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Flipped classroom as an alternative future class model?: implications of South Korea’s social experiment

  • Cultural and Regional Perspectives
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Abstract

This study explores the implications of the flipped classroom experiment in South Korea as a counter-proposal for the school innovation project based on the Korean educational context. Using Dongpyung middle school in South Korea for this case study, this paper focuses on how and why the flipped classroom impacts Korea’s education culture. The results of the experiment provide significant insights, such as promoting more active classroom learning and the improvement of student academic achievement. In particular, the narratives of the students and teachers in the flipped classroom experiment show the following positive impacts on learning and teaching: (1) Transformation into a more equal and democratic classroom, (2) restoration of enjoyment in learning and teaching, (3) improvement of self-confidence, and (4) inspiration for the learning and teaching community. Based on these results, this paper discusses possible implications of the flipped classroom as an alternative future class model in Korean society.

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Notes

  1. “School or classroom collapse” in Korea refers to the mood in schools, in which teachers and students are no longer successfully fulfilling their longstanding respective roles as responsible educators and dutiful learners (Lim 2011).

  2. http://www.kbs.co.kr/1tv/sisa/panorama/vod/view/index,1,list1,12.html.

  3. It should be noted that the interview conducted after finishing the experiment was preferentially conducted with those who showed a very sharp shift in test scores. This choice was based on the supposition that they would have specific empirical narratives concerning the meaning and effectiveness of the flipped classroom.

  4. Following the Korean social experiment in 2014, a nationwide teacher community was created in Korea named “Teachers seeking future classrooms”. https://www.futureclassnet.org.

  5. Korea is ranked among the top 1–8 countries in math, reading and science in the OECD countries and among the top 4–14 countries globally. However, Korean students showed very low levels of satisfaction with their school life (OECD 2016).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Education, Daegu University, 201 Daegudae-ro, Naeri-ri, Jillyang-eup, Gyeongsan-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, 38453, South Korea

    Min-Kyung Lee

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Correspondence to Min-Kyung Lee.

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This study is based on the Korea Broadcast System (KBS) Program “Educational revolution in the Twenty-first century: searching for the future classroom”. This study was funded by a faculty research grant from Daegu University (Grant Number 20160018).

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Lee, MK. Flipped classroom as an alternative future class model?: implications of South Korea’s social experiment. Education Tech Research Dev 66, 837–857 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-018-9587-9

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