Abstract
South Korea’s quality education system rests on four pillars: (1) putting education at the center of a long-term development strategy, (2) getting the right people to become teachers, (3) developing these people into effective instructors, and (4) prioritizing information and communications technology in education. In contrast, education policies in Peru change from government to government, official evaluations of teacher education institutes do not exist, teachers do not receive regular training, and the use of technology in education is limited. Taking into account South Korea’s successful experience, Peru could seek to improve its education system with initiatives to support a long-term education policy, which has to include a clear plan to improve the accreditation process of teacher education institutes, the current salaries of teachers, the training of teachers, and the use of technology in schools.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this article
We’re sorry, something doesn't seem to be working properly.
Please try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, please contact support so we can address the problem.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Barber, M., & Mourshed, M. (2007). How the world’s best performing schools come out on top. London: McKinsey and Company.
Bedoya, C. (2011). Aumento de Universidades es una Bomba de Tiempo (The increase of universities is a time bomb). La Primera Digital, 28 October. http://www.diariolaprimeraperu.com/online/entrevista/aumento-de-universidades-es-una-bomba-de-tiempo_97896.html.
Central Reserve Bank of Peru. (2012). Annual report. Lima: Central Reserve Bank of Peru.
Cristia, J., Ibarrarán, P., Cueto, S., Santiago, A., & Severín, E. (2012). Technology and child development: Evidence from the One Laptop per Child program. IDB Working Paper Series No. IDB-WP-304.
Domjahn, T. M. (2013). What (if anything) can developing countries learn from South Korea? Asian Culture and History, 5(2), 16–24.
Economist Intelligence Unit, EUI. (2012). The learning curve: Lessons in country performance in education, 2012. London: Pearson.
Ellinger, T. R., & Beckham, G. M. (1997). South Korea. Phi Delta Kappan, 78(1), 624–625.
García, L., & Sandoval, P. (2013). Prueba PISA: ¿Qué Hacer para Mejorar el Nivel Educativo de los Escolares? (PISA Test: What can be done to improve the education level of students?). El Comercio, 4 December. http://elcomercio.pe/lima/sucesos/prueba-pisa-que-hacer-mejorar-nivel-educativo-escolares-noticia-1668337.
González, F. (2010). Profesionales Podrán Enseñar sin Haber Seguido Estudios de Docencia (Any professional could teach without taking pedagogy training). El Comercio, 25 March. http://elcomercio.pe/lima/sucesos/profesionales-podran-ensenar-sin-seguido-estudios-docencia_1-noticia-451785.
Han, J.-H. (1994). Education and industrialization: The Korean nexus in human resources development. Education Economics, 2(2), 169–186.
Hyo-sik, L. (2008). Education spending hits record high. The Korea Times, 28 February. http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/common/printpreview.asp?categoryCode=123&newsIdx=19782.
International Bureau of Education, IBE, and United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO. (2011). World data on education. Profile of the Republic of Korea (7th Ed). 2010/11. UNESCO.
KERIS. (2006). Main achievements for ICT use in education in Korea 1996–2006. Seoul: Korea Education and Research Information Service.
Kim, Y.-H. (2000). Concurrent development of education policy and industrialization strategies in Korea (1945–95): A historical perspective. Journal of Education and Work, 13(1), 95–119.
Kim, K. S., Chung, M. K., & Kim, D.-K. (2012). 2011 Modularization of Korea’s development experience: Successful strategy for training teachers in Korean education. Seoul: Knowledge Sharing Program.
Kim, E.-F., & Han, Y.-K. (2002). Attracting, developing and retaining effective teachers. Background report for Korea. Seoul: Korean Educational Development Institute.
Kim-Renaud, Y.-K. (2005). Korean education (introduction). The Sigur Center Asia Papers, 4(1), 5–7.
Lim, J.-H. (2005). Class reproduction and competing ideologies in Korean education: A critical discourse analysis on school collapse, 1999–2001. The Sigur Center Asia Papers, 4(1), 17–32.
Luque, J. (2014, April 10). Avoiding the poverty trap: Quality education is possible. Inter-American Development Bank. http://blogs.iadb.org/education/2014/04/10/without-money-learning-want-can/.
OECD and UNESCO. (2003). Literacy skills for the world of tomorrow. Further results from PISA 2000. Paris: OECD and UNESCO.
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, OECD. (2012). Education at a glance 2012: OECD indicators. OECD Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eag-2012-en.
Park, K. (2004). Factors contributing to Korean students’ high achievement in mathematics. Korea sub-commission of ICMI: The report on mathematics education in Korea (pp. 85–92). Seoul: ICMI.
Ripley, A. (2011). Teacher, leave those kids alone. Time, 25 September. http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2094427,00.htm.
Salinas, E. (2013). Reforma en Educación: Innovarán el Currículo Escolar para el 2014 (Education reform: Curriculum innovation). La República, 26 July. http://www.larepublica.pe/26-07-2013/reforma-en-educacion-innovaran-el-curriculo-escolar-para-el-2014.
Sami, F. (2013). South Korea: A success story in mathematics education. MathAMATYC Educator, 4(2), 22–28.
Saravia, M. (2008). SINEACE ¿Será la Panacea o es el Comodín? (Is SINEACE the solution?). Evaluación Docente: El Caso de Perú, 02 April. http://peruevaluaciondocente.blogspot.com/2008/04/sineace-ser-la-panacea-o-es-el-comodn.html.
Severin, E., & Capota, C. (2011). The use of technology in education: Lessons from South Korea. N°10-August 2011. Briefly Noted. Inter-American Development Bank.
World Bank. (2014). World development indicators database. Washington, DC. http://data.worldbank.org/data-catalog/world-development-indicators.
World Economic Forum. (2013). The 2013–2014 World Economic Forum global competitiveness report. Geneva: World Economic Forum.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bermeo, E. South Korea’s successful education system: lessons and policy implications for Peru. Korean Soc Sci J 41, 135–151 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40483-014-0019-0
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40483-014-0019-0