Socially situated learning and activities at the bible study group in Korean church

Park, Sangok

This study focuses on learning phenomena within the cultural and social context. For this study, I explore the learning process as it relates to the interaction between individuals and their environment, not simply the psychological development within an individual, nor the imposition from above and outside influences. The target in the study is a bible study group, called “Soon” in Korean, belonging to the Korean church in the United States of America. In the study, I explore how the members learn through group activities in the context in which they and the group are situated. I use activity theory as a theoretical framework, which is the perspective on the cultural and social context of learning. Activity theory explains development and learning as a societal process of appropriating historical experience in the form of actions and meanings. Through the explanations of the cultural and societal process which internally connect the individual with the society, activity theory overcomes the limit of Dewey’s idea which simply emphasizes the interaction between the individual and the society. The study discovers that all of the activities at the bible study group have been situated and formed in the social and cultural context. Above all, “Soon” has evolved around Korean students’ society, dependent upon the condition of the community of the students studying abroad. The motivation to maintain their continuous participation in the cell group also has been influenced by their willingness to join a new society and to encounter similarly situated persons. The activities at the meeting and mealtime, and sharing the perspectives on the Bible and the prayer items with one another, could be related to and significant in the context that the members as students studying abroad were situated in, that is, they had difficulties in having Korean food, adapting to a new environment, and studying abroad. In conclusion, we need to understand the humankind’s learning as the participation in a socially constituted world, when based on an approach to socially situated activity.

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* 2022년 이후 발행 논문의 참고문헌은 현재 구축 중입니다.

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