Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the South Korean government has initiated education reform in the national curriculum and teacher education. Teacher professionalism is considered crucial to the reform components of developing competencies and agency of students by policy elites at the Ministry of Education. Hence, this study uses the frame analysis…

This study investigates the timing for a global education reform to be adopted locally. Drawing on the Multiple Streams Approach while expanding it with a transnational dimension, the Free-Semester Program in Korea is used to examine the convergence of the streams of problem, policy, and politics. An analysis of policy documents, media accounts,…

This Forum article addresses some of the issues raised in the article by Ying-Syuan Huang and Anila Asghar's paper entitled: "Science education reform in Confucian learning cultures: teachers' perspectives on policy and practice in Taiwan." An attempt is made to highlight the need for a more nuanced approach in considering the Confucian…

There is a rich body of studies on the implementation problems of curricular changes comprising more student-centred methodologies in English as a foreign language education around the world. Focusing on these global-wide studies within the context of the Ecological System Theory, this meta-synthesis aims to identify the common factors that hinder…

Many Korean scholars have praised progressive initiatives in the current Korean National Curriculum (KNC) and Korean National English Curriculum (KNEC), although they also state that the actual teaching practices have changed little. With each new iteration of the KNC it is apparent that the Korean Ministry of Education (MOE) is encouraging a…

This article focuses on a major reform goal to advance a student-centric education in South Korea and the associated issues and challenges. This research study draws upon Wittgenstein's concept of world-picture that brings to the fore the cultural influences on policy enactment. Interview data with teachers and students in Korea revealed two main…

This article analyses and compares the motivations and (re)actions of the education authorities and parents in South Korea and mainland China towards schooling reform. The focus is on two policy initiatives -- Free Semester Programme in South Korea and Comprehensive Practical Activity Curriculum in China. Applying the theoretical constructs of…

The current educational trend strongly encourages students' active participation in learning. However, EFL writing instructions in Korea are so far detached from this approach. That is, most English writing classes in Korea are still teacher-centered and most learners remain passive throughout the classroom period. In order to bring about change…