Teacher Unions, Social Movements and the Politics of Education in Asia

This is a study of several aspects of the politics of education in Asia. It presents an account of the teachers' movement for educational reform in South Korea and an examination of the grievances of the movement, cast within the historical and cultural cauldrons of South Korea.

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This is a study of several aspects of the politics of education in Asia. As a central concern, it presents an account of the teachers' movement for educational reform in South Korea, in the years 1989-1998 and an examination of the grievances of the movement, cast within the historical and cultural cauldrons of South Korea. The primary goal of this book is to utilize social theory and fieldwork research to describe, analyze and illuminate the crisis that erupted in Korean schools after 1989. The approach taken in this study has been to analyze and make sense of the core issues and grievances that have stimulated the movements in Asia to emerge. In the case of South Korea, covering these issues provides a set of pathways the lead deep into the historical and modern complexities of Korean society and culture and its international context.