Forcing quality without substance: a critical analysis of evaluating teacher education programmes in South Korea

ABSTRACT

In this study, the South Korean policy of evaluating the nation’s entire teacher education programmes regularly, which was introduced amid the globalization and rising popularity of neoliberal education reforms, was examined. Over the years, this policy has been criticized widely for its minimal impact on transforming teacher education. Employing the theoretical frameworks of teacher quality and teacher education accountability, a variety of relevant policy documents and teacher educators’ accounts were analysed to examine this problem. The results reveal that policymakers’ intention of quality assurance through this evaluation affirms an instrumental and neoliberal value, reflecting the global education reform discourse that associates teacher quality with the nation’s economic competitiveness. Aligned with this value, policymakers legitimize government control of teacher education and implement policies based on a narrow conception of teacher quality and the use of high-stake accountability mandates, thereby causing fear-based compliance with the programmes rather than genuine improvement in quality. The results suggest that any teacher education reforms that aim for meaningful teacher learning should reframe their conception of teacher quality based on a thoughtful and collective deliberation on what good teacher education is by actively engaging diverse stakeholders.

KEYWORDS:

• Teacher education
• teacher quality
• accountability
• South Korea
• Education policy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Availability of data

The author confirms that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article and its references.

Notes

1. The documents included in the analysis are marked with an asterisk (*) in the references.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Faculty Research Support Programme at Sungkyunkwan University

Notes on contributors

Jina Ro

Jina Ro is an assistant professor at the Department of Education, Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU). Her research interests involve curriculum studies, teacher education and qualitative research methods. Her work has been presented in several reputable journals, including Teaching and Teacher Education, Journal of Curriculum Studies and Professional Development in Education.