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Fostering Teachers’ Autonomous Professional Growth: Reform of South Korea’s Teacher Evaluation System and Its Implications

Author(s)

Yaoyao Wu1,2, Guanni Jiang2,*

Affiliation(s)

1Hubei Children’s Education Development Center, Wuhan, Hubei, China 2Wuhan City Polytechnic, Wuhan, Hubei, China *Corresponding Author

Abstract

A scientific and well-grounded paradigm of teacher evaluation, one that can support the changing role of teachers in a new era and the development of education, has become a central concern for education systems worldwide. South Korea's latest round of teacher evaluation reform has emerged under several converging pressures: social development is reshaping the teacher's role, educational change is calling for the renewal of teacher competencies, and the existing evaluation system is in pressing need of improvement. The reform centres on teachers' autonomous growth. It coordinates the philosophy, methods, and effectiveness of teacher evaluation in an all-round way, and reinforces this with multidimensional support across policy, organization, and technology, embodying a practical logic that unites external direction with professional autonomy. Drawing on South Korea's reform, and responding to the changing educational demands of the era, China should renew the philosophy of teacher evaluation, refine its evaluation practice, and make sound use of evaluation results. It should promote teachers' autonomous growth through a developmental orientation, anchor professional reflection in the evaluation process, and support teachers' continuous improvement on the principle of encouragement, so that teacher evaluation can fully play its part in activating the building of the teaching workforce.

Keywords

Teacher Evaluation System; Professional Development; External Direction; Autonomous Growth

References

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