Changes to the Korean Mathematics Curriculum: Expectations and Challenges
This chapter provides an overview of mathematics curriculum development and explores the key features of the recent curricular changes in Korea. As such, it first presents a brief history of Korean mathematics curriculum development and highlights the key
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Abstract This chapter provides an overview of mathematics curriculum development and explores the key features of the recent curricular changes in Korea. As such, it first presents a brief history of Korean mathematics curriculum development and highlights the key characteristics. This chapter then elaborates on the most recent curricular changes and trends in terms of why teach mathematics, what to teach in mathematics, how to teach mathematics, and when to teach mathematics. The underlying factors behind such changes and trends are reflected upon. This chapter closes with a discussion of the expectations and significant challenges pertaining to the recent curriculum development and implementation in the Korean context. Keywords Mathematics curriculum · Curricular change · Mathematics education in Korea · Objective of teaching mathematics · Instructional methods · Curriculum implementation
Introduction Korean students have demonstrated their superior mathematics achievement in recent international comparative studies such as TIMSS and PISA (e.g., Mullis et al. 2012; Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 2010). Many factors may account for the high achievement, such as well-developed curricular materials, high-quality teachers, an exam-driven culture, and parental support of education. Mathematics curriculum plays a crucial role in students’ learning mainly because it describes what is to be taught in school mathematics. This is especially true for countries like Korea where a national curriculum is developed and textbooks must be aligned with the curriculum in order to be approved by the government (Pang 2008). As most Korean teachers use mathematics textbooks as their main instructional resources, it is important to develop high-quality textbooks on the basis of a sound national mathematics curriculum. J.S. Pang (B) Korea National University of Education, Cheongwon, Korea e-mail: [email protected] Y. Li, G. Lappan (eds.), Mathematics Curriculum in School Education, Advances in Mathematics Education, DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-7560-2_13, © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014
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The mathematics curriculum in Korea has been altered by various driving forces over time. Such adjustments, similar to those in other countries, reveal the everchanging values of teaching and learning of school mathematics (Liu and Li 2010; National Council of Teachers of Mathematics [NCTM] 2000; Shin and Han 2010). For instance, practicing routine mathematical skills for optimal performance was the focus of an earlier curriculum, but this became problematic, because it is not as meaningful for students. More recently, the mathematics curriculum has emphasized students’ sense-making processes over achieving skill automaticity. The purpose of this chapter is to introduce mathematics curriculum development in Korea with an emphasis on recent curricular changes for grades 1 to 12. This chapter first presents a brief history of Korean mathematics curriculum development and changes, highlighting the
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