Shifting Discourses on Teachers’ Political Rights in South Korea(1990–2024): A Topic Modeling Analysis

This study investigates the formation and transformation of discourse on teachers’ political rights by analyzing media coverage and identifying key issues across different periods. A t otal o f 3,49 9 a rticles related to t eachers’ p olitical rights, published between January 1, 1990, and November 5, 2024, were collected from Bigkinds, the database of the Korea Press Foundation. After a selection process, 1,621 articles were analyzed using text mining and topic modeling techniques. The analysis produced three main findings. First, public attention to teachers’ political rights has shown an upward trend, with the prominent keywords differing by period. Second, four latent topics were identified, and the probability of their occurrence varied across years. Third, these results indicate that discourse on teachers’ political rights does not converge into a single issue. Rather, it is shaped in multiple ways depending on teachers’ dual status and the broader social context. Based on these findings, this study highlights critical considerations for policy-making processes concerning teachers’ political rights and suggests directions for future education policy development.