A Critical Policy Analysis of Competency-Based Curriculum Reform in South Korea and Taiwan

• In Event: Sunday Roundtable Session 7:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Critical Enactments and Perspectives of Curricular Reforms (Table 14)

Abstract

This proposal presents a critical policy analysis of Competency-based Curriculum Reform in South Korea and Taiwan within the broader context of East Asia. This study aims to understand how global discourses on Competency-based education are constructed and legitimized through national curriculum reforms and how local contexts and values shape the global discourses locally. By adopting a decolonial perspective, this research seeks to challenge the Eurocentric epistemic coloniality in curriculum reforms and contribute to internationalizing curriculum studies. The findings reveal the perpetuation of global neoliberal ideologies emphasizing economic competitiveness, while also uncovering traces of local cultural values in the competency-based curriculum reforms. This study provides implications on the policy and politics in curriculum policy analysis.

Authors

• Yi-Chih Chiang, Michigan State University

• Seungwoo Hwang, Michigan State University