• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.20 no.11
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• pp.447-456
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• 2020

Korean society is facing the 2017 regime and the era of the fourth industrial revolution. University education is trying to select agendas that focuses on public interest and innovation, which are key words, for change. Unlike recent efforts, practical changes are insufficient. There is a relative lack of discussion on the essence and theory of university education in South Korea. This study looked at the current location of Korean university education and discussed the essential direction from a point of view on critical pedagogy. So far, Korean university education has operated under the control of neo-liberalism for more than 20 years since the May 31 educational reform in 1995. Democracy and deindustrialization, the direction pursued by the 2017 regime and the Fourth Industrial Revolution, differs from neo-liberalism. Therefore, it is necessary to reflect on neo-liberalism and seek a subsequent turn of direction. Henry Giroux has been critical of the neo-liberalistic policy of American education, which has been a major discourse since 1980, and has discussed proposals for various changes. In particular, it provides clear coordinates for the features of human resources as educated people. For example, they are intellectuals, border intellectuals, and public intellectuals. These intellectuals have independent, autonomous, active, self-reliant characteristics and have a duty and accountability to pursue for public interests. It is also closely related to the 2017 regime and the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Along with this discussion, university education seems to need serious and rigorous discussion and consideration.