Humanizing curriculum history: Reflective and diffractive practices of teachers in South Korean education reform

Abstract

Click on the DOI link to access this article at the publishers website (may not be free).This paper seeks to humanize the history of curriculum reform by exploring the diverse relationships that teachers form with the national curriculum system in South Korea. Drawing on the concepts of reflective and diffractive practices, we analyze the professional trajectories of two teachers across three decades of national curriculum changes. One teacher’s professional career reflects a commitment to aligning teaching methods with curriculum reforms, while the other teacher considers teaching as a political act, emphasizing a teacher’s interpretive and agential roles to challenge the rigid boundaries between policy and practice. By juxtaposing these narratives, this study complicates traditional views of curriculum history, highlighting how teachers exercise critical agency in shaping their relationships with the national curriculum system. In documenting these entangled relationships, we advocate for a more inclusive understanding of teacher development that acknowledges marginalized voices and experiences often excluded from official curriculum history. This study underscores the importance of valuing the diverse ways that teachers interact with the curriculum system, arguing for a shift from a policy-driven perspective to one that embraces the dynamic interplay between curriculum structures and teacher agency. © 2025 Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia