A Comparative Study on the Art Textbooks of the Elementary School Third Grade between Korea and China

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is exploring the similarities and differences of the art textbooks of the elementary School third grade between Korea and China. Design/Methodology/Approach - Take two art textbooks used in third grade of elementary school as the object of comparative research, the third volume of the textbook named “The Art” which was published by genius education publishing house approved by South Korean Ministry of Education in 2017 and the “compulsory education textbook art” which was published by the Chinese People’s Fine Arts Publishing House approved by Chinese Ministry of Education in 2013. The comparative research is taken from two dimensions of the overall analysis of the curriculum and the content of the textbooks. The overall analysis of the curriculum is divided into basic curriculum concepts and teaching material objectives. The contents of the textbooks are divided into framing design, overall structure, unit content and legend. Findings - The presentation of art textbooks in the two countries has its own characteristics, and the differences in the nature and positioning of art textbooks in the two countries can be found through multi-dimensional comparison. Research Implications - In order to obtain the educational cutting-edge and innovative idea for textbooks compilation and promote the development of the research in art textbooks, the characteristics of art textbooks in both countries are summarized, furthermore, current art educators’ awareness to the art textbooks can also be improved.