This article examines the origin and evolution of education fever in South Korea in terms of the cultural history of Korea. To discuss this study systematically, three research questions are stated. First, what is Korean education fever in contemporary South Korean society? Second, when is the origin of Korean education fever in Korean cultural…

This article explores the niche occupied by transnational English teachers within the context of Korean ELT. Employing intersectionality theory as an analytic framework, the study examines the lived experiences of Leo (pseudonym), a German national who taught English in Korea circumventing legal restrictions against non-native English-speaking…

Each year, multitudes respond to the demand for native English speakers to teach English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in Asian countries, particularly China, Japan, and South Korea. These EFL transnationals are often young, new to living abroad, and inexperienced as educators. When they arrive, they often find a community, and an identity waiting…

This study examines the implications of the 'equalisation policy' and the expansion of secondary education in South Korea in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The equalisation policy is one of the most radical school reform attempts in South Korea. A random assignment or lottery system for students was introduced for all middle schools in 1968 and…

It is well established within the field of Critical Whiteness Studies that white privilege routinely materialises in Western universities. Yet, even though a third wave of Critical Whiteness Studies is increasingly focussing on whiteness in non-Western contexts, there has been insufficient attention toward whether white privilege also exists in…

Intersectionality highlights that different aspects of individuals' identities are not independent of each other. Instead, they interact to create unique identities and experiences, which cannot be understood by analysing each identity dimension separately or in isolation from their social and historical contexts. Intersectional approaches in this…

This comparative analysis aims to capture the complex roles and positionings of the International Baccalaureate (IB) in conjunction with local education systems in Hong Kong, Singapore, and South Korea. Our analysis focused on how the IB's institutional legitimacy is presented in the three societies. We conducted a documentary analysis of texts on…

Purpose: This paper aims to attend to the issues that remain veiled and excluded in the name of multiculture. Design/methodology/approach: This paper problematizes South Korean multicultural education policies through Bourdieu's concept of capital as a theoretical frame. Findings: First, the paper discusses that material wealth is unequally…

Many students from disadvantaged homes participating in Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2012 were classified as academic resilient (called "disadvantaged high achiever", the DHA in this study). In comparison with peers of comparable home background status, there were also students from advantaged homes performing…

Divisive rhetoric and heated political discourse surround the identification and education of gifted students and lead to opposing philosophical issues of egalitarianism versus elitism. Researchers have long chronicled the ambivalence in the United States over the concepts of giftedness and intellectual talent (Benbow & Stanley, 1996; see also…

Over the past few decades, scholars have paid increasing attention to the role of native speakerism in the field of TESOL. Several recent studies have exposed instances of native speakerism in TESOL recruitment discourses published through a variety of media, but none have focused specifically on professional websites advertising programs in…

This article explores what immersion English education means in South Korea (henceforth Korea) and examines various related educational practices. The proposal for English immersion from the Presidential Transition Committee of the Lee administration in early 2008 has highlighted immersion education in Korea. Ironically, since the committee's…

Background/Context: Although substantial evidence from the United States indicates that more qualified teachers are disproportionately concentrated among academically and economically advantaged children, little cross-national research has examined the distribution of teacher qualifications across schools and students. As a result, we know little…

This paper explores some complexities of moral learning by referencing personal and professional experiences that shape my moral ecology. Moral learning, like all forms of learning, is not merely accumulative but rather a recursive, adaptive and elaborative process. The multidimensional nature of this phenomenon can be captured by drawing on the…