In the Age of Lifelong Education, a Study on the Meaning of Teachers: Focused on the Plato’s Thought (The Journal of Korean Teacher Education; Vol. 36, No. 3)

The purpose of this study is to explore the essential meaning and role of teachers through Plato's educational thought. For this purpose, based on the four principles of UNESCO Lifelong Education, we examine how changes in and out of school and the role of teachers are required. Then, after reviewing Sophist, Socrates, Plato's Philosopher, and the metaphors of Cave from Plato's point of view, it reveals what meaning and value of the teacher image presented by Plato in today's lifelong education.
Research shows that the role of teachers in the age of lifelong education is becoming more and more important, but this does not mean simply changing roles as guides and advisors. the changed face of the teacher is an ethical trainer to enrich their lives from a knowledge transferer, a collaborative learner through conversations and discussions outside the teacher-student relationship, a practitioner of inclusive teaching among learning alienation, learning inequality, a teacher as a lifelong learner who loves wisdom. This suggests implications for teachers 'new possibilities and meanings beyond the existing teacher' s role in the fall of the ruling right and the right of learning.