Curriculum diversification emerged as one of the core policies in 7th National Curriculum and was continued to 2009 Revised National Curriculum. Diversification of curriculum means a conversion from a uniform and closed educational system and manageme...
Curriculum diversification emerged as one of the core policies in 7th National Curriculum and was continued to 2009 Revised National Curriculum. Diversification of curriculum means a conversion from a uniform and closed educational system and management, and also a claim to stand for learner-centered curriculum which considers students' different abilities and aptitudes. A good body of literature on curriculum diversification discusses the concept of curriculum diversification theoretically or examines the philosophical perspectives underlying the diversification policy. The literature have analyzed the states of elective curriculum or achievement level-based curriculum implementation and proposed proper administration methods. However, the concept of curriculum diversification has only been discussed on a theoretical level and therefore lack the debate on the characteristics suggested in the national curriculum. Further, as the past discussion only focused on the administrative aspect of curriculum diversification, studies on teacher perceptions or demands are insufficient. Based on this critical perception, this study has investigated the following research questions: 1) the general perception of teachers on curriculum diversification and whether there are significant differences depending on background variables, 2) the general perception of teachers on National Curriculum framework guidelines and whether there are significant differences depending on background variables, and 3) teacher perception on the infrastructure needed for curriculum diversification management.
To explore teacher perception and demands on curriculum diversification, this study has examined the concept of curriculum diversification and its development. In addition, this study identified how the curriculum diversification is materialized and administered in the field education by looking at the background of curriculum diversification and the guidelines for diversification in the national curriculum framework. This procedure enabled categorizing the concept of curriculum diversification and the deducting the characteristics of curriculum diversification guidelines. Lastly, through literature review on curriculum diversification, the significance of past research and its limitations were investigated.
This study has examined teacher perception and demand by conducting a survey. The survey items were constructed by organizing the types of curriculum diversification concept in reference to the theoretical background and literature and by extracting the guidelines from the national curriculum framework document. Referring to the literature the following factors were established as background variables of this research: location, establishment type, and size of the school, gender, years of teaching experience, curriculum subject, and position of the teacher. The questionnaire was modified after a pilot survey was conducted to high school teachers and the final version was distributed and gathered for twelve days, from October 20 to October 21, 2013. The subject population was schools in Seoul, Kyunggi province, and Incheon, and 156 general high school teachers were selected by a random sampling. Of the 152 responses from teachers 151 questionnaires were used in the analysis. The analysis was run by SPSS WIN 19.0 program. The frequencies and percentages of teacher perception and demands for curriculum diversification were calculated.
Also, cross-tabulation analysis was used to investigate if there are significant differences between teacher perception and demands.
Firstly, the analysis of teacher perception on curriculum diversification revealed that teachers perceived diversification of teacher’s teaching methods as the most needed among the various types of diversification. Teachers perceived the securement of excellence for the provision of learner-centered curriculum as the major direction in curriculum diversification. The analysis of differences in teacher perception on the types of curriculum diversification by background variables found significant differences in 1) the importance of diversification for subject selection within subject groups, 2) the importance of content integration according to subject groups, 3) the importance of class management diversification according to school location, 4) the importance of diversification in lecture site according to subject groups, and 5) the importance of diversification in the length of lecture according to subject groups.
Secondly, the analysis of teacher perception on the national guidelines for curriculum diversification indicated that teachers mostly agree with the purpose of the guidelines. Moreover, the survey discovered that teachers regard the administration of the subject class system as most fitting for the purpose of diversification. A cross-tabulation analysis of teacher perception on the appropriateness of the curriculum diversification guidelines according to the different background variables revealed no significant differences in location, establishment type, and size of the school, gender, years of teaching experience, curriculum subject, and position of the teacher. Overall, their perception on appropriateness of the guidelines was consistent.
Lastly, survey of the teacher perception on the infrastructures needed for curriculum diversification management ranked a stable supply of teachers as the first, and the reinforcement of teacher’s authority on curriculum organization and assessment as the second factor that should be considered the most in the management of curriculum diversification. A stable supply of teachers was again ranked in the third. The implication is that securing teacher supply is most urgent for diverse curriculum organization and implementation, and that empowering teachers in curriculum organization and assessment is called for.
This research discussed the role and direction of the curriculum diversification pursued by the current national curriculum on the basis of the analyses on teacher perception. It also proposed future research on what causes the differences between teachers with different demographics and what do such differences mean. From above discussions this study suggest implications for curriculum diversification to successfully root in the field education.