The contestation of meaning surrounding the performance evaluation of the Lifelong Learning City policy project
Authors:   The Korean Society for Lifelong Education, Yang Euna 
Published: October 2024

The purpose of this study is to analyze the terrain and features of the meaning contestation in the local scene surrounding the performance evaluation of the Lifelong Learning City policy project as a major change in the local lifelong learning promotion policy environment, and to extend the discussion of the implications and current affairs of this result from the perspective of Foucault's heterotopia. The analysis revealed that the meaning contestation surrounding the performance evaluation of the Lifelong Learning City policy project (hereinafter referred to as 'performance evaluation') is deeply intertwined with the role identities of lifelong educators who are closely connected to this work. Therefore, this study first structured the types of lifelong educator role identities, and then identified the meaning and issues, ramifications and impacts, challenges and directions of 'performance evaluation' in relation to them. In this study, the role identities of lifelong educators were categorized into four main types, which in turn were categorized into two groups with respect to their dominant perception of performance evaluation. First, the problematic perception and direction of 'performance evaluation' in the functional role approach and the organizational culture prescriptive approach were identified in relation to: ➀ discriminatory indicators that do not match the field, ➁ performance that is outside the management area of the dedicated department, ➂ the need to move away from a one-size-fits-all evaluation method, and ➃ the treatment of lifelong educators and the reality of staff shortages. Second, in the organizational culture structural role approach and socio-cultural interaction approach, the impact of the recent 'performance evaluation' (Lifelong Learning City redesignation evaluation) implemented by the Ministry of Education was first analyzed in the context of each local government, and then linked to the performance evaluation as an important basis for presenting the perspective and direction of the performance evaluation. The ramifications and impacts were discussed in three main pillars: ➀ organizational culture (triggering the organization's attention and awareness, and the role of raising its external status), ➁ business management (creating the Lifelong Learning City data archive, working to build a performance management system, thinking about characterizing the Lifelong Learning City business, and seeking ways to link and collaborate with other departments), and ➂ personal (recognition of expertise and growth as a lifelong educator). Based on this, the problem recognition and direction of 'performance evaluation' were presented as: ➀ Limitations of performance sharing due to compartmentalized administrative culture, ➁ Expansion of lifelong education network to create convergent performance, ➂ Performance management to increase the value of lifelong education across the city, and ➃ Evaluation index to share overall direction and data utilization. Finally, the results of this study were discussed through the main points of Heterotopia to deepen the discussion.