The Education Research Institute of Seoul National University(SNU) underwent no significant external changes in terms of its status as a legal entity and financial support, etc., during the middle period of its development between 1975 and 1989, but was further expanded and developed internally. That was enormously affected by relocation of Seoul National University to Gwanak campus in 1975 under the plan to turn SNU into a full-fledged university and by implementation of policy to strengthen the research functions of university.

With relocation to Gwanak campus, the Education Research Institute moved into the building of the College of Education which offered more spacious area for research activities. However, even more important change was brought by the revision of its articles of incorporation, reshaping the organizational structure of the Education Research Institute on December 17, 1975, as stipulated in the Regulation No. 360 of the College of Education in line with the policy intended to amplify the research functions within the University. The revised articles of incorporation removed the provision that had allowed the dean to hold concurrent position of director of the Education Research Institute, and added a new provision that required the director to be appointed by the president of SNU from among the professors deemed capable of contributing to research activities at the Education Research Institute. Professor Jeong Beom-mo, who was then a professor at the department of education, was named as the 6th director of the Education Research Institute on January 8, 1976 in accordance with the new provision set forth in the revised articles of incorporation. Such change prompted the shift towards a uniform system for operation of the Education Research Institute, laying a crucial foundation for expanding the reach of research activities.

Additionally, the research activities at the Education Research Institute became more vigorous, driven by combination between the Education Research Institute and the education psychology laboratory which was set up in 1953 and had been operated within the department of education. At that time, the education psychology laboratory had a track record of intensively developing various psychological test tools and had built up diverse research capability in the field of education research over the last 2 decades. With the Education Research Institute being headed by Professor Jeong Beom-mo who had taken the lead in the research activities at the education psychology laboratory since the early days, the Education Research Institute could draw on the research capability of the education psychology laboratory.

Later, the directorship of the Education Research Institute was taken over by Professor Kim Ho-gwon(7th, 1978-1978), Jeong Won-sik(8th, 1978-1980), Lee Don-hee(9th, 1980-1982), Lee Yeong-duk(10th, 1982-1986), Hwag Jeong-kyu(11th, 1986-1988), etc., and in the process, the Education Research Institute further increased the scope and vigor of its research activities.

The number of research tasks, conducted in this period, stood at 25 which was close to the level recorded between 1963 and 1974, the early period. However, this period saw diversification of research themes to cover many different areas, such as the study on education ideology, study on education policy and system, study on curriculum and teaching methods, study on in-service education of teachers, study on social education, study on life guidance, etc. In this period, the Education Research Institute expanded the breadth of its activities to publish various research publications and host international academic lectures, in addition to research activities. In the first place, the Education Research Institute launched a research monograph publication titled 「SNU Pedagogy Research」 in January 1980. At least one issue of this study monograph has been published each year since the publication of the first issue featuring 「A exploration of measures for improvement of scholarship system in Korea」(80-1) authored by Professor Kim Sun-taek.

In this period, the Education Research Institute reached an important milestone in its publication business as the 「Glossary of pedagogy」 was published on May 1, 1981. This publication business fully tapped into the education research capability by engaging each university's professors and research personnel of Korean Education Policy Development, as well as researchers of the Education Research Institute. The position of editor was filled by Professor Park Seong-soo(SNU), Kim Shin-il(SNU), Seo Jung-hwa(KEDI), Kim Sun-taek(SNU) and Lym In-jae(SNU), etc., in addition to Professor Lee Don-hee who served as director of the Education Research Institute at that time, while the writing staffs were comprised of 44 professors and researchers including Professor Gang Yeong-sam(KMU). The 「Glossary of pedagogy」 was published in hopes that it would serve as a useful academic tool which could help promote balanced development and elevate creativity of pedagogy in Korea. However, this business is also meaningful in that it brought together the accumulated education research capability and took the education research up to another level, going beyond creation of basic tool for education research. The Education Research Institute played a leading role in carrying on this business, and as a result, raised its status as an institute dedicated to research into education. The Education Research Institute hosted academic lectures with invited renowned scholars to promote globalization of education research while proceeding with research activities and research-related publication business that helped strengthen its internal competency. It has continued to host invitational lectures delivered by professors, including Professor Paul Nash(UIC), Professor Walter Feinberg(UIC), and Professor Michael W. Apple(University of Wisconsin-Madison), etc., since its first academic lecture themed around "Talent Development Process" which was delivered by Professor B.S. Bloom of Chicago University on July 9.1983. The Education Research Institute in this period placed focus on increasing its research capability and expanding the reach of its activities to strengthen its internal competency even amid lack of external support. Those efforts helped lay the groundwork for the Education Research Institute to make dramatic strides later.

The Education Research Institute of Seoul National University(SNU) has leveraged its accumulated research capability since 1990 to make its operation more systematic and achieve dramatic growth. For systematic operation, the Education Research Institute revised its regulation based on the Regulation No. 802 of the College of Education on March 24, 1990. Under this Regulation, the Education Research Institute, which previously consisted of research department and the publishing department, was expanded to cover 5 departments such as basic research department, curriculum education research department, comparative education research department, computing education material development department, and research cooperation department, and operated the educational anthropology lab, curriculum lab, and moral education lab under the department of basic research. Moreover, it launched internal special business center, such as lifelong education center, computer education center, psychological test development center, Korean educational historic archive, statistical analysis center, unification education center, based on the areas of activities that needed to be carried out systematically.

Such changes occurred in the Education Research Institute after Professor Park Yong-heon was appointed as director on January 20, 1988, and reappointed in 1990. Subsequently, the Education Research Institute was headed by director Kim Gi-seok(13th, 1992-1993), director Im In-jae(14th, 1993-1994), director Yoon Jeong-il(15th, 1994-1996 : 16th, 1996-1998), Park Sung-ik(17th, 1998-2000), Na Il-ju(18th, 2000-2001), Jin Dong-sup(19th, 2001-2002), Kim Sin-il(20th, 2002-2002), Kim An-jung(21th, 2002-2003), and Kim Kye-hyeon(22th, 2003-present), and in the process, transformed into an organization specializing in education research.

The Education Research Institute in this period built on the research activities of preceding periods, and at the same time, moved ahead with new business of various types. The number of research tasks increased from 65 in the period between 1990 and 1996, averaging at 9.3 each year, to 47 in the period between 1997 and 2000, averaging at 11.8 each year, and jumped to 79 in the period between 2001 and 2002, averaging at 39.5 each year. About 800 researches by permanent researchers at the Education Research Institute were published between 2001 and 2002, including the single books and translations, educational works, papers published in academic journals, presentations and discussion papers at academic conferences.

In publication business, the monograph 「SNU Pedagogy Research」, launched in 1980, was published up to the 37th volume until 2003, while 「Lifelong education research」 and English international academic journal The SNU Journal of Education Ressearch were published up to the 7th volume in December 2001 and up to the 12th volume in December 2002, respectively. The completely revised version of previously published 'Glossary of pedagogy' was issued in February 1994, while the 'Great encyclopedia of pedagogy' compiled in the same year was published in 1998 after about 4 years of works. Unlike the previously published 'Glossary of pedagogy' serving as a basic tool for education research, the 'Great encyclopedia of pedagogy' compiled the outcomes of domestic and overseas education research to seek new advancement of education theories and wrote a new major chapter in the history of education theory research. The 「Study and education」, a pedagogy book planned as a series in SNU, had its first volume and second volume published in 1997 and 2000, respectively. The international academic journal The SNU Journal of Education Ressearch, launched in 1991 as part of publication business to present domestic education research activities worldwide, had its 12th volume published in 2002.

Academic events have also been held very actively. Approximately 40 academic events have been hosted, which represents more than 10-fold increase from 3 events that took place during the period of expansion and development. Lecturers at the invitational lectures have been from various countries, including Japan, China, and Australia, as well as the United States, in contrast to the previous years, during which most of lecturers were from the United States. Besides, invitational lectures for domestic scholars have been held actively. In addition, academic events have revolved around various themes, going beyond education methods and diversifying to cover the teacher education, comparative education, intelligence test, social education, Korean modern education, geography education, counseling, etc., while in-depth discussions have been unfolding to an extent that lectures were held with 10 sessions on the theme 'Tracing the origin of Korean education'.

Gwanak education policy forum, which dates back to 1997, is held annually or biannually jointly by the Department of Education and the Seoul National Academy for Educational Administrators at SNU, providing a platform for wide-ranging and specialized discussion by invited experts from various fields on the themes controversial in connection with new education policies and systems.

As it can be inferred from the selected themes of discussions('What is the problem with satellite TV tutoring?', 'Restructuring of higher education system to strengthen university competitiveness', 'Status of human rights, teachers' rights, and learning rights in school education', 'Lowering of teacher retirement age and challenge of stabilization of teaching profession', 'What needs to be improved in university entrance system for the school year of 2002?', 'Reality of public education and challenges for development', 'What is the problem with the regional quota system for university entrance?', and 'What needs to be improved in National Education Information Systems(NEIS)?'), the Gwanak education policy forum brings the issues, which are at the heart of controversies swirling around the education in Korea, to the arena of academic discussion and thereby plays a significant role in bridging the gap between theory and reality.

The Education Research Institute embarked on new activities in this period to move forward with education and establish new organizations. It offered computer training to secondary school teachers in Morocco with the support of the Korea International Cooperation Agency under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1995 and 1996, respectively, and provided education to both undergraduate and graduate students at the College of Education of SNU on internet and statistical methods. Moreover, it held the learning and discussion sessions for about a year with respect to the works of postmodernism in order to help increase understanding of postmodernism, a new global ideological trend, and explore its implications for pedagogical research. Meanwhile, the Education Research Institute is actively involved in planning the creation of lifelong education centers and daycare centers to meet the growing demand for social education and childcare education.

Particularly from 2003, the Education Research Institute took over the works of hosting international academic conferences(International Conference on Education Research) and edition/publication of 2 types of pedagogical academic journals(English international academic journal and Korean-version academic journal(Asian Education Research) which had been carried out by the Seoul National University Institute of Asia Pacific Education Development over the last 3 years from 2003, thus laying foundation for carrying on even more meaningful business in tandem with pedagogical research activities. The international academic conference, which ran for 2 days from October 30 and 31, 2003, was themed around 'School Curriculum in the Asia-Pacific Region: Issues and Prospects' and drew approximately 60 pedagogists from about 10 countries who engaged in diverse and active discussions. The English international academic journal Asia Pacific Education Review had its second issue, volume 4, published in December 2003, and 「Asian Journal of Education」, a Korean-versions academic journal, had its first issue, volume 5, published in March 2004.

As revealed in the mission statement and foundation philosophy, the Education Research Institute of SNU will keep providing support and assistance to existing pedagogists with their studies, pave the way for growth of students in the field of pedagogy, while continuing to move ahead with research activities and open up new area of business with an aim to evolve into an organization taking the lead in the development of pedagogy both at home and abroad.

(This writing is based on the 'Booklet of Education Research Institute of SNU' published in 1997 and 'Evaluation data on the Education Research Institute of SNU' which were prepared in 2001 and 2003, respectively.)