Implementing Curriculum Integration: The Experiences of Korean Elementary Teachers

308 Since the 1950s, the Korean educational system had adopted the policy of teaching subject matter in separate lessons based on various subjects. This approach has been heavily criticized, mainly for three reasons: 1) knowledge is constantly accumulating and fundamentally changing, 2) there is a discrepancy between the learners’ holistic perceptions of the world and the artificial fragmentation of content, and 3) there is the serious problem of student alienation and a lack of engagement with school. Curriculum reform efforts in Korea, therefore, have gradually highlighted curriculum integration. Integrated approaches to curriculum and teaching are a recurring curricular trend that has become popular around