Public Historians at Work : Building Local History Education through Collaboration

This article examines a case in which public historians collaborated to develop a regional modern and contemporary history curriculum, aiming to explore practical approaches to public history and its educational implications. Between 2021 and 2023, the Incheon Metropolitan Office of Education and the Public History and Culture Studies Lab jointly carried out four projects. These included investigations into colonial-era statues in schools, the identification of local historical resources, the development of strategies for integrating global citizenship education, and the design of a localized history curriculum. This study focuses on the structure of each project and how their outcomes were implemented in educational settings. Special attention is given to the collaborative participation of supervisors, researchers, and secondary school teachers as practicing public historians. Incheon, as a region with layered historical experience -such as port opening, daily life under Japanese colonial rule, and postwar industrialization- offers rich educational potential through its tangible historical resources. The results of the projects, including the production of instructional materials and installation of historical signage, have been adapted for use in classrooms. This case demonstrates a concrete model for implementing public history in local contexts and developing history curricula based on regional heritage.