한·중·일 초등학교 교육과정에 나타난 자율적 교육과정 영역 비교 분석

초록

[Purpose] This study aims to compare the structural patterns of autonomous curriculum areas in elementary schools across three East Asian countries—South Korea, China, and Japan—amidst the global trend of curriculum decentralization. Furthermore, it seeks to identify the governance dynamics between curriculum autonomy and state control as conceptualized by each nation. [Methods] Bereday’s (1964) four-step comparative methodology—description, interpretation, juxtaposition, and comparison—was applied. Focusing on South Korea’s 2022 Revised Elementary School Curriculum, China’s Compulsory Education Curriculum Plan (2022), and Japan’s Course of Study for Elementary Schools (2017), the study conducted a cross-analysis of the ideal human images and educational goals, the intensity of structural control over time allocation, and the modes of achievement standard setting, learning experience organization, and assessment and implementation support systems associated with each nation's autonomous curriculum areas. [Results] First, South Korea’s ‘School Autonomy Hour’ was identified as a ‘Radical Power Delegation Model’ of a hybrid nature, where radical temporal flexibility is granted yet operates within the constraints of administrative regulatory guidelines. Second, China’s ‘Comprehensive Practical Activities and Labor’ was found to be an ‘Instrumental Reproduction Model’ that mandates the practice of state ideology within a framework of formal decentralization. Third, Japan’s ‘Period for Integrated Studies’ was confirmed as a ‘Protected Integration Model’ that secures methodological discretion within fixed instruction hours. [Conclusion] While South Korea’s ‘School Autonomy Hour’ represents an unprecedentedly innovative attempt at decentralization, it simultaneously confronts a ‘paradox of autonomy,’ imposing significant design burdens and professional responsibilities on teachers. To prevent this initiative from devolving into institutional neglect or fragmented classroom practice, the study advocates for the systematic development of national-level modular curriculum prototypes, the expansion of principals' approval authority for previously sanctioned subjects, the restructuring of governance toward Professional Learning Communities(PLCs), and a transition from result-oriented inspection to process-centered consultative supervision systems.

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