ABSTRACT

This study examines the music curricula of 19 arts high schools in South Korea through document analysis, focusing on patterns in music elective organization and school-level characteristics following the implementation of the 2022 Revised National Curriculum and the High School Credit System. Curriculum documents publicly available through School Information were collected, and music elective subjects and credit allocations for students entering in 2025 were comparatively analyzed. The findings are as follows. First, all schools offered non-national curriculum subjects; however, in many cases, these were limited to semester-based subdivisions of existing national curriculum subjects, indicating that the intended purpose of promoting curricular diversification has not been fully fulfilled. Second, sight-singing and ear-training as well as major performance were offered in all schools, while performance practicum and choir/ensemble were available in most schools, indicating that a practice-centered curriculum structure remains firmly established. In contrast, convergence elective subjects were relatively limited. Third, substantial differences were observed among schools in both the credit allocation for major performance and the number of elective subjects offered. Based on these findings, this study highlights the need to enhance the quality of non-national curriculum subjects, expand convergence elective offerings, and establish minimum common standards for subject organization and credit allocation to ensure the professionalism and coherence of the music curriculum in arts high schools.

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