Hankyung Association, Survey on Teachers' Perception of Entrepreneurship and Economic Education
"Low Entrepreneurship" 60.4% "Lack of Education" 57.9%
A survey revealed that six out of ten (60.1%) elementary, middle, and high school teachers in the Republic of Korea rate their own economic knowledge level as low. The business community urged that public and private sectors collaborate to expand economic education.
The Korea Economic Association monument in front of the FKI Tower, Yeouido, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. [Photo by Hankyunghyeop]
On the 8th, the Korea Economic Association announced the results of the "Entrepreneurship and Economic Education Teacher Awareness Survey," conducted in collaboration with the Korea Education Policy Institute and others. The survey was conducted over four days from the 19th to the 22nd of last month, targeting 1,286 elementary, middle, and high school teachers nationwide.
By generation, the highest proportion of teachers who considered their economic knowledge level low was in their 20s (71.7%). This was followed by those in their 50s (65.2%), 30s (57.2%), 40s (56.7%), and 60s (56.6%). The response rate of those in their 20s was about 15.1 percentage points higher than that of those in their 60s.
The main reason cited for low economic knowledge was "lack of economic education inside and outside school," with a response rate of 57.9%. This was followed by "lack of awareness of the importance of economic learning" at 33.1%, and "negative perceptions of wealth and the wealthy" at 6.3%.
Seven out of ten teachers (75.8%) judged that students have low interest in economics. The response rate for "low" was the highest at 52.0%, followed by "very low" at 23.8%, "high" at 19.4%, and "very high" at 4.8%.
The majority of teachers (97.1%) said there is a need to strengthen economic education in schools. The most appropriate starting point for education was elementary school (67.0%), followed by middle school (23.8%), high school (8.6%), and others (0.6%).
About 60.4% of teachers thought their own level of entrepreneurship was low. By generation, the highest proportion who thought their entrepreneurship was high was those in their 60s at 52.3%, followed by those in their 40s (41.6%), 50s (37.2%), 30s (34.0%), and 20s (22.0%).
Among the entrepreneurial qualities teachers wished to develop, "ability to seize opportunities such as creativity and innovation" had the highest response rate at 40.6%. Others included "challenging spirit and execution ability" at 28.4%, "leadership and communication skills" at 23.1%, and "perseverance to endure failure" at 7.8%.
Chung Cheol, President of the Korea Economic Research Institute and Chief Research Representative of the Korea Economic Association, said, "It is important to expand teacher training opportunities and develop economic lesson materials that can be used in classrooms," adding, "Public and private sectors need to join forces to promote the spread of economic education."
The Korea Economic Association has been hosting teacher training since 2008. Especially this year, the summer training program added a new course titled "Entrepreneurship and Leadership Emerging in the Classroom" alongside the existing curriculum.
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