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Korea : Curricula

• 5.1 First phase: Pre-compulsory, age 3 - 6
• 5.2 Second phase: Primary, age 6 - 12
• 5.3. Third phase: Lower secondary, age 12 - 15
• 5.4. Fourth phase: Upper secondary, age 15 - 18

Last updated: 25-Sep-2008

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Korea has a national curriculum, which has been revised regularly in accordance with a five- to ten-year cycle since the first revision in 1954/55. The Minister of Education is responsible for providing the framework for school curricula and the national curriculum is proclaimed in the form of circulars. It is mandatory for all schools from kindergarten to upper secondary, including private schools. The national curriculum sets strict regulations for the number of school days, the subjects to be taught for each school year, and the time allocation for each subject in each school year, but there is some room for modification either by local education authorities or individual schools. That is, the national curriculum prescribes not only the range of subjects to be offered at each level of formal education, but also the content of and the time allocation for each subject. Moreover, it provides criteria for the development of textbooks. The national curriculum also provides general guidelines for teaching-learning activities and methods of assessment.²⁴

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) has overall responsibility for control of the curriculum. The national curriculum literature establishes different goals and objectives for pre-compulsory kindergartens, compulsory elementary schools, lower secondary junior high schools, post-compulsory upper secondary high schools and special schools. Article 23 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Law² states that schools should administer the curriculum; that the Minister of Education has the power to determine the standards and content of the curriculum; and that school superintendents may establish further standards and content to reflect their district's particular situation (within the limits of the curriculum set by the Minister).⁴⁵,⁴³,²⁷

Seventh National Curriculum (March 2000)

During the development of the Seventh National Curriculum, which was introduced gradually from the beginning of the 2000 academic year (March 2000), it was recommended that, in preparation for the 21st Century, the development of creativity in elementary school, junior high school and high school students should be given high priority. To do this, the Government proposed decreasing the number of compulsory subjects in the curriculum and increasing the importance of optional subjects. See sections 5.2.2, 5.2.3, 5.3.2, 5.3.3, 5.4.2 and 5.4.3 for further information.¹⁷

The Seventh National Curriculum was revised under the principles of:

• Enriching elementary and basic education
• Increasing self-directed ability
• Practising learner-centred education
• Increasing autonomy at the local and school level. ⁸⁸

The basic purpose of the Seventh National Curriculum is stated as being:

• To loosen the rigid and centralised curriculum framework. Specifically, teachers are encouraged to be directly and actively involved in the decision and planning process for the curriculum. Local offices of education and schools should establish systematic and concrete guidelines for the organisation and implementation of the curriculum and develop individualised guidelines which are customised for local needs and circumstances.³¹

On the basis of the stated ideals of education, the well-educated Korean citizen targeted by the Seventh National Curriculum is defined as a person who:

• Seeks to develop his/her own individuality as the basis for the growth of a well-rounded, whole personality.
• Demonstrates creative ability on the basis of a solid grounding in basic knowledge and skills.
• Explores career paths on the basis of broad intellectual knowledge and skills in diverse academic disciplines.
• Creates new values on the basis of understanding the national culture.
• Contributes to the development of the community where he/she lives, on the basis of democratic citizenship.⁴¹

In keeping with its goal of developing the well-educated person, the Seventh National Curriculum is designed within a general framework intended to:

• Design the curriculum to help students acquire basic abilities which will enable them to lead the trends of social change.
• Introduce a system of a national common basic curriculum and an elective-centred curriculum.
• Optimise the volume and level of the content of learning and to introduce the differentiated curriculum so as to provide students with in-depth education.
• Diversify the contents of the curriculum and methods of instruction in consideration of each student's ability, aptitude and career choice.
• Broaden the autonomy of individual schools in organising and implementing their own curriculum.
• Reinforce the quality control of education by establishing the curriculum evaluation system.⁴¹

Local control of the curriculum

Curriculum policy in Korea can be described as highly centralised, with the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) having overall responsibility for control of the curriculum.  Municipal and Provincial Boards of Education (MPBEs) or individual schools have not traditionally had much autonomy to decide what to teach, or how to teach it. It is within this context that recent curriculum revisions have put more emphasis on the decentralisation of curriculum control. The Sixth National Curriculum, for example, allowed local education authorities to select appropriate subjects to teach and to decide the unit number of courses required at high school level (students aged 15+). It also encouraged individual schools to modify the national curriculum or to develop new subjects, based on the needs and circumstances of the school and local communities and on the interests of students, teachers and community members. This decentralised policy was continued in the seventh curriculum revision. It is intended that, by giving more autonomy to schools and local authorities, curricula will become more appropriate to individual schools and students, and will contribute to increasing the diversity of educational programmes.²⁴

Curriculum implementation in schools is regularly supervised by the Municipal and Provincial Education Authorities (MPEAs). In addition, the MPEAs establish committees for research and consultation with regard to the curriculum. Such committees are expected to include teachers, educational administrators, educational experts and parents as members, and it is intended that they conduct research on the organisation and implementation of the curriculum in cooperation with schools, research institutions and universities and use the results to improve the guidelines for organisation and implementation.⁴⁶

Schools are also urged to encourage parental involvement in the curriculum in order to increase educational effectiveness.⁴⁶

Agencies involved and the process of curriculum review

The national curriculum is, in principle, developed and implemented by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) via its Curriculum Planning Division which is within the School Policy Bureau. In practice, however, curriculum development research work is often conducted by government-funded educational research institutes or, in some cases, by special committees of academics and specialists, who develop general frameworks or curricula for specific subjects. The Korea Institute of Curriculum and Evaluation (KICE) is responsible for research involved in curriculum development and student assessment.²⁴

Cycle of curriculum review

National Curriculum Reform	Proclamation Date	Period
First National Curriculum	1 August 1955	1955-1962
Second National Curriculum	15 February 1963	1963-1972
Third National Curriculum	14 February 1973	1973-1981
Fourth National Curriculum	31 December 1981	1982-1988
Fifth National Curriculum	30 June 1987	1989-1994
Sixth National Curriculum	30 September 1992	1995-1999
Seventh National Curriculum	30 December 1997	2000-

Implementation of the Seventh National Curriculum

Year	Elementary School	Middle School	High School
2000-2001	Grades 1 & 2 (6-8 years)
2001-2002	Grades 3 & 4 (8-10 years)	Grade 7 (12-13)
2002-2003	Grades 5 & 6 (10-12 years)	Grade 8 (13-14)	Grade 10 (15-16)
2003-2004		Grade 9 (14-15)	Grade 11 (16-17)
2004-2005			Grade 12 (17-18)

Some changes are currently being introduced to the Seventh National Curriculum; these involve syllabus/specification changes rather than profound changes to the curriculum. The changes are also intended to further increase autonomy, flexibility and responsibility for individual schools and teachers.

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