1. Preface.- 2. Prologue.- 3. PISA, Korean students' world-class achievements and Dark side of Korean schooling - 4. History of Shadow education in Korea .- 5. Types of hakwon education.- 6. Elementary School Years.- 7.Middle School Years.- 8. High School Years.- 9. Good and Bad Effects of hakwon education.- 10. Hakwon education as a Worldwide Curriculum Question.- 11. Conclusion: Questions without organs.- 12. Epilogue: Simulacra and Dangerous future. 

This book enables Western scholars and educators to recognize the roles and contributions of shadow education/hakwon education in an international context. The book allows readers to redefine the traditional and limited understanding of the background success behind Korean schooling and to expand their perspectives on Korean hakwon education, as well as shadow education in other nations with educational power, such as Japan, China, Singapore, and Taiwan. Kim exhorts readers and researchers to examine shadow education as an emerging research inquiry in the context of postcolonial and worldwide curriculum studies.

“This unique and nuanced analysis sheds much-needed light on the priority given to ‘shadow education’ or ‘cram schools’ in contemporary competitive circumstances. The author artfully demonstrates the shifting inscription of hakwon practices from illegal to indispensable and integral, weaving a delicate and necessary dance between postcolonial studies, the legacies of statecrafting, the aspirations and sacrifices within families’ hopes and dreams, and the surprising impact on the subjectivities of the children who participate. This is a must-read for the curriculum studies field as well as a timely challenge to it.” (Bernadette M. Baker, Professor of Education Research, Queensland University of Technology, Australia) “A revealing look at a society dominated by hakwon-centered education. This book vividly presents the lived experiences of Korean students while uniquely engaging the possible merits of this educational system. This is an enlightening case study of what is rapidly becoming a global phenomenon.” (Jonathan A. Jarvis, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Brigham Young University, USA) “This book provides a very significant contribution to the literature of transnational curriculum inquiry, which clearly demonstrates how local curriculum discourses can resist their absorption into an imperial (global) archive. Kim’s explication of hakwon (shadow) education within the unique circumstances of South Korea’s political and cultural history provides many convincing examples for understanding postcolonialism as something other than a break with colonialism but, rather, as an ambiguous struggle through and with colonial pasts in making different futures.” (Noel Gough, Adjunct Professor of Education, La Trobe University, Australia, and founding editor, “Transnational Curriculum Inquiry”)

"This unique and nuanced analysis sheds much-needed light on the priority given to 'shadow education' or 'cram schools' in contemporary competitive circumstances. The author artfully demonstrates the shifting inscription of hakwon practices from illegal to indispensable and integral, weaving a delicate and necessary dance between postcolonial studies, the legacies of statecrafting, the aspirations and sacrifices within families' hopes and dreams, and the surprising impact on the subjectivities of the children who participate. This is a must-read for the curriculum studies field as well as a timely challenge to it." (Bernadette M. Baker, Professor of Education Research, Queensland University of Technology, Australia) "A revealing look at a society dominated by hakwon-centered education. This book vividly presents the lived experiences of Korean students while uniquely engaging the possible merits of this educational system. This is an enlightening case study of what is rapidly becoming a global phenomenon." (Jonathan A. Jarvis, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Brigham Young University, USA) "This book provides a very significant contribution to the literature of transnational curriculum inquiry, which clearly demonstrates how local curriculum discourses can resist their absorption into an imperial (global) archive. Kim's explication of hakwon (shadow) education within the unique circumstances of South Korea's political and cultural history provides many convincing examples for understanding postcolonialism as something other than a break with colonialism but, rather, as an ambiguous struggle through and with colonial pasts in making different futures." (Noel Gough, Adjunct Professor of Education, La Trobe University, Australia, and founding editor, "Transnational Curriculum Inquiry")

First international discussion on Korean education in a global context Advances the issue of hakwon education as a possible topic for future curriculum studies Discusses Korean students' overall experiences in hakwon education from elementary to high school