in Korea has achieved a considerable development, dealing with various theories and issues. This suggestion can be identified first of all with the publication of several texts of Social Geography in this period. For important theoretical discussions, the neoliberal glocalization process of capitalist economy has promoted geographical researches from the perspective of political economy, and the development of information and communication technology, increasing foreign immigrants, environmental problems such as the global warming, and social participation and empowerment of women in Korea have increased social geographical concerns with and theoretical discussions on informational society and city, multiculturalism and/or transnationalism, political ecology and environmental justice, and feminism. This paper provides a review on these major issues in recent theoretical discussions in social geography in Korea, and suggests a brief comment on its future development.