The "Read Walk Write" policy — a flagship initiative of Incheon Superintendent of Education Do Seong-hun — has come under fire.
The Incheon Metropolitan Council called for a comprehensive review, saying the practice of weaving Read Walk Write into virtually every major education office program risks undermining educational diversity and obscuring the original intent of the policy.
The council's education committee raised a series of objections Monday over how the education office operates its signature Read Walk Write brand, after receiving a briefing on the progress of major 2026 budget projects.
Lawmaker Jang Su-jin (Democratic Party of Korea, Jemulpo District 2) took issue with a plan to develop a "Read Walk Write-based AI education program for young children" included in a project to run learning communities for early childhood teachers.
"Combining AI and Read Walk Write for children at a stage when sensory development and play-centered learning should come first does not align with how children develop," Jang said. "Attaching the Read Walk Write name to everything can end up diluting the very purpose of the policy."
Lawmaker Kang Jeong-seon (Democratic Party of Korea, Michuhol District 4) said a learning-competency enhancement project was in effect simply an extension of the Read Walk Write policy.
"Read Walk Write projects are already running throughout the education office, and folding the learning-competency program into the same framework gives the impression that everything ultimately leads back to Read Walk Write," Kang said, calling for the submission of performance evaluation data to allow objective verification of the policy's results.
Education Committee Chair Jeong Jong-hyeok also criticized the education office for expanding the Read Walk Write policy in substance while merely renaming programs to deflect earlier criticism.
"There were already complaints that there were too many Read Walk Write projects, and now it looks as though the same policy is being repeated under different names," Jeong said. "The education office needs to take seriously the fact that multiple lawmakers are raising the same concern."
Jeong particularly expressed concern that Read Walk Write — Superintendent Do's personal educational philosophy — was being prioritized over the individual characteristics and diverse learning needs of students.
"Read Walk Write may be the superintendent's philosophy, but trying to apply it uniformly to every student may not be consistent with the values of public education, which must respect diversity," he said. "As the saying goes, too much of a good thing can be harmful — excessive branding risks undermining the essence of education."
He also said that repeatedly inserting the Read Walk Write name into policy titles — such as the "Read Walk Write AI Student Success Promotion Committee" — could be seen as performative administration, and urged the education office to move away from brand-driven governance and reorganize its programs around educational outcomes.
Meanwhile, some in education circles interpreted the committee's criticism as raising a fundamental question about whether the expansion of Read Walk Write across the education office's major programs has been delivering on its original goals of measurable policy impact and student-centered learning.
Educators are calling on the office to objectively demonstrate the results of the Read Walk Write policy while revising its approach — moving away from uniform application and toward one that reflects the diverse growth of students and the realities of individual school environments.
gilbert@heraldcorp.com
