Teacher Education in Neoliberal Contexts: A Comparative Frame Analysis in Korea and Chile

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session 4
  In Roundtable Session: Analyzing Policy From All Angles: Content, Concepts, and Contradictions

Abstract

As teacher quality becomes a national matter due to its significance for developing competitive global workforce, we examined how the discourses about teacher quality are framed at the national policy level in two education systems grounded in neoliberalism: Korea and Chile. Using frame analysis, we analyzed over 30 Ministry of Education’s documents in each country. Despite contextual differences (e.g. teacher’s status, student teacher's selectiveness), we found the dominant discourse in both countries is associated with the “teacher quality and professional teacher education” discourse (Cochran-Smith & Fries, 2011). National policies in each country promote rigorous professional standards using a centralized control (Korea) or a combination of market and regulation approaches (Chile). However, social justice discourse were absent in both countries.

Authors

• Maria Beatriz Fernandez Cofre, Universidad Alberto Hurtado

• Jina Ro, Sungkyunkwan University