More knowing, less doing: International organizations’ agendas in Korean TVET aid

This study explores the gap between Korean Technical and Vocational Education and Training aid participants’ knowing and doing in regard to international organizations’ agendas, through questionnaires and interviews. The agendas, the system, and the people are considered the main reasons for the knowing-doing gap, while only the system is considered in potential solutions. The agendas could be difficult to implement in developing countries because of the gap between the northern discourse in the agendas and the specific context of developing countries. There were also management issues relating to the planning and implementation stages of the agendas. Knowledge-sharing was a system-related challenge, with incentives and opportunity are key issues. People-related challenges occurred because the Korean Technical and Vocational Education and Training aid participants lacked implementation skills and three kinds of knowledge: international development, local and subject knowledge. This paper details the causes of the gap and outlines potential actions that could narrow it.