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School Mathematics Curricula pp 127–150Cite as

Current Mathematics Curriculum of South Korea and Its Embodiment into Textbooks

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Part of the book series: Mathematics Education – An Asian Perspective ((MATHEDUCASPER))

Abstract

The Korean-revised school mathematics curriculum 2011 focuses on nurturing students’ mathematical creativity and mathematical attitude. This new curriculum emphasizes contextual learning so that students can grasp basic mathematical concepts and make connections with their everyday lives. This curriculum also encourages the use of activities through which students may attain an intuitive idea of what they are learning and enhances their creativity and reasoning to justify mathematical results based on their knowledge and experience. On the other hand, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) announced a policy on advanced mathematics education on January in 2012 to improve Korean students’ low interest, value, and confidence in mathematics sharply compared with their highest grades at international mathematics tests like TIMSS and PISA. This policy has led textbook revision procedure of 2012 and 2013 to emphasize activities using various educational tools and technology, to carry out STEAM to promote interest and understanding and to develop integrated thinking ability, to create friendly and fun mathematics textbooks based on materials of real life and storytelling. This paper provides a detailed overview of the main challenges of the current high school curriculum and discusses how these challenges have been embodied into textbooks both successfully in some parts and unsatisfactorily in the other parts.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Korea National University of Education, Cheongju, South Korea

    Hee-chan Lew

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  1. Hee-chan Lew
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Correspondence to Hee-chan Lew .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Ateneo de Manila University, Quezon City, Philippines

    Catherine P. Vistro-Yu

  2. National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

    Tin Lam Toh

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Lew, Hc. (2019). Current Mathematics Curriculum of South Korea and Its Embodiment into Textbooks. In: Vistro-Yu, C., Toh, T. (eds) School Mathematics Curricula. Mathematics Education – An Asian Perspective. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-6312-2_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-6312-2_7

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-13-6310-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-13-6312-2

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

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