Teacher agency and transformation at the crossroads of a diffused school change movement: An empirical typology of the Hyukshin Schools in South Korea

This study aimed to provide an empirical typology of a diffused school change movement in South Korea, known as the Hyukshin School movement. This movement has been diffused by a combination of bottom-up practices and top-down measures, employing a communitarian whole-school change strategy that promotes collaborative learning, students’ voices, and democratic decision-making. In this study, the extent of teacher agency and degree of transformation are used as key criteria in distinguishing various types of change practice. To provide this empirical typology, we focused on all 55 Hyukshin Schools (40 middle schools and 15 high schools) at the secondary level as of 2019 in Seoul. Researchers performed extensive data collection by conducting interviews, collecting artifacts, observing teaching practices in selected classrooms, and visiting teacher-reflection sessions. Following this analysis, we created an empirical typology that characterized variations in the implementation of Hyukshin Schools by categorizing the 55 schools in terms of substantial (n = 31), functional (n = 6), nominal (n = 13), and segmented (n = 5) change. In this study, we hoped to provide insights for those considering diffusion strategies to cultivate innovative schools by identifying the key relevant aspects of the different types of change practices.