A Study on the Measures to Facilitate the Operation of School-Based Enterprises in Korea

Abstract

본 연구는 학교기업의 활성화 방안을 마련함을 연구의 주 목적으로 하며, 이를 위해 다음의 하위 목적을 달성하고자 한다. 첫째, 이론적인 접근을 통해 학교기업의 목적과 운영 원리, 그리고 운영상에서 제기되는 쟁점을 분석하고자 한다. 둘째, 국내·외의 학교기업 운영 실태를 종합적으로 분석하여 문제점을 추출하고 활성화 방안의 수립에 주는 시사점을 추출하고자 한다. 셋째, 학교기업의 활성화를 위한 여러 가지 방안의 가능성을 논의해 보고자 한다. 마지막으로 학교기업의 활성화를 위해 정부와 당해 대학이 추진할 수 있는 발전 방안을 개발하여 제안하고자 한다.A. Purpose of Study School-Based Enterprise(SBE) is defined in this study as any school-sponsored activities that engage a group of students in producing goods and services as part of their school programs. Both in developed and developing countries, the operation of SBEs for educational purposes has been relatively frequent in connection with vocational schooling. Studies have proved that SBEs would produce various benefits in addition to educational outcomes. Some of them, however, have pointed out that it would not be easy to run both a business and academic courses in school environment. The purpose of this study is to investigate current status of SBEs in vocational colleges and thereby to develop various measures that facilitate the operation of SBEs of vocational colleges in Korea. B. Methods and Procedure The study adopted several research methods. Review of the related literatures focused on philosophical and theoretical backgrounds of SBEs. Interviews with professors and administrative staff involved with the SBEs in vocational colleges were held in order to investigate the current status. Structured question items were developed and used for the interview. Results of interviews were supplemented by written materials provided by each college. A series of conferences were held with the authorities from government office, vocational educators, professors in vocational colleges with a view to developing measures that facilitate the operation of SBEs. Finally a seminar was held to present outcomes of the study and discuss the development directions and feasibility of measures. C. Major Findings 1. Philosophical and theoretical backgrounds of SBE The idea of SBE originated from ‘productive education’. Main idea of productive education was to generate revenues by selling goods produced by students to offset the costs incurred from running a school. Production education was a theory that was more akin to the education of Sparta than to that of Athens. Earlier proponents were John Locke, Robert Owen, Jean Jacques Rousseau, and Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi. They advocated a educational theory focusing on combining education with production at schools. John Dewey is the main educational theorist in America who realized and supported the value of combining productive activities with theoretical learning as an educational system. He described the objective of productive education as enabling students to pick up the thread of life in his community by giving him an understanding of the elements of the occupations that supply man's daily needs. Productive education has played a major role in the educational thinking of Western pedagogues as well as of those in the third world nations. It offers the theoretical backgrounds of SBE in recent years. 2. Implication of cases of other countries Quite a few countries over the world are adopting SBEs as one of 'work-based program,' not only as an efficient method to teach knowledge and skills required on the job, but also to give students practice in real work for a educational purpose. In developed countries such as USA and United Kingdom, SBEs are normally considered appropriate if the educational benefits to students combined with the benefits to other people are worth and if it is merely not a profit-seeking business. On the other hand, SBEs in developing countries such as China show a different tendency. Cost recovery tends to be a important objective for SBEs in this country where resources scarcity is more pressing. Yet another version of SBE has developed in Denmark's production high schools. They serve unemployed young people who have completed compulsory schooling without obtaining vocational qualification. They combine instruction in academic and vocational subjects with production of goods and services. Cases of other countries imply that SBEs could seek various purposes and could be operated not only formal but non-formal vocational schools or institutions 3. Possible benefits of SBEs Results of the study revealed that SBEs could produce various benefits as vocational programs. First of all, SBEs can produce educational benefits. SBEs provide students with opportunities to apply their classroom-based knowledge of academic subjects to real world problems while they are participating various productive activities. SBEs also help students to develop generic work skills including job responsibilities, common courtesy, work ethics, communication skills, leadership ability and interpersonal skills. In addition to generic work skills, students in SBEs acquire knowledge and skills for which they can use for better understanding of the world of work. They can also obtain more and better opportunity to get a job than someone who has no SBE experience. In addition to their educational advantages, SBEs also provide economic benefits. By operating SBEs, a college may be able to produce profits and recover the cost of materials and other operating costs of the college. They can also subsidize customers or clients by offering goods or services at less than market prices. Finally They can promote economic development of the local community. They are able to stimulate capital accumulation and create new business ventures in the local community. SBEs can also produce social benefits. SBEs heighten a concern among students for the quality of goods or services they are producing, and increase interest among students in community service. Experiences through a SBE also offers students a sense of pride, satisfaction, and pleasure of producing goods and services for the community. 4. Diffficulties in running SBEs A common problem in SBEs in vocational colleges is the absence of a ready-made curriculum or text for each program. No one has yet developed curriculum for SBE program. Besides, SBEs are tackling with problems such as deciding what goods or services to produce, avoiding competition with local suppliers, setting appropriate prices, hiring qualified staff, and recruiting students. Striving to sustain students' commitment is another difficulty, because students are young and have shorter attention spans and less ability to defer gratification than adults on average. D. Recommendations A set of recommendations are suggested to facilitate the operation of SBEs. First of all, educational paradigm in vocational colleges needs to be changed from theory-based to work-based. Principles of vocational education in vocational colleges needs to emphasize learning by doing or learning by producing. Recognizing the importance of learning through work does not de-emphasize the value of traditional subjects, if the objective is for students to understand these subjects in real situation and living context. Government should provide lawful provisions to guide SBEs in vocational colleges toward seeking of educational purposes, not merely operating for profit-making. Though financial conditions of vocational colleges in recent years have faced many difficulties, SBEs should not be operated as an alternative to profit-making. Putting the SBE philosophy into more widespread practice in vocational colleges needs an investment in developing curriculum. The best way to be considered is to articulate the outcomes of learning through a SBE and reflect them onto curriculums of the department which plays a major role in operating the SBE. Operating a SBE requires administrative flexibility. Accordingly, special class schedule arrangements and/or credit arrangements for students participating in a SBE are necessary. Also, special education accounts must be established for SBE transactions and some funds have to be carried forward from one fiscal year to the next. Finally ongoing evaluation is needed. Measuring actual outcomes will help enhance the effectiveness of each SBE.연구요약 Ⅰ. 서 론 1 1. 연구의 필요성 및 목적 1 2. 연구의 범위 및 용어 정의 3 3. 연구의 내용 및 방법 5 Ⅱ. 이론적 배경과 선행 연구 13 1. 학교기업의 역사적 발전 과정 13 2. 학교기업의 기대 효과 21 3. 학교기업 운영의 난점 30 4. 학교기업에 관한 선행 연구 34 Ⅲ. 학교기업의 국내·외 운영 실태 41 1. 외국의 운영 실태 41 2. 국내의 운영 실태 67 3. 조사 결과의 시사점 80 Ⅳ. 학교기업의 활성화 방안 논의 83 1. 학교기업 운영의 필요성 논의 83 2. 타 국가와의 비교 분석을 통한 시사점 89 3. 지원제도 분석을 통한 활성화 방안 탐색 94 4. 전문적인 사업 기법을 동원한 학교기업 운영 113 Ⅴ. 요약 및 제언 125 1. 연구 요약 125 2. 제언 134 참고문헌 157 ABSTRACT 16