This article discusses women's education in Modern Korea (1876-1945) by focusing on Cho Dong-Sik ([Korean characters omitted], 1887-1969), the founder of Tongwon Girls' School (Tongwonuisuk, [Korean characters omitted]) in 1908. When this school merged with Tongdok Girls' School (Tongdokyohakgyo, [Korean characters omitted]) in the following year,…

By examining the widespread enthusiasm for education during the Japanese occupation of Korea (1910-1945), this article sets out to contribute to historiography on so-called 'education fever' (kyoyungyol), which so far has largely concentrated on researching the period after 1945. In the 1920s and 1930s the term was used to describe a multifaceted…

Comenius (1592-1670) has been widely studied in educational research, although limited work has addressed his thinking about science education comprehensively. His Pansophist philosophy led him to believe that science was a necessary subject for all ("Omnes"). Comenius emphasised useful scientific knowledge and core principles…

This study examines the implications of the 'equalisation policy' and the expansion of secondary education in South Korea in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The equalisation policy is one of the most radical school reform attempts in South Korea. A random assignment or lottery system for students was introduced for all middle schools in 1968 and…

This paper explores relations between literacy education, ideology and politics, based on an analysis of educational reforms during Soviet and US military occupation in North and South Korea. Following the end of the Second World War, anti-illiteracy campaigns in the two Koreas became important means of political socialisation for Koreans amid the…

'Christian pyrexia' and 'education fever' have contributed greatly to the empowerment of women in Korea and helped with the transformation of Korean society more broadly. This article begins with an overview of the Confucian gender constructs and delimiting social expectations of women in the pre-modern period. It then focuses on the changing…

This paper explores the relationship between education policy and the trajectory of English fever in Korea. English fever refers to a fervent desire to become proficient in English at almost any cost. English fever started with governments' globalisation efforts in the 1980s and further intensified in the aftermath of the 1997 Asian financial…

Educational grievances made educational democratisation an important issue in the 1980s and 1990s during South Korea's democratic consolidation. Educational democratisers sought to address these through greater freedom and autonomy for teachers, students and parents combined with teacher unionisation. Some of the excesses of the highly…