The cultural politics of national testing and test result release policy in South Korea: a critical discourse analysis

Abstract

This paper examines the ideological construction of educational discourses embedded within the South Korean print media. Significantly, these discourses have recently promoted the resurrection of a sweeping national testing and test results release policy. Through careful examination of the “test plus release” policy, the authors show how the government has achieved hegemonic power by shaping public opinion through the national testing contexts. Drawing on a critical discourse analysis of educational policy texts from the government and top 10 print media sources, this paper analyses how discourses on “accountability”, “the right to know” and “the fairness of the tests” have been produced, reproduced and recontextualized to favour particular perspectives. The authors also examine how government and influential print media discourses interact with political and cultural factors such as “acclaiming the evaluative state”, “education fever” and “meritocratic beliefs” to achieve public consent for the new “test plus release” policy.

Keywords:

• national testing
• test results release policy
• accountability
• the right to know
• critical discourse analysis

Notes

1. The “lost 10 years” (1998–2007) was a political catch phrase of the 2008 Presidential election used by the Grand National Party (GNP), the most conservative party in South Korea. The GNP claimed that the previous, relatively progressive government had failed to push for global competitiveness, and impaired the conservative groups' key values on national security. This rhetoric was especially compelling to the public leading up to the 2008 Presidential election and became the driving force behind the GNP's victory (Financial Times editorial, 14 June 2010, http://www.fnnews.com).

2. The top 10 dominant print media include Chosun Daily, JungAng Daily, DongA Daily, Hankook Daily, Kookmin Daily, Saegae Daily, Seoul News, Munhwa Daily, Hangyorae, and Kyunghyang.

3. Documents included were from the official website of the Korean Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation (KICE), which provides an English translation of all postings. Other texts included in this research were all in Korean, and were thus first translated by the authors. To secure the accuracy of the translation, the original texts used were sent to an educational researcher bilingual in Korean and English, and translated again. The best translations were chosen after the authors and the translator compared their translations and drew agreements.

4. There are three top conservative newspapers in South Korea, Chosun, JungAng and DongA Daily, and several other newspapers which share political and ideological views with the top three major newspapers. Hangyorae and Kyunghyang Newspapers are two major progressive newspapers which have been known to deliver quite progressive/radical ideas.

5. Both Imsil village in Chonbuk province and Yeongwol village in Gangwon province are located in the most marginalized regions of South Korea. Imsil, Chonbuk, is surrounded by agricultural fields in a hilly district of about 30,000 residents, and Yeongwol, Gangwon, is surrounded by huge mountains and has a population of about 40,000.

6. For example, Korean parents and students are more likely to think that considering student merits beyond objective tests in university selection may invite favouritism and nepotism. In general, people believe that objective test scores are more reliable than other performance indicators. On this point, students' extra-curricular achievement has, so far, not been an important determinant for college admission. Although many have suggested that college admissions should not rely solely on SAT scores, but should also incorporate school records and learning portfolios (J. Lee, 2005), the change has never been successfully realized due to beliefs by the test-driven culture in regard to the fairness of admissions decisions.