Adapting National-Level Textbooks for Students With Disabilities in South Korea

Abstract

Educators in South Korea have been adapting textbooks and related activities to meet the increasing need for national-level curricula for teachers of special and general education for students with disabilities at the elementary school level. The underlying aim is to create inclusive educational environments. There are four steps in adapting national-level textbooks to make education inclusive of students with disabilities in South Korea: (a) Step 1—Determine the need for textbook adaptation, (b) Step 2—Identify and adapt curricular goals and objectives, (c) Step 3—Create classroom materials and adapt textbooks, and (d) Step 4—Monitor the progress of the use of textbook adaptations. This column presents the process, using examples of topics in third-grade mathematics that are foundational for future learning.

Special Education in South Korea: Policies and Issues

“…Thus, aligning with the currently available 2015 national-level Common Curriculum, the National Institute of Special Education (2018aEducation ( , 2018bEducation ( , 2019aEducation ( , 2019b under the MOE has developed resources for teachers, including adapted textbooks. Lee and Shin (2020) showed that teachers could use teaching materials and adapted texts by incorporating accommodated and modified curricular goals (Lee & Shin, 2020, p. 259). Teachers and students can download the adapted textbooks as PDF files from the publisher's server.…”