Exploring directions for intercultural citizenship education in Korean language education for social well-being

Exploring directions for intercultural citizenship education in Korean language education for social well-being

The purpose of this study is to explore directions for achieving therapeutic and social well-being effects through intercultural citizenship education in language classrooms. To accomplish this, we first clarified the concepts of education as healing, social well-being, and intercultural citizenship education. Subsequently, through the analysis of reflective journals on the writing and peer review processes written by university students, we discovered manifestations of key concepts of intercultural citizenship, such as empathy, recognition, connection, discovery of new knowledge, and attitude change. Based on these insights, we proposed the perspective that addressing the concept of intercultural citizenship in Korean language education can be beneficial for language education as a form of healing and for social well-being. Furthermore, we suggested that future language education should evolve from instruction focused on the interpretation of symbols and functional proficiency to practices that empower learners as members of global society, allowing them to assign value to their lives and build healthy relationships with others.