A narrative approach to understand Korean teacher agency in the context of the recent Innovation School model

Little effort has been made to understand the changes and issues faced by Korean teachers at the Innovation School, a type of public school with a progressive agenda. This qualitative research focuses on Korean teachers’ lived experiences at their Innovation School sites. Narrative interviews were conducted with eight elementary school level Innovation School teachers to understand their thinking and practices, which revealed that teachers’ thoughts and feelings shifted as they worked at the Innovation School. The teachers found that horizontal relationships and the administrative support of the Innovation School helped them to understand teacher agency in curriculum making. They also developed a sense of ownership of their curriculum by being involved in the collative culture of the school. However, most of them were concerned about whether they will keep their agency after leaving the Innovation School. Based on these findings, this research suggests several implications for policy and future research to sustain the Innovation School model to innovate Korean education.