The Discursive Origins and Development of Innovative Schools: Focusing on the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union’s Educational Democratization

This study examined how the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union’s (KTU) “educational democratization” discourse shaped innovative school discourse. KTU’s discourse evolved from a labor movement focus on “democratic control of education” to an educational movement emphasizing “education for democracy” through “true education” discourse. By integrating with “school collapse” and “alternative school” discourses, it gained public support, contributing to the election of progressive superintendents in 2010.