ABSTRACT

The Korean society in the 21st century is in the process of a qualitative change which it has never experienced before. This change is heading for the knowledge-based society. The knowledge-based society is based on an information-based society. The Korean society has achieved the task of building information-based society in a very short period of time. The knowledge-based society requires the concept of traditional knowledge to be changed. The traditional concept of knowledge is relying on the logical positivism. A positive epistemology argues that a truth becomes a reality only when it can be repeated and clearly stated. It presupposes the division of a knower and an object being known. However, post-positivistic concept of knowledge rejects the traditional notion. Among the post-positivistic epistemological views, the concept of tacit knowledge, which stress pre-reflective process of knowledge, is considered as an alternative view on knowledge in an changed society. An artistic way of knowing not only rejects the division of the subject and object, but also perceives and expresses the uniqueness and wholeness of an object in a way which elicits common emotional responses. In this way, an artistic perception gives a practical clue to the development of a tacit knowledge. The reason for re-evaluation of the public school arts education lies here. The knowledge-based society needs a new way of knowing, that is tacit knowledge, and an artistic knowledge can contribute to the development of tacit knowledge far more effectively than those other subjects in the school. The renewed reason for public school arts education is also found in the fact that it gives to the students chances to be equipped with practical abilities which are required to meet the characteristic changes of knowledge-based society.