Educational Action Research in South Korea: Finding New Meanings in Practitioner-Based Research

Abstract

The history of action research in South Korea can be defined as the contextualization of a new educational research approach, which involves issues of epistemology, language, and politics within the field of Korean education. This chapter explores the development of teacher action research in South Korea, including various translations of the term ‘action research’ in relationship to changes in the roles of practitioners in educational inquiry. As scholars and practitioners have recognized the important role of practitioner-researchers, the inquiry method has evolved as a form of professional development in the education system from a top-down teacher evaluation tool to a bottom-up approach for self-motivated professional growth.