Teaching Korea has been created to help equip teachers with the knowledge they need to plan and teach about this little known but amazingly interesting and important part of the world.

The website provides teachers with up-to-date subject expertise, stimulating teaching ideas, and a set of high-quality online resources.

The website and the resources enable you to create a world study unit.

Alternatively, they can be used by pupils to dip into Korean history to discover what was happening in a very different country on the opposite side of the world at different times in history.

The Korean peninsula has a rich and diverse history – from the early Three Kingdoms through to the devastating wars of the 20th Century, partition and South Korea’s recovery to become an Asian economic powerhouse.

Teaching Korea centres around 10 carefully selected objects which together give a compelling overview of Korean history.

Each object, from a different time-period, was chosen collectively by the authors to highlight a significant aspect of the history of Korea.

This site harnesses the power of objects to motivate pupils’ interest and provide teachers with resources needed to inspire young people to learn about Korea – an often neglected area of historical study.

All content is free and openly available for teachers to use (within our term and conditions).

Although this project is geared primarily at pupils studying History in England at upper primary (KS2) and lower secondary (KS3) level, its potential extends beyond England to aid teachers within all nations of the British Isles and across the world.

The website features 10 objects associated with the history of Korea and encourages teachers of pupils and students in upper primary and lower secondary school – that is, from Year 5 to Year 9, or ages 9 to 14 – to use these objects to enhance their history curricula.

Many teachers will not have a working knowledge of Korean or Asian history.

Do not worry because the website provides background information and resources to make sure you can gain the knowledge easily and quickly and so will feel confident in dealing with the history and significance of this fascinating country topic.

Each object will be explored through the lens of the key questions for historians, namely ‘who, what, when, where, why and how’. Each object has a collection of teaching resources and strategies which will:

• Describe and explain the object,
• Contextualise the object,
• Link to other events, themes or developments which provide comparison and contrast,
• Provide teaching strategies, hints and tips,
• Enable pupils to study the object independently.

Teachers can also use one of the 10 objects and teaching ideas to enhance their current curriculum.

So, for example, when focusing on teaching the Spanish Armada of 1588, pupils could also learn about the Turtle Ships and Admiral Yi Sun Sin in the 1590s. This would help to widen students’ knowledge of world events.

Alternatively, the objects could be combined to provide object-based units that will help to teach a short history of Korea.

All content is free and openly available for teachers to use (within our term and conditions).

Although this project is geared primarily at pupils studying History in England at upper primary (KS2) and lower secondary (KS3) level, its potential extends beyond England to aid teachers within all nations of the British Isles and across the world.

In recent years, some aspects of Korean culture, notably K-Pop and K-Drama, have gained in popularity in the UK. However, in general young people in England and across the UK know very little about the history, heritage and culture of the people of Korea.

Korean history provides a window into a country and culture that may appear to be very different to our own. However, by using these resources you will be able draw out many important similarities as well as differences between British and Korean history.

Therefore, Teaching Korea aims to nurture and develop a much wider and deeper knowledge and understanding amongst pupils in the UK of the importance of Korean history.

From the earliest times to the present day, through the high-quality resource-based information and activities, pupils have access to study the online resources either in school or at home whenever they want, and in the depth they wish.

Each of the 10 objects has a dedicated page divided into four tabs giving you access to the historical analysis and resources.

Google MyMaps: Key locations relating to objects can be found on the Teaching Korea Google MyMaps map. To chose the pins for an object, select the options slide-in and pick the object.

Downloads: You can also download a range of printable versions for ease of use in the classroom.

Key Vocabulary/Check the meaning: A separate page also provides a glossary of many of the key terms you will encounter with appropriate definitions and explanations.

The Teaching Korea project is the result of a continued partnership between three highly-experienced history educators: Mike Maddison, Richard McFahn and Aaron Wilkes.

Mike, Richard and Aaron have previously collaborated on a number of projects linked with Korea including contributing to the Fellowship for English Textbook Specialists at the Academy of Korean Studies in Seoul in 2019.

They also co-authored a chapter in the Routledge Handbook of Contemporary South Korea, edited by Sojin Sim and Niki J. P. Alsford (2022). The chapter focused on South Korea in the Secondary Education System in the UK.

The Teaching Korea project was supported by the 2023 Understanding Korea Project of the Academy of Korean Studies (E_23D003).

All the content on Teaching-Korea.co.uk is age appropriate for pupils aged 13 and above. With adult guidance, it is also appropriate for pupils aged 9 and above. The website contains links to external websites such as Wikipedia and to the video-sharing site YouTube. While these platforms have excellent resources for teaching and learning, they do contain other material which is not necessarily age appropriate. We have included advice from the NSPCC on using YouTube safely.

External links were selected and reviewed when the Teaching-Korea website was published but we are not responsible for their content. You can find more information about staying safe online on the BBC Own It website.

Copyright accreditation and/or the source of images is included, if applicable, on picture captions. All effort has been made to locate and identify the copyright owner of each image used. If errors have been made and we are notified as such, we will immediately rectify the situation.