| Process- and Culture-based Approach to General Education Reform |
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Chun-Gi Min, Soon-im Kim |
| 과정과 문화 중심의 교양교육 개선 |
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민춘기, 김순임 |
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| Abstract |
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The purpose of this study is to contribute to improvement of the general education (GE) at the korean universities through discussion about what is considered in reforming the current curricula of GE. This study’s thesis is that the process should be centered and the campus culture should be considered for substantial and sustainable reform. In this article literatures and examples supporting this point of view on the GE change are examined and discussed the implications of the successful reform samples at american institutions. It was followed by reviewing the principles and variables of the GE reform.
It is said that the two main principles are ‘defining of the reform process prior to discussing the contents of the GE curricula’ and ‘reforming through deep envisioning and gradual changing the cultures of each campus’ affecting on the change process. For the successful GE reform should be deliberated a number of variables such as shared leadership, faculty engagement, and mutual communication.
As the successful cases, North Carolina Greensboro campus and Alverno College are exemplified. In the former case, the GE curriculum has been reformed for seven years and reflected the principles like process and culture based reform and the variables including distributed leadership, members engagement, and bidirectional communication. In the later case, the GE reform system has continued over thirty years and can be characterized by the role of the campus cultures, identity and mission of faculty, consistent faculty engagement, verifiable and effective student learning, continuos improvement and so on. In addition, the evidence of the successful GE reform efforts are illustrated by instances at American University, Franklin Pierce College, Cascadia Community College, and Hamline University.
The successful cases of GE curricula reform at american colleges and universities can provide the korean higher education institutions making the GE reform endeavor with some implications. It often includes the fact that the process and cultures are crucial in trying to change institutional systems and the reform efforts can be strongly influenced by the variables like leadership, engagement, communication etc. In order to develop GE reform models appropriate each collegiate situation, it is needed to conduct further research associated with Intercultural Communication or the theory of change. |
| Key Words:
Principles and Variables of General Education Reform, Process and Culture Based Reform, Shared Leadership, Mutual Communication, Faculty Engagement |
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