Transforming Education: Korea's Vocational and Global Citizenship Education, and Gender-Specific International Policy Reforms

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

In contemporary digital society, education faces rapid, profound, and sometimes formidable changes at all levels. Some of these changes positively impact the ways that we teach and learn by facilitating remote learning, ensuring interactive classroom experiences, access to diverse resources, and personalized learning tracks that allow for student-centered approaches and customized learning experiences. On the other hand, complex challenges also arise—aggravating the digital divide, hindering classroom productivity, initial investment and maintenance, and complicating social elements of education by reducing interpersonal engagement between students and educators.
The proposed panel presents four papers that explore the ways in which educators can enhance educational performance and adopt evidence-based education policymaking in the midst of this digital transformation. The graduate students in this panel have developed their questions from firsthand academic and professional experiences in their own country contexts: Bahrain, Nepal, South Korea, and the United States. The studies serve as invaluable references to our understanding of global education in different digital landscapes by offering an empirical analysis of various educational challenges, possible solutions, and practical implications.

The two of the papers highlight the role of teachers in advancing educational transformation in the digital age. The first paper navigates how teachers' interest, preparation, satisfaction, and usage of technology are related to teaching effectiveness and overall school performance comparatively, with a focus on three countries including Bahrain, Nepal, and the US. This research aims to provide a unique perspective on the interconnectedness of these elements in shaping educational outcomes. With the use of data collection methods such as surveys and interviews from teachers from various school levels in each country, the paper aims to identify correlations between teacher effectiveness and school performance, compare the influence of digital technology in schools with different performance levels, uncover similarities and differences in educational outcomes across the countries, all the while considering other factors (like culture and school environment) that may influence outcomes and tailor educational approaches to specific contexts. By comparing the educational landscapes and outcomes, the findings will contribute to a deeper understanding of educational effectiveness, identify effective practices, and provide insights for policymakers and educators seeking to improve student learning, teacher training programs, and technology access.

The second paper explores the interventions that the Korean government and colleges are implementing to develop pre-service teachers’ competencies for the effective implementation of global citizenship education in the digital era. UNESCO revised the 1974 Recommendation to address new challenges such as climate change, the pandemic, and the digital transformation. In response to these global issues, South Korea is revising its curriculum by incorporating a contextualized global citizenship education (GCED) component and introducing AI digital textbooks to develop practical digital competencies in the classroom. To effectively implement these initiatives, what competencies are needed for secondary pre-service teachers? What efforts are the Korean government and colleges making to develop these competencies? Based on UNESCO’s Recommendation—especially regarding GCED and digital literacy—this paper will examine South Korea's teacher training policies and review the current status of related courses offered at colleges of education nationwide. In doing so, it will identify improvements that better align international agendas, national policies, and higher education curricula.

The rest of the papers show the possible future of the education policy process, given that technological advancements transform data collection and analysis. One paper compares the data-driven educational reforms between the US and Korea, focusing on how both countries use data to drive educational policies and improve student outcomes. The study explores the cultural, political, and educational contexts that influence the adoption of standardized assessments, international rankings (such as PISA), and performance metrics in each country. By analyzing both the decentralized education system in the United States and the centralized system in South Korea, the paper highlights key differences and similarities in how data is used to foster educational equity and improve student outcomes. Special emphasis is placed on understanding how these data-driven reforms impact decision-making processes at the national and institutional levels, particularly regarding policies aimed at addressing educational disparities. The research aims to provide insights into the role of data in shaping education reform, focusing on educational equity, student outcomes, and policy-making within these two different educational systems.

Another paper aims to investigate the effectiveness of Korea’s educational Official Development Assistance (ODA) policy for the Global South by conducting an impact evaluation. As the Korean government has increasingly exported its educational ODA since its accession to the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) in 2010, the study raises critical questions about the quality of its educational interventions. Using longitudinal public data from the Korean open data portal, the OECD’s Creditor Reporting System (CRS) databases, and large-scale international assessment agencies (such as PISA and TIMSS), this study examines the extent to which Korea’s education aid contributes to learning outcomes in its key partner countries. The paper provides new and timely insights into Korea’s education aid policy while emphasizing the importance of data-oriented policy evaluation and highlighting future avenues for research on effective education aid policy, such as digital learning in low- and middle-income countries.

Sub Unit

• Globalization & Education SIG

Chair

• Patricia Bromley, Stanford University

Individual Presentations

• Alternative Paths from Education to Employment: Assessing Korea’s Policy for Advancement of High School Vocational Education - Dayeong Kim, Stanford University; Sang Woo Kim, Stanford University

• Comparative Analysis of the Role of National Gender-Specific Education Policies in Girls’ School Enrollment and Academic Performance in International Assessments - Yeji Cho, Stanford University

• Looking into University Courses in Korea: Global Citizenship Education for Pre-Service Secondary Teachers - Yura Oh, Stanford University

• How does teacher effectiveness influence school performance?: A comparative research study on public schools in Nepal, Bahrain, and USA - Sara Husain Nasaif, Stanford University; Pariksha Onta, Graduate School of Education