That Mary Connor has become a guide for educators isn’t surprising: she taught American history in Los Angeles-area high schools for over three decades. But now the 68-year-old Evanston, Illinois native is teaching teachers about Korea.

Since 2004, teachers from 18 Los Angeles public school districts have come to Connor’s educational programs on Korean history and culture. They’re introduced to Korean family life and philosophy; treated to a production of the Korean folktale “Chunhyang”; and taken on field trips to a Buddhist temple.

For Connor – whose interest in Korea is rooted in her contact with Korean-American students and the Korean-American community – bringing Korea to American teachers is more than just educational outreach.

“I would say bottom line it’s a need to teach about Asia,” Connor said, explaining that increasing American consciousness of Korea not only benefits Korean-Americans, but all Americans, as the country becomes more connected with Asian-Pacific economies.

Meanwhile, the New York-based non-profit Korea Society has been reaching out to educators in the greater New York area. Last November the organization held a conference on Korean studies for elementary, middle and high school teachers in its Manhattan office, with Connor as a speaker.

Forty-one teachers signed up for the conference, said Yongjin Choi, senior director of the Korea Society’s Korean language program. Many others had to be turned away, there being over 150 inquiries.

At a time when U.S. politicians debate a national language and a nuclear test on the Korean peninsula has created international alarm, small groups within the U.S. attempt to bring all things Korean to primary and secondary school teachers. Efforts stem from a number of causes, including the rising number of Korean students.

According to the 2000 U.S. Census, 1.2 million Americans are of Korean ancestry. Los Angeles County has the largest population, with 186,350 – with an overwhelming majority speaking a language other than English at home.

Currently there are about 60 American high schools offering Korean language classes, most of them in California, especially Los Angeles, according to the Foundation for Korean Language and Culture in USA. New York, with 62,130 Korean-Americans in Queens County alone, has ten high schools teaching Korean.

Choi said that while many of the educators who attend the Korea Society’s cultural programs initially come to fulfill New York’s requirement that teachers take educational programs, they often leave more enthusiastic about the Asian country.

“They got to know Korea and they become interested in Korea,” Choi said.
This growing interest can be a benefit for both teachers and Korean-American parents, who are dismayed that their children have little exposure to their cultural heritage at school.

“As a Korean, I’ve seen my children go to school and the teacher has nothing to offer Korean-American students,” Choi said. “My children never learn about Korea in school.”

Teachers who have attended programs say the workshops help them better understand their Korean students and parents, Choi added.

Carol Schulz, director of Columbia University’s Korean language program, said more people are willing to learn Korean, pointing out that many more U.S. universities offer the language than 20 years ago.

“It seems that Americans have greatly changed their views of Korea in the last two decades or so,” Schulz said. She cited several possible factors for this change, including Korea’s economic development and growing role globally, the influx of Korean immigrants, and Korean pop culture influences, like Korean television dramas.

Popularity of the Korean language also received a boost when the College Board, which administers college entrance tests, began offering a Korean language subject test. Since the inception of the test in 1997, the number of test-takers has nearly doubled, according to College Board spokesperson Caren L. Scoropanos.

To expand its efforts, the Korea Society recently started a long-planned Web site, KoreaK21.org. Teachers can download lesson plans on Korean religion, architecture and women’s issues, plus other topics.

There are signs the Web site will have visitors. Though Connor mainly works with Los Angeles-area teachers, she has heard from educators from Oregon, Washington and Montana. And last year Connor co-founded the Korean Academy of Educators, a non-profit organization looking to broaden teachers’ knowledge of Korea beyond barbecue.

She concedes that changing high school curriculum will be a slow process, but remains adamant that Americans should learn more about Korea and other East Asian countries, adducing China’s treatment in the U.S. media as an example of the negative consequences of continued ignorance.

“There is this tremendous need for Americans to be more informed about Asia,” Connor said. “I can see it in the press about China. [The media’s perception is that] China’s building up their military, they’re an economic threat and that’s going to hurt the United States, as opposed to saying ‘China has this rich history and culture, what can we learn from China?’”