Field Trips Disappearing in South Korea, But Blaming Teachers Misses the Point

As school outings, field trips and other forms of experiential learning rapidly shrink, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has personally called for countermeasures. Teachers' groups, however, have pushed back, saying the president's understanding of the issue is incorrect.

At a Cabinet meeting earlier this week, Lee said schools were "depriving students of good opportunities" because they did not want to take responsibility. He also said, "You cannot get rid of a jar just because you fear maggots might appear."

The Korean Federation of Teachers' Associations and the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union said the remarks failed to reflect conditions in schools, and urged the government not to shift responsibility onto teachers. That may not have been the president's intent, but the decline in field trips cannot be reduced to teachers avoiding responsibility.

The top demand from teachers' groups is legal protection that would allow educators to organize experiential learning without fear. The decisive turning point was a 2022 student death during a field trip at an elementary school in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province. The homeroom teacher was indicted on charges of professional negligence resulting in death and was found guilty in both the first and second trials.

Student safety is essential, but it is excessive to make an individual teacher face the risk of criminal punishment whenever an unexpected accident occurs. Since then, reluctance to organize outings and school trips has become clear in the data.

Of 605 elementary schools in Seoul, only 51 percent conducted one-day field learning programs last year, compared to 99 percent in 2023. The share of elementary, middle and high schools in Seoul planning overnight experiential programs such as school trips this year fell to 17 percent, down sharply from 42 percent last year.

The Korean Federation of Teachers' Associations said normalizing experiential learning will remain difficult unless the structure requiring individual teachers to bear all legal responsibility in the event of an accident is changed. The teachers' union made the same point, saying the system that places all responsibility on teachers must be revised.

Their argument is that safety personnel and financial support, as mentioned by Lee, are not enough to ease teachers' anxiety in the field.