Certificates Awarded to 196 Teachers
The Gyeongbuk Office of Education (Superintendent Lim Jong-sik) announced on December 31, 2025, that it had released the list of 196 teachers certified as secondary education teaching experts for the 2025 academic year and awarded them certificates. This marks a significant increase compared to 91 in 2023 and 116 in 2024, reflecting the high participation and interest of field teachers in strengthening teaching expertise.
The Teaching Expert System is an independent teacher certification program operated annually by the Gyeongbuk Office of Education since 2015. It consists of three stages: Stage 1 "Teaching Research Teacher," Stage 2 "Lead Teaching Teacher," and Stage 3 "Master Teaching Teacher."
The teaching scene of Kang Minseo, a teacher at Sangju Sanghee School, who received the final certification as an expert before her first class as a hearing-impaired teacher.
To be certified as a teaching expert, teachers must voluntarily apply at the beginning of the school year and then undergo a rigorous evaluation by a review committee on their year-long teaching practice, reflection, and efforts to enhance their expertise.
The secondary teaching expert evaluation consists of three areas: teaching evaluation, lesson design evaluation, and assessment of activities related to lesson improvement. If a teacher falls short in even one area, certification is not granted. In particular, for the Lead Teaching Teacher certification, only up to 40% of applicants can be certified, reflecting the high standards applied.
The secondary teaching expert evaluation is mainly composed of three areas: teaching evaluation, lesson design evaluation, and assessment of activities related to lesson improvement. If a teacher fails in even one area, certification is not granted, and for Lead Teaching Teacher, only up to 40% of participating teachers are certified.
The mere fact of completing this rigorous process is recognized as proof that the teacher has made continuous efforts to improve their teaching.
In this certification process, Minseo Kang, a teacher at Sanghee School (Sangju) with hearing impairment, drew attention by receiving final certification. In March, Teacher Kang inquired about the possibility of participating in the teaching expert program and expressed her intention to apply for the Teaching Research Teacher stage. She then diligently completed all assignments under the same conditions as other teachers.
Teacher Kang received support through text interpretation services and participated in teaching evaluations, consulting, lesson improvement activities, as well as training related to teaching, the New Toegye Teachers’ Council, the Lesson Sharing Relay, and the Lesson Sharing Festival. As a result, she became the first teacher with a disability nationwide to be certified as a Teaching Research Teacher.
For the 2025 academic year, 197 teachers applied for the Teaching Research Teacher stage, and 180 were certified, including Minseo Kang, who is one of the 180 certified teachers. For the Lead Teaching Teacher stage, 42 applied and 16 were certified.
Lim Jong-sik, Superintendent of the Gyeongbuk Office of Education, stated, "While the increase in the number of certified teaching experts is significant, the breadth and depth of teaching expert activities in 2025 were even more impressive. We have successfully completed the first year of the teaching renaissance. We will actively support more teachers to grow as teaching experts, including Minseo Kang, who overcame her hearing impairment to be certified as a Teaching Research Teacher."
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