[Interview] Gokwangjin Yeonggwang Education Director "Giving Hope to Future Students"

A Close Look at Yeonggwang-gun Education, Unveiling the Vision for Future Education

Key Future Discourse: 4th Industrial Revolution, AI, and Edu Tech Development

Ensuring Quality Education and Student Life through Communication and Cooperati

Editor's NoteYeonggwang Office of Education has recently risen as a nationwide guide for future education through 10 years of performance activities by the local multicultural student musical club 'Rakmyu,' harmonizing rural multicultural students and general students. Yeonggwang-gun, Jeollanam-do, once flourished in the early 2000s with the fame of dried yellow corvina and the hosting of Hanbit Nuclear Power Plant, increasing its population to about 180,000, but it has decreased to about 52,000 last year, progressing as a rural population extinction area.

Education runs toward the future. Every year, the number of new elementary school students decreases, making them simply precious. The number of schools unable to hold admissions increased again this year. According to the Ministry of Education on the 4th, 20 schools in Jeollanam-do and 157 schools nationwide had no new students, leaving first-grade classrooms empty.

It is a reason to examine the flow of future education in Yeonggwang-gun, a rural area embracing the West Coast. We take a close look at the hopeful future education of Yeonggwang Office of Education to draw a touchstone for urban and rural education.

Future discourse rapidly changes by presenting keywords such as the 4th Industrial Revolution, AI, and Edutech development. Schools must reset their roles and respond to the times with community citizenship and lifelong education.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought great anxiety to the identity of future society. In such times, the question of where to set the direction of Yeonggwang education has become a task not only for the Office of Education but for all Yeonggwang residents.

At the center of a sustainable future for Yeonggwang are the precious Yeonggwang students. The Yeonggwang Office of Education embodies future education to present a future vision filled with dreams and hopes for students' happy lives.

The following is an interview with Go Gwangjin, Superintendent of Yeonggwang Education, to closely examine education in Yeonggwang toward future education.

Recent educational sites are ever-changing as 'transformed schools.'

Schools are always at the forefront of student education. Redefining their functions and roles is more important than anything else. Yeonggwang schools, which will provide and lead future-oriented educational programs for digital native students, are also ever-changing.

Above all, schools strive to improve classroom instruction to enhance students' self-directed learning abilities and to activate autonomous cultures where students become the main actors of the school.

Gwangjin Ko, Superintendent of Yeonggwang Education Office.
Photo by Kim Geonwan yacht@

To expand students' thinking and activities, standardized school spaces are restructured through projects like the Korean New Deal's representative Green Smart School project, reborn to support future curricula. Representative examples include innovation schools, village schools, school space innovation, AI classroom construction, and operation of SW education experience centers.

◆Operating Innovation Schools and Village Schools in Yeonggwang Area

The foundation of Yeonggwang Innovation Schools is the operation of innovation schools and autonomous innovation schools that support students' growth and development through a school culture of respect and cooperation, curriculum-centered school management, and cooperation with parents and the local community.

Six schools?Baeksu Elementary, Baeksu West Elementary, Gunseo Elementary, Gunnam Elementary, Daema Elementary, and Myoryang Central Elementary?are designated as innovation schools, enhancing school educational capacity and creating hope for small schools.

Autonomous innovation schools include Hongnong Kindergarten, Yeonggwang Elementary, Yeomsan Elementary, Yeonggwang Girls' Middle School, Yeonggwang Gunnam Middle School, and Yeonggwang Yeomsan Middle School, totaling one kindergarten and five schools. Innovation schools and autonomous innovation schools collaborate as educational communities to create happy schools where life and knowledge are one.

The Nigerian proverb, "It takes a whole village to raise a child," is truly insightful. It is a commendable attitude to cherish a child, a phrase to be remembered once more in the era of low birth rates.

Yeonggwang's village schools operate village-based educational curricula, building learning and care environments from local community village educational communities.

Myoryang Central Elementary's 'Kkaeum Village School,' Bulgab Elementary's 'Sangsahwa Blooming Village School,' three Baeksu area schools' 'Baeksu Play Village School,' two Daema area schools' 'Yeonhangaji Village School,' and Yeomsan Middle School's 'Yeomsan Valley New Dream Village School' are designated and operated as preliminary village schools.

Operation of Innovation Schools and Village Schools in Yeonggwang Area.
[Photo by Yeonggwang Office of Education]

◆Restructuring Green Smart School Spaces, Establishing Space Innovation Schools, AI Classrooms, and SW Education Experience Centers

As of February last year, Yeonggwang Elementary and Yeonggwang Central Elementary were selected as Green Smart Schools, preparing for pre-planning and transition of school space innovation projects.

Myoryang Central Elementary and Daema Elementary were selected as school space innovation schools, innovatively transforming internal and external spaces. Bulgab Elementary innovates classroom-level spaces. Daema Elementary also innovated outdoor learning spaces, attracting attention when the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education visited on an open day.

AI classrooms have been established and operated in five schools: Seongji Songhak Middle, Haeryong Middle, Gunseo Elementary, Yeonggwang Middle, and Yeonggwang Gunnam Middle. Yeonggwang Central Elementary operates an SW experience center, providing Edutech-based future education for digital native students.

The SW experience center operated by Yeonggwang Office of Education offers basic and intermediate courses in Yeonggwang e-Mobility, COVID-19 automatic sterilizer courses, and AI experience courses, actively conducting advanced events such as VR, drone piloting, physical coding, and robot-making experiences.

Restructuring of Green Smart School Spaces, Space Innovation Schools, and Construction Sites for AI Classrooms and SW Education Experience Centers.
[Photo by Kim Geonwan yacht@]

Preparing for the '2022 Revised Curriculum and High School Credit System' Based on the Local Community.

The '2022 Revised Curriculum' focuses on community-based curricula. From next year, the high school credit system will be fully implemented, requiring preemptive measures. To prepare for this, village educational curricula are activated. Regional-based curricula in areas such as history and ecology are prepared, expanding elective courses.

Continuous briefing sessions for teachers and parents were held to prepare for the high school credit system. Admission briefing sessions for local high schools were conducted. Various programs are linked and operated with prominent local institutions, and infrastructure is built to organize and operate joint curricula, supporting students' career planning.

The university-linked R&E creative convergence presentation and discussion program fosters the ability to discover and solve problems around oneself and cultivates interdisciplinary imagination through research experiences covering humanities, science, politics, economics, and arts.

The operation targets are divided into two stages: Stage 1 includes 36 students from three middle schools at the eup (town) level, and Stage 2 includes 24 students from seven middle schools at the myeon (township) level.

Participants engage in a hybrid online and offline format to develop comprehensive reasoning skills and insight. Professors and university students from the Educational Innovation Centers of Dongshin University and Pohang University of Science and Technology participate as instructors and mentors, conducting online camps and presentations.

After three months of online and offline activities, a sharing presentation of research results by teams of three will be held in mid-December, followed by publication of the report as a booklet.

Basic Academic Skills Improvement Support. [Photo by Yeonggwang Office of Education]

◆There is a model case for supporting basic academic skills improvement.

Support for improving basic academic skills is a solid foundation for subsequent learning. Various learning supports are attempted to eliminate learning gaps.

A multi-faceted prevention-diagnosis-guidance process is implemented to ensure no students fall behind. One-on-one language therapy is provided for students with dyslexia and reading difficulties. Various customized supports such as Dream Schools, support for slowly learning students, caring classrooms, and online tutors are provided for students experiencing learning difficulties.

Moreover, parents are trained as early literacy education specialists (EduMom) to provide one-on-one personalized early literacy education. Above all, parents and local residents participate in school education, increasing understanding of education and effectively creating local jobs.

◆Establishing an online learning support system

Distribution of school informatization equipment, wireless network construction, and replacement of outdated school PCs have been completed, and online class content is developed and provided. Training on using remote education public platforms and strengthening media literacy education for digital customized learning are conducted.

Bulgab Elementary and Yeonggwang Middle are blended leading schools; Yeonggwang Central Elementary and Yeonggwang Middle are remote class hub schools; Baeksu Middle and Seongji Songhak Middle operate AI-utilized math basic academic skill jumping schools.

Four schools participate in university-linked Edutech mentoring, and two schools participate in the KAIST-linked educational volunteer pilot project.

To nurture talents who contribute to the nation and society by fostering creative problem-solving skills and leadership, a gifted education center and foreign language experience center are operated. Since 2003, the gifted education institute has been operated on a regular basis and is transforming its curriculum and classes to become a cradle for nurturing talents suitable for the times.

Advanced educational programs, including SW education, team projects, convergence education, and metaverse-utilized AI education, are introduced to enhance satisfaction with gifted education. The global (foreign language experience) center, operated with Yeonggwang Elementary as the central school, is managed qualitatively.

One-day experiential learning and vacation camp programs focus on improving students' foreign language expression skills.

To assist parents in guiding their children's English learning, training on English fairy tale teaching methods and teacher capacity-building training were conducted. Topic discussion-centered training was also held to enhance the capabilities of native speakers and English education personnel.

Practice activities of the proud multicultural student club 'Rakmyu,' which continues the dreams and talents of students in the Yeonggwang area.
[Photo by Kim Geonwan @yacht]

Diversifying programs to nurture the dreams and talents of our growing children.

Programs are diversified to develop students' aptitudes and talents and nurture their dreams and abilities. The student autonomous union was activated to enhance students' leadership. Autonomous clubs such as Eco Friends were created to strengthen students' capabilities.

The multicultural student club Rakmyu is a proud club that has carried on the dreams and talents of our local students. The musical club 'Rakmyu' is characterized by students participating from elementary school through university students. Founded in 2015, it has held its ninth regular performance.

Several performances included historical themes such as the March 1st Movement, May 18 Democratic Uprising, and Yeosu-Suncheon Rebellion, delivering broad values for living as democratic citizens and leaving many implications. Rakmyu activities laid the foundation for nurturing students' dreams and talents.

◆There is a distinctive project called 'Okdanggol Millennium History Education.'

It fosters pride and love for Yeonggwang's history and nurtures local talents with a correct historical consciousness. Systematic Yeonggwang history education has been conducted based on teacher history research groups, Yeonggwang history exploration routes, production and distribution of scholarship materials and leaflets, development of Yeonggwang History Light Path, and project-based classes.

This year, a guide training course is being conducted centered on local experts to establish a culture where local seniors lead regional history education.

◆Strengthening teacher capacity through Okdanggol Academy

"The quality of education cannot surpass the quality of teachers."

Various training methods are conducted to strengthen teachers' capacities. In both the first and second semesters, four-week topic-centered training was conducted to achieve Yeonggwang education vision and goals. Training led by professional instructors with nationwide execution capabilities was held, achieving the highest satisfaction among teachers.

The training was conducted in a form that could be immediately applied to the classroom. Training included the use of math teaching aids, literacy training, library usage, reading and discussion training, and school-level visiting training.

To support home learning ability, training to strengthen parents' remote class capabilities and training for parents on puberty at different life stages were also conducted to enhance parents' capacities.

Okdanggol Education Curriculum Academy. [Photo by Yeonggwang Office of Education]

Realizing Yeonggwang Education through Educational Governance Collaboration.

With the advancement of digital technology, acceleration of the 4th Industrial Revolution, and decline in school-age population due to low birth rates, uncertainty in future society has increased. Student education can no longer rely solely on the roles of the Office of Education or schools. Public-private-academic cooperation must unite efforts to nurture local talents to guarantee sustainable regional development.

To this end, the Education Cooperation Committee, chaired by a subcommittee, discusses education-related agendas. Discussions include ways to save small schools, build school complex facilities, promote various after-school programs, and support multicultural student musical club activities. Various educational agendas are discovered to find ways to develop Yeonggwang education.

High School Credit System and Local High School Admission System Briefing Session. [Photo by Yeonggwang Office of Education]

To ensure the healthy growth of local future talents, a policy agreement ceremony was held for educational autonomy cooperation between Yeonggwang-gun and Yeonggwang Office of Education. The county governor and superintendent jointly read a statement presenting cooperation in education support and future vision, protecting residents and students safely from COVID-19 and realizing universal educational welfare.

A briefing session on key educational activities and education expense-related program operations was held for the Yeonggwang County Council to increase understanding of education and seek educational cooperation measures.

The necessity of converting local middle schools in Yeonggwang-eup to coeducation was urgent. In 2022, 30 committee members received a special lecture titled 'The Necessity and Tasks of Converting Single-Gender Schools to Coeducation' and shared opinions on the conversion. After prior promotion and briefing sessions, the conversion took place from March this year.

The issues of population decline and regional extinction are no longer limited to Yeonggwang. As a critically important national future task, Yeonggwang education and the region seek ways to coexist and prosper together as quickly as possible. If it is for the growth and development of students who will live in a happy future society, the entire community joins forces.

The Yeonggwang Office of Education communicates and cooperates with the educational community to realize dignified Yeonggwang education, ensuring a sustainable future for Yeonggwang and a happy life for students.

Go Gwangjin, Superintendent of Yeonggwang Education, born in 1962 in Muan, is a leading figure in earth science education in Jeonnam. He graduated from Mokpo High School and Jeonnam National University’s Department of Earth Education and completed a master's degree in counseling psychology at Mokpo National University Graduate School of Education.

He served as a science teacher at six schools including Nangju Middle School in Yeongam. He was vice principal of Damyang High School; principal of Yeongam Miam Middle and Munhyang High; director of the Future Talent Division at Jeollanam-do Office of Education; president of Jeonnam Secondary Earth Science Research Association; and president of the Korean Earth Science Teachers Association. He received the Presidential Award at the 39th National Science Exhibition and the Korean Geological Society President's Award.