From advocacy to agency: how lead teachers disseminate Global Citizenship Education in Korea

This study examines how teachers in Korea conceptualise and make sense of their experiences of disseminating Global Citizenship Education (GCED) following their participation in the national GCED Lead Teachers Project. Using a qualitative research design, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight participants selected through maximum variation sampling. Drawing on an ecological model of teacher agency, the study identifies three key conceptualisations of dissemination: changes in students’ lives, shifts in teachers’ awareness, and the expansion of the scope and actors involved in GCED practice. The findings reveal that the dissemination of GCED is a multifaceted and context-dependent process shaped by personal commitment, professional collaboration, and institutional conditions. Participants described their dissemination experiences through classroom practice, peer exchange, teacher research communities, and partnerships with parents and local communities. These processes illustrate how teacher agency is achieved through the interplay of the iterational, practical-evaluative, and projective dimensions, and how dissemination extends beyond individual classrooms into broader professional and community networks. The study suggests that effective dissemination of GCED requires supportive policy infrastructure and sustained professional networks that enable teachers to achieve agency in interpreting and extending educational reform in practice.