Tensions between Secondary Mathematics Teachers and Educational Policy Regulating Academic Acceleration in Korea

The Korean government initiated an educational policy regulating academic acceleration in schools (e.g., regulating teaching or assessing above-grade-level content) in order to normalize public education and prevent the growth of private tutoring. To analyze whether the policy is achieving its intended goals, this study examined how high school mathematics teachers responded to the policy. The findings indicate four distinct teacher responses: the teachers would teach above-grade-level lessons in classes, but not assess them on a test; the teachers sought academic acceleration to prevent excessive private tutoring, although the policymakers thought that teachers' academic acceleration results in an excessive demand for private tutoring; the teachers were willing to teach above-grade-level content for students, but they were reluctant to teach below-grade-level content due to the time constraints; and the teachers recognized that the policy limited their curricular autonomy, even though it was intended to ensure their autonomy. Implications for mathematics teacher educators and policymakers are discussed.