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Journal of Educational Research and Practice

ORCID

0009-0004-5398-0150

Abstract

This autobiographical inquiry examines the lived experience of a teacher–researcher navigating curriculum reform within a centralized education system during her first year at a Seoul Future Innovation School. The study explores how policy ideals of curriculum autonomy, innovation, and student-centered learning encounter institutional realities of documentation, compliance, and performative accountability. Drawing on reflective journals and narrative reconstruction, the analysis identifies four tensions shaping reform enactment: the gap between reform discourse and school culture, the symbolic labeling of innovation, technocentric expectations that narrow curricular legitimacy, and the emotional labor of navigating stakeholder demands. The study illustrates how institutional conditions both constrain and reshape pedagogical vision, while reflective practice enables teachers to reclaim professional agency within reform contexts.

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