East Asian teachers use AI to rethink traditional tales
· UPIJuly 24 (Asia Today) -- By Asia Today and translated by UPI
SEOUL, July 24 (Asia Today) - Prospective teachers from South Korea, China and Japan will share ways to teach peace, coexistence and respect for cultural differences by adapting traditional stories with generative artificial intelligence.
South Korea's Education Ministry and the Asia-Pacific Center of Education for International Understanding will hold the 2026 Korea-China-Japan Global Citizenship Education Lesson Research Presentation in Seoul on Saturday.
About 50 prospective teachers, professors and other participants will attend.
South Korea will be represented by teams from Jeonju National University of Education, Gwangju National University of Education and Sungshin Women's University.
Students and professors from Beijing Normal University in China and Teikyo University in Japan will also participate.
The teams will present global citizenship education lesson plans using picture books, novels and other literary works from their countries.
The lessons are designed to help students understand peace and coexistence, recognize differences among people and consider how those values relate to their own lives.
AI and role-playing added to lessons
This year's presentations will include teaching methods that combine generative AI with activities encouraging direct student participation.
The Teikyo University team will present a lesson using a picture book created by rewriting a traditional folktale with generative AI.
The Jeonju National University of Education team will use the picture books The Enemy, How to Turn War Into Peace and The Child From a Strange Country to discuss war, peace, refugees and cultural diversity.
Students will also take part in role-playing exercises after reading the books.
Professors from the three countries will review each team's presentation and advise the prospective teachers on lesson structure and classroom operation.
The feedback is intended to help participants adapt the lesson plans for use in schools.
The Education Ministry and the UNESCO-affiliated center have held the annual presentation since 2021 to use the ability of stories to promote empathy in global citizenship education.
The organizations compiled previously developed lessons in elementary and secondary editions of Learning Global Citizenship Education Through Stories, published in 2024 and 2025.
Global citizenship education seeks to develop people who understand and practice universal values including peace, human rights and cultural diversity.
South Korea has promoted the expansion of global citizenship education as a major educational agenda through UNESCO.
"This will be an opportunity for prospective teachers from South Korea, China and Japan to explore the importance of peace and grow together through stories," said Lee Nan-young, director general for international education planning at the Education Ministry.
"We will continue educational exchanges among the three countries so global citizenship education can take root in classrooms across Northeast Asia," Lee said.
-- Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI
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Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260724010008959