A Study on the Organization and Operation of School Autonomous Time Through an Analysis of Perceptions and Support Factors

This study aims to derive effective organization and operation strategies for School Autonomous Time under the 2022 Revised National Curriculum. To this end, a survey of elementary and middle school teachers and a questionnaire-based inquiry with teachers in research schools were conducted in 2024 to analyze perceptions and required support factors. The results are as follows. First, regarding perceptions and support factors, elementary school teachers tended to view School Autonomous Time as a means of implementing school-specific activities and integrated thematic learning aligned with the school vision, whereas middle school teachers primarily perceived it as a mechanism for curriculum restructuring, such as securing information subject hours and opening elective courses. Common challenges included increased teacher workload, conflicts arising from instructional hour adjustments, and burdens related to assessment and school record documentation. In particular, middle schools identified the mismatch between teacher staffing confirmation schedules and curriculum planning timelines as a structural constraint. Accordingly, key support factors across the stages of preparation, design, organization, operation, and evaluation included consensus building on themes, securing time for collaborative curriculum design, provision of exemplary cases and instructional materials, continuous professional development and consulting, and clarification of assessment and documentation criteria. Second, in terms of organization and operation, the study highlights the need to clearly define themes aligned with school goals, select appropriate organizational models—intensive, distributed, or hybrid—based on school conditions, and establish operation structures grounded in teacher collaboration. Instruction should be designed around inquiry-, project-, and collaboration-based learning to enhance student outputs such as presentations, reports, and portfolios. Furthermore, assessment should prioritize process- and growth-oriented principles over ranking, with clear guidelines on responsibility sharing, scope of records, and sample documentation statements.