Korean Educational Development Institute(KEDI)

The concept of autonomy encompasses different dimensions of meanings in education. If we are concerned with how to deal with practical autonomy in educational contexts, it is crucial for us to adopt the pertinent types of autonomy in the proper places. Therefore, it is important for us to first analyze the different types of autonomy, and then apply the analytical distinctions to actual policy cases in which the concept of autonomy is employed. This will help us to examine whether there is conceptual coherence or cacophony in applying the meanings of autonomy to practical prescriptions. This article offers four different ways of conceiving of practical autonomy based upon its origins, directions, boundary and treatment, and maintains that one type of autonomy may transfer into another in the course of education. Both theories and policies concerning education for autonomy should reflect important conceptual properties of autonomy to secure its logical validity. The Korean Self-directed Learning Policy is examined in light of this analysis, as an example of a policy that lacks a deeper understanding of the different types of autonomy and coherence in the policy logic.