Since the mid-20th century, the problems of public education and its alternatives has been discussed in
Western educational theories. Recently in Korea, the restructuring of public education has been the main
topic in the discourses of educational reforms.
In this study I attempted to analyze the validity of Western educational theories applied to public
education in Korea. Specifically, I tried to analyze the problems of Korean public education and suggest
some alternative ideas on public education in Korea.
The results of this study showed that the Western educational theories were highly valid in analyzing
the educational problems and alternatives in Korea. But the ideas of the some theories (for example, the
improvement of quality of education through the mechanism of competition, the de-construction of public
education) lacked the validity as alternative ideas in Korea. The problems of public education in Korea
were bureaucratic authoritarianism and rigidity, as well as reproductive function and instrumental function
of schooling.
Therefore, the system of existing public education should be reorganized in a way to solve the
hierarchical problems and to ‘deconstruct’ reproductive and instrumental function of education. In this case,
the frame of its reorganization should be not 'deconstructive' but critically successive. In doing so, Korean
public education could achieve public goals of education at public sector in civil society.