‘새 교육과정’의 개발과정에 대한 비판적 검토

Critical Review on the Process of Improving Curriculum for Elementary School

제7차 교육과정에 대한 개정은 시종일관 수시․부분 개정이라는 기본 방침에 근거하여 시도되었다. 그러나 개정의 배경은 2005년 말에 일단락된 일차적인 연구가 교육부의 최종적인 보고서가 만들어지는 과정에서 적지 않게 축소되었으며, 그런 만큼 개정의 주요 내용 또한 수정을 겪을 수밖에 없었다. 2007년 2월 23일에 교육부 고시 제2007-79호로 공포된 새 교육과정과 그것에 덧붙여져 발표된 관련 자료는 바로 그 수정의 최종적인 산물이라고 말할 수 있다. 그러나 그렇다고 해서 개정 교육과정을 위한 일차적인 연구물을 완전히 폐기시키는 것은 현명하지 못하다. 현재 교육부가 내세우고 있는 최종적인 성과물은 그것에 뿌리를 두고 있으며, 그런 만큼 그것을 재검토하는 일은 장차 초등학교 교육과정이 나아가야 할 방향 모색하는 한 가지 첩경이 될 수 있다.

The purpose of this study is to look out the guidelines of curriculum for elementary school implied in the process of curriculum improvement at this time. The improving process about the 7th curriculum has been holding on to the principle of momentary-partial improvement consistently. Owing to the principle, the 7th curriculum has kept up the main frame of itself in today. But, the contexts of the improvement make difference between early works and the final program reported in department of education. So, it is a matter of course that the latter has different from the former in its items. Needless to say, the latter is the program carried out in Korea from 2009. Nevertheless, it is necessary to examine the former again in two aspects. Although the preparation of 5-day school work in full scale as major a backing factor in the former was moved off a step from the latter, it will be regarded as important item to be reconsidered in time to come. And the ideal of simplified curriculum system as another background of the former is in its nature magnifying the autonomy of school about curriculum management as a basic principle of the latter. For that reason, granting that those two items were turned down in the terminating report offered by department of education, we have to receive to examine those items thoroughly to improve the curriculum for elementary school as our future duty by ourselves.