Educational Administration as national capacity building: towards South Korea becoming a creative learning state

This philosophy paper proposes that a primary purpose of Educational Administration, as a field of study, research and practice in South Korea, becomes national capacity building. It does this by evaluating the current scope of Educational Administration against the need for a new national education policy to help South Korea make the transition from being an economic success to become a creativity-driven knowledge society. It examines the current policy dilemmas to point to the need for a national reform process. It recommends an independent presidential commission to (a) consult all interest groups using a Green Paper–White Paper–Blue Book process, (b) draft a fresh Education Act for consideration in the National Assembly and (c) prepare a detailed, budgeted and fully funded implementation programme. It indicates how researchers and scholars in the field could make significant contributions to such a national policy-making and implementation process. Finally, it recommends that the field adopt a comprehensive approach to capacity building in order to integrate professional development, organizational development and legal and regulatory development in the administration of education with wider government reforms in public administration as South Korea becomes a creative learning state.