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영어

This study examined the actual state of learning of local history in national history education for middle school students, with a focus on the learning of local history, a part of history education. It carried out research on local history based on Jinju area, identifying problems of learning of local history in middle school national history course and seeking resolutions of the problems. In order to grasp the actual state of learning of local history in Jinju area, surveys involving teachers and students and an analysis on the outcomes of experiments on local history class were conducted. The result is presented as follow: According to the results of the survey involving 52 teachers (47.7%) who were teaching or had taught history in middle schools in Jinju, up to 94.2% of the teachers thought that the learning of local history needed to be carried out, but only 48.1% were found to have actually delivered classes on local history, indicating that the teachers had a lack of willingness to actually deliver classes on local history. This is largely due to the pressure to teach a great deal of content during classes, a lack of efficient teaching materials and a lack of ability to produce teaching materials. In addition, the fact that teachers who majored in history account for only 5.8% may weaken the quality of overall history education as well as learning of local history. The results of the survey involving 691students (4.7%) showed that 75.3% of the students regarded the learning of local history as necessary. This indicates that the students had positive perception of local history class. However, students who had ever received classes on local history accounted for only 26.5%, suggesting that classes on local history were not being delivered properly. In order to grasp the effect of local history class, experiments on local history class were analyzed. The results of the experiments showed that after learning local history, students showed improvements in their interest in history and local history and came to put more value on local history class. That is, it was proved that local history class can not only deliver knowledge on local history but also arouse students‘ interest in Korean history. Finally, teachers need to study local history and participate in small group research activities to teach local history confidently. In addition, middle and high school history teachers need to work together, exchanging opinions. Furthermore, training programs for middle school teachers should continue to be carried out. Delivering training programs or lectures regularly for teachers in Jinju in connection with universities or museums which are located in the area can be a good alternative.