Remaking textbook policy: analysis of national curriculum alignment in Korean school textbooks

ABSTRACT

The article aims to reform Korean textbook policy through analysing national curriculum alignment in authorized school textbooks and assessing their quality management. The research was conducted with 14 different types of approved middle school physical education textbooks that were examined for the creativity embedded in Korea’s current national curriculum. The research outcomes indicate great disparities in the creativity of the examined physical education texts. Also, the textbooks focused only partially on the aim and method of the mandated curriculum. The findings suggest a lack of creativity, which is a guiding principle of nationally authorized textbooks. Thus, Korean textbook policy needs to be changed in two important ways. First, the classification of creativity must be made part of the compilation criteria, and second, creativity must be reinstated as part of the authorized textbook screening process.

KEYWORDS:

• Physical Education
• textbook policy
• Korean national curriculum
• curriculum alignment

Highlights

• School textbooks work as educational mediums that communicate the aims of national curriculums directly to the learner.

• The content and form of school textbooks depend greatly on textbook policy where quality management is concerned.

• Incongruencies exist between the Korean national curriculum and authorized school textbooks in creativity education.

• This Korean case study provides substantive and methodological insights to those experiencing similar creative education challenges internationally.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. We have used the abbreviation “PE” throughout this article to denote physical education as a content area and physical education as a school subject.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by a Chung-Ang University Research Grant in 2016.

Notes on contributors

JeongAe You

JeongAe You is a Professor in the Department of Physical Education at Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Korea.  She is a Director for a Physical Education Laboratory founded by the Ministry of Education in Korea.

HyeSeung Lee

HyeSeung Lee, M.Ed. in Physical Education, is pursuing her second Master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction and a Ph.D. in Technology and Teacher Education at Texas A&M University. She served both as a Physical Education teacher at a Korean public middle school and a research assistant at a Physical Education Laboratory founded by the Ministry of Education in Korea. She was the master's student of Dr. JeongAe You and is now being advised by Dr. Cheryl Craig.

Cheryl J. Craig

Cheryl J. Craig is a Professor and the Houston Endowment Endowed Chair of Urban Education at Texas A&M University. She is an American Educational Research Association (AERA) Fellow, an AERA Division B (Curriculum) Lifetime Career Achievement awardee, and a recipient of AERA's Michael Huberman Award. Her research is situated at the intersection where teaching/teacher education and curriculum meet.