This study is based on the critical awareness that the extended provision of master
teacher education programs is required for the successful implementation of the master
teacher policy which was introduced for the improvement of primary and secondary school
education in Korea. The study aims to explore the direction for the development of master
teacher education curriculum, including both qualification and in-service programs, through
eliciting master teachers' core competences. Master teacher core competences were elicited
through 3 steps: development of a competence model through literature review, master
teacher job analysis and experts consultation, the 1st questionnaire for experts and the 2nd
questionnaire for master teachers. The outline of the curriculum was suggested to provide
practical implications to the programme managers. The research findings suggest that master
teachers require 15 core competences which are classified into 5 categories. By analyzing the
importance level and the present level of competences, it also suggests that qualification
program be developed based on the importance level and in-service program be based on
the results of Borich needs assessment showing the difference between the required and
present levels of core competences. It was found that master teachers were aware of the
importance of educational research and school support activities as well as their classroom
teaching practice and teacher support activities. The research findings are expected to be
used for the improvement of master teacher training program curriculum and further for
other teacher training programs.