사라진 수학여행, 교실 밖 배움의 가치를 되살릴 골든타임 > K-wave Trends

The key cause of the rapid decline in school trips is the ‘teacher responsibility theory for safety accidents.’ After the Sokcho elementary school student's death and the Mokpo kindergarten student's accident that occurred in 2022, the fear inside the school reached its peak as strict legal responsibility was imposed on the leading teacher. In fact, the rate of training activities and school trips conducted by schools in the Gwangju area is noticeably decreasing every year, and less than half of the schools are conducting accommodation-type experiential learning. Teachers face structural limitations that force them to avoid external activities due to the pressure of taking full responsibility in the event of a safety accident or to choose to cancel school trips despite strong support from students.

In order to overcome this crisis in the education field, the government and education authorities have finally drawn their swords. The gist of the discussion on improving the system, which began under the direction of President Lee Jae-myung, is the introduction of immunity. The Ministry of Education is seeking to revise the School Safety Act so that teachers will not be held civilly or criminally liable for safety accidents that occur without intent or gross negligence, with the goal of implementation in the first half of next year. This is intended to protect teachers from legal blind spots, prevent a decline in educational activities, and normalize field experiential learning. The key to this measure is not simply to include a disclaimer, but to strengthen the practical protection system, such as assigning a dedicated lawyer immediately after an accident occurs and providing comprehensive support for responding to lawsuits at the education office level.

Meanwhile, the trend of school trips is also rapidly evolving from ‘simple tourism’ to ‘wellness and healing’. The fact that Wando Ocean Healing Center in Jeollanam-do is gaining attention as a field trip destination for schools across the country shows a cross-section of this change. This place operates a variety of programs to restore the mind and body of students exhausted from academic stress, such as water exercise, barefoot walking, and crafting experiences using local products. The fact that more than 50 schools across the country, including high schools in Jeju Island, visited this place suggests that today's youth are longing for an educational experience that provides emotional stability in nature rather than simple entertainment. This is an example that shows that school trips should be reborn as a place of healing that takes care of students' mental health, beyond simply providing educational travel.

In addition to improving the government's legal system, support measures to improve the quality of experiential learning must also be implemented. The Ministry of Education plans to significantly expand the criteria for deploying field experience learning assistants to one person per class to ease the workload of leading teachers. In addition, we decided to activate private package products that take responsibility for safety management, and assign dedicated personnel to each educational support office to fully support administrative tasks such as contracts and safety inspections. This is a strong commitment to creating an environment where teachers can focus solely on teaching students and delivering educational value. If these support measures are implemented in the field, it is expected that many of the administrative and psychological obstacles that have been holding back teachers will be resolved.

However, improving the legal system cannot be a panacea. The proviso clause of ‘exclusion of intentional or gross negligence’ rather than the ‘complete immunity’ that teachers’ groups have been demanding suggests that more specific guidelines are needed in the future legislative process. In addition, even if the system to protect teachers in the event of an accident is solidified, the psychological anxiety of teachers working with students in the field will still exist. Therefore, education authorities must not only provide institutional support, but also upgrade manuals for unexpected situations that may occur during experiential learning and make community efforts to restore trust between teachers, parents, and students. Only when technical support and legal shields are in harmony will school trips be filled with children's laughter again.