Economic Education

• Economic Education Support for Free Semester System at Middle School

  EIEC developed learner-oriented project-based learning (PBL)-driven economic education programs and embedded them into the free semester system implemented at middle schools from 2016.

  Since launching the pilot projects in two middle schools in Sejong in 2015, EIEC has gradually expanded its implementation into official programs for middle schools in Daejeon and Sejong-15 in 2016, 8 in 2017, 9 in 2018, 9 in 2019, 8 in 2020, and 7 in 2021. In 2021, EIEC expanded its economic education into middle schools in Chungcheongnam-do Province and Chungcheongbuk-do Province: 6 in Chungcheongnam-do and 2 in Chungcheongbuk-do.

  KDI program practitioners delivered two-hour economics classes for eight weeks to students who chose economy as their project theme for a free semester. In close collaboration with schools and the Sejong Office of Education, EIEC operates the project classwork in line with the objectives of the free semester system and the middle school curricula.

  The project class is designed to help students develop the abilities and skills required for the 21st century through increasing student participation in the classroom.

• KDI Economic Education Monitoring Team

  To ascertain the current status of economic education at school for better access to and availability of useful educational materials, EIEC has operated the ‘KDI Economic Education Monitoring Team’ since 2014. As of late 2021, about 312 social studies teachers in middle and high schools participated.

  They have engaged in the process of developing and reviewing various materials to support school economic education, working for practical and concrete voices to be heard in the field.

• Economic Education for Teachers

  Since 1990, EIEC has operated training programs for teachers at elementary, middle, and high schools, offering economic knowledge and teaching methods and serving as a platform for teachers to exchange their teaching experiences and information.

  In addition, in 2013, the Ministry of Economy and Finance designated EIEC as a commissioned agency to operate the ‘Training Course for Economics Class Master,’ designed to upgrade social studies teachers’ economics knowledge and teaching capabilities at middle and high schools. The workshop program consists of two 15-hour online training courses and three 30-hour collective training courses totaling 120 hours.

  In 2021, approximately 1,014 elementary, middle, and high school teachers attended the training courses, with 817 teachers online and 197 teachers offline. EIEC also operated a certificate program for training lecturers in 15 local economic education centers since 2020, and 118 economic education lecturers have been certified in the program so far.

• Economy Class for the Youth

  To help the youth population better understand the basic principles of economics and to lead a life of rational economic decisions, EIEC has operated the ‘Economy Class for the Youth’ since 2008. The participants for this program were high school students until 2011 and then changed to middle school students afterward.

  The high school students’ program was newly developed and operated from 2019. It is designed to help young people prepare for their future via an exploration of economic and social transformations. Due to the spread of COVID-19, all programs were offered as online interactive sessions in 2021.

• Economic Education for Civil Society

  EIEC runs multiple economic education programs and develops related educational materials for different social groups, including public officials, journalists, North Korean defectors, teachers visiting multicultural families, and educators at local children’s centers and youths.

  These consumer-tailored education services are conducted based on research to understand the characteristics of various social classes and the actual state of economic education.

  In particular, providing educational programs for public officials has contributed to upgrading public officials’ policy capabilities and disseminating KDI’s policy study results. Not only that, several joint projects for North Korean defectors are currently underway, such as new economic education programs and materials, in collaboration with the Korea Council on Economic Education (41 members) and local economic educations centers (15 designated centers by the Ministry of Economy and Finance).