The Trends in Korean Public Opinion and the Movements of Local Communities Surrounding the Establishment of Normal Schools during the Japanese Colonial Period

After the March 1st Movement, the Korean press demanded that provincial normal schools be established with national, local, and donation funds, claiming that the expansion of teacher education was an urgent task for “people’s education” and “national education.” As these demands were reflected in the Korean Education Ordinance, provincial normal schools were established accordingly. The places where normal schools were established were mostly where the provincial government was located, and in the case of Jinju, during the movement against the relocation of the provincial government, it was strongly argued that at least the normal school should remain there. In the late 1920s, when rumors of normal school consolidation began to circulate, movements to attract normal schools took place in places outside provincial seats, such as Iri, Gyeongseong, and Wonsan. However, public normal schools were closed for the time being, and rumors of their reestablishment began to circulate again in each region from the mid-1930s. Since the establishment of simple schools and the completion of the one-village, one-school system for elementary schools were being promoted at that time, plans to expand normal schools seemed feasible. At that time, it was announced that the normal schools would be “government-run schools directly under the Governor-General” rather than “provincial,” but the local community understood the normal schools as “local schools receiving national financial support,” and thus began movements to attract them.