In a survey by the Elementary Teachers' Union, 96.2% of 2ten thousand1천918 elementary teachers said they feel negative about experiential learning trips. When asked why, anxiety about legal responsibility was the highest at 49.8%, followed by stress from responding to parent civil complaints at 37.0%, and the burden of administrative work at 12.4%. The key point is that teachers do not simply dislike experiential learning itself. They feel it is hard to handle a system where responsibility is focused on the individual teacher when an accident happens. So the article says clearly that without system improvement, the mood in schools will not change easily.
원문 보기The reason 96% of teachers answered negatively is not because 'it is annoying'
If you only look at the number, it is easy to misunderstand and think, 'Do teachers hate picnics?' But if you look closely at the survey, the key is not avoiding work but more like fear of responsibility. The biggest reason named by elementary teachers was anxiety that they would have to take legal responsibility if a safety accident happened.
If you understand this, you can see why the debate about experiential learning trips is not just a simple argument about teaching style. Picnics and school trips are educational activities outside the classroom, but in schools now, people first see them not as 'education' but as the question, 'If an accident happens, who is responsible?'
The burden is even bigger in elementary school. With young students, things like getting on and off the bus, going to the bathroom, eating, standing in line, and sudden wandering away all need much closer management. In other words, it is easier to understand elementary experiential learning trips not as a class that moves together, but almost like a small-scale safety control project.
The 96.2% negative response is closer to 'it is hard to manage under the current responsibility structure' than 'against picnics themselves.'
If you know this, it becomes much easier to see why later news about immunity, court rulings, and civil complaint controversies are all connected.
What burden do teachers feel most heavily?
If you look at the shares, you can see right away what the main cause is. The biggest part is anxiety about legal responsibility.
How a school trip became a 'risk management project'
If you follow the timeline of why field trip learning became such a careful activity, the context becomes clear.
Step 1: Field trip learning was originally a symbol of learning outside the classroom
During the student-centered and open education trend of the 1980s and 1990s, picnics, school trips, and field visits were seen as symbols of education that said students should not learn only from books, but see and feel things directly. If you know this period, you can see that field trip learning is not just simple play or an event.
Step 2: The 2009 revised curriculum put experiential activities into the regular curriculum
As special activities and discretionary activities were combined, 'creative experiential activities' became institutionalized, and field trip learning also became more clearly established as an official part of the curriculum. In other words, it became less like an optional extra event and more like an educational activity that schools are supposed to do.
Step 3: After the Sewol ferry disaster, the standard moved greatly from education-centered to safety-centered
After 2014, even when outside-school activities reopened, procedures like advance site checks, safety education, emergency response, and supervision standards became much tighter. Along with whether it is educationally good, the key standard became how much the chance of an accident was reduced.
Step 4: After the 2024 court ruling, the issue of 'individual teacher responsibility' came to the front
On top of the safety anxiety that built up after the Sewol ferry disaster, the mood changed quickly when a court ruling came out asking about teacher responsibility in a field trip learning accident. Now schools first think less about 'Should we do the experiential activity?' and more about 'If an accident happens, who is responsible?'
Step 5: So this shrinkage is not just a feeling; it is showing up in real numbers
Recently, the rate of schools carrying out field trip learning has been clearly decreasing. If you look up to this stage, you can understand that the current debate is not a temporary emotion, but a result that came from changes in the system and operation structure.
How much has field trip learning in Seoul elementary schools actually decreased?
Because this is a change in a single trend, a line chart is the most accurate way to see it. Put your mouse over a point to see the value.
If an accident happens, how is teacher responsibility divided?
If you group everything under the one word 'responsibility,' it gets confusing. Criminal, civil, and disciplinary responsibility deal with different questions.
| Category | What is examined | |
|---|---|---|
| Criminal responsibility | Whether necessary safety measures were not taken even though a predictable risk was known | |
Burden on the teacher It causes the strongest fear because of the possibility of state punishment such as fines or imprisonment. | ||
| Civil liability | Who should pay compensation for the damage, and how much | |
| Disciplinary liability | Whether school internal rules and job duties were carried out properly | |
Why do educational activities feel like complaints and administrative work to teachers?
If you put the original purpose of field trips next to the actual operation process, you can understand why the real feeling in the field has changed.
| Original educational purpose | Actual teacher work | |
|---|---|---|
| See and learn directly outside the classroom | Choose the place, do a pre-visit, check risk factors | |
Why does the burden grow? Because educational planning and safety checks both matter at the same time, the preparation time gets longer. | ||
| Social skills and community experience | Guide student movement, manage meals, bathrooms, and wandering off | |
| Share educational experiences with parents | Home notice, consent form, respond to frequent questions | |
| Run the school curriculum | Help with contracts, process costs, do follow-up settlement, write reports | |
Priority of system changes that teachers are asking for
What is important here is that the bigger request is not 'please remove responsibility' but 'please make the standards clear.'
What does an 'exemption device' exactly mean?
When you hear the word exemption, you might think, 'Does that mean no responsibility at all even if an accident happens?' The real discussion is much narrower and more specific than that.
| System element | What it means | |
|---|---|---|
| Clearer exemption standards | It means limiting personal responsibility if the required safety measures were followed and there was no intent or serious negligence. | |
What you can see if you know this It is not complete irresponsibility, but a request to clearly define 'up to what point a person can be exempt from responsibility.' | ||
| Distribution of institutional responsibility | A structure where the school, office of education, and mutual aid association handle legal response and compensation together, not only the individual teacher | |
| Placement of assistant staff and safety personnel | A system to place extra staff so the teacher does not handle guidance and risk management alone | |
| Standard manuals and company management | Creating risk assessment standards, certification, and inspection systems at the office of education level | |
So this news is not about 'should we go on a picnic or not,' but about 'how should we share responsibility?'
If you look at it this far, the weakening of field trip learning did not happen because the need for education disappeared. The educational value is still recognized, but the responsibility structure is in a state that cannot support that value. If you understand this, you can answer the question, 'Why does the school not want to do it even though it is a good activity?'
Another important point is that what teachers are asking for is not unconditional exemption. It is closer to a request that if there was no intent or serious negligence, and if the required safety measures were followed, the criminal and civil burden should not fall too heavily on the individual. In other words, the issue is not deleting responsibility, but clarifying and distributing responsibility standards.
So when you read this news, you should not look only at the result that 'picnics decreased.' You also need to look at the system design behind it. There is one really important question ahead. To keep learning outside school, how should accident prevention be strengthened, and after an accident, who should take responsibility and by what standards should it be shared? If you read the next news with this question in mind, it will feel much less confusing.
It is more accurate to read the weakening of field trip learning not as 'opposition to experience activities,' but as a sign that 'with the current structure, it is hard to handle the responsibility.'
From now on, you can watch how much exemption standards, assistant staff, office of education support, and distribution of institutional responsibility are actually made into policy.
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