시민교육의 정체성에 관한 논의는 시민교육의 당위성에 가리어, 그리고 다양하고 복잡한 양상으로 나타나고 있는 한국교육의 문제점들에 의한 제약 등으로 인하여 체계적으로 이루어지지 못하고 있다. 또한 실제의 시민교육은 그 이론적 기초가 되는 시민성, 시민사회, 그리고 국가와 사회 및 개인과 공동체의 관계에 관한 이론적, 실제적 논의의 빈곤으로 인하여 그 구체적인 방향과 전략이 모호한 상황에서 이루어지고 있다. 더욱이 정치문화와 민주주의의 관련성에 대한 경험적 이론이 지니는 난점은 시민교육의 본질적인 기능을 어떠한 관점에서 파악하여야 할 것인지를 어렵게 하고 있다. 본 논문에서는 이러한 한국 시민교육의 정체성 위기와 딜레마의 실상을 논의함으로서 시민교육이 안고 있는 근본적인 문제점에 대한 비판적 인식의 필요성을 명확히 하고 앞으로의 논의 방향을 시사하고자 하였다. 본 논문에서의 위기와 딜레마 논의는 한국 시민교육의 정체성을 확립하고, 이를 바탕으로 시민교육의 실제를 이끌어 갈 구체적인 전략의 방향이 어떠해야 하는가에 관한 이론적, 실천적 관심을 새롭게 정립하고자하는 의도에 따른 것이다.

The purpose of this essay is to discuss 1) the citizenship education in Korea has `identity crisis` and dilemma, 2) the philosophical discourse about the basis of citizenship education should make that concrete and practical. It has identity crisis because what citizenship in Korea means is not clear either in theory and practice. In both, citizenship as educational aim is regarded as given. But given by what rationale is clarified, because this issue is never fully discussed. So, in educational practice, there are almost no adequate instructional strategies for citizenship, but those for the achievement of higher scores in test. For everyone, education is regarded as means, not as aims in itself, to get other social values, especially to get admission for a higher level schooling. Education has become technology, so the aim of citizenship education is displaced with technological strategies for an accidental objectives. Furthermore, problems in teacher-education system, social studies curriculum, instructional practice indoctrinating only `literature`(not `language`), political climate of school, and social, political, economic influences treat education as means for their objectives, etc. in practice make citizenship education failing. Nowaday`s argument that `school education is dead` or `classroom is collapsing` says this. The dilemma of citizenship education lies in the not-verified relation of political culture and democracy. Some suppose that stability and development of democracy is influenced by political culture, and others argue that civic culture is not the cause but the result of democracy. But, both has no empirical evidence. Citizenship education in Korea supposes that teaching future citizens civic virtues will result in the institutionalization and consolidation of Korean democracy. But, Korean political culture as a mixed culture has authoritarian factors with civic culture factors. Youths learn both of them by political socialization. In this point, empirical studies of political socialization and political culture is necessary to identify what citizenship education should be. According to these arguments, the philosophical discourse about the basis of citizenship education is most important to overcome the identity crisis and dilemma in Korean citizenship education. Discourses about what citizenship means, what`s relation between state and civil society, etc. with living `language` discourses are in itself citizenship education.