A Study of Chinese Teachers’ Perceptions on High School Credit System: What Korea can learn from it?
Authors:   Korean Association For Learner-Centered Curriculum And Instruction, Ji Miyoung , Xiao Aijin , ZHAI Lixia , XU XI , Youn Heejung 
Published: January 2023

Objectives This study was conducted to explore ways to address the growing concerns of teachers ahead of the full implementation of the Korean high school credit system in 2025. This study focused on China, which has a strong cultural homogeneity with Korea and has already been implementing the high school credit system for 20 years, and conducted a survey on the degree of understanding and operation performance of teachers who experienced the high school credit system in China. The purpose of this study is to provide useful data to Korean high school teachers preparing for the high school credit system by examining the causes and improvements of the problems of the Chinese high school credit system for teachers who judged that their operational performance was insufficient.
Methods A survey was conducted on 247 teachers working at high schools in Hunan Province, China, who re-established a plan to implement the high school credit system in 2020, to analyze their perception of the high school credit system. Quantitative data collected for the understanding, evaluation of the operation, cause and pattern of problems, and areas of the system improvement plan were analyzed by basic statistics, frequency analysis, and ANOVA using SPSS 25.0. Qualitative data on the improvement plan of the system were analyzed using the main word analysis and axis coding.
Results Both Chinese teachers' understanding of the high school credit system and the performance of the high school credit system operation of working schools were found to be moderate. The results of this response showed significant differences in terms of the number of class students, age, and teaching career. Chinese teachers perceived the lack of teaching competence and expertise suitable for the high school credit system as a factor of hesitation in the operation of the high school credit system, and the lack of connection between the high school credit system curriculum and college entrance. The improvements they proposed were able to achieve results such as reducing graduation credits, simplifying and liberalizing the system, deploying resident professional teachers, improving parental awareness, and strengthening teachers' professional education.
Conclusions Despite implementing the high school credit system for the past 20 years, China still has not brought about national stabilization, which is deeply related to the results of this study. Researchers conclude that these Chinese cases have great implications for the Korean high school credit system, which is about to be fully introduced, and suggest as follows. For the stable operation of the high school credit system in Korea, it is necessary to actively educate and promote the high school credit system in the educational community. It is necessary to deploy a dedicated teacher with expertise in students' subject selection guidance and career education. The age and requirements of teachers should be considered when planning a teacher training program. It is necessary to reduce credits for graduation from the high school credit system and strengthen autonomy by school or region. It is necessary to improve and agree on the academic management system.