A Biracial Teacher’s Experiences in Korean Elementary Schools: Autobiographical Research

This study aims to understand the life and teaching experiences of a biracial elementary school teacher using autobiographical narrative inquiry. Data was collected through the teacher's recollections, life records related to her multicultural background, and reflective journals. What the teacher has experienced before and during her teaching career, and how these experiences are intertwined has been explored based on the data. The findings revealed that, in her pre-teaching life, based on her self-identity as a Korean, the teacher sought to challenge the social framework of a “multicultural person” that was imposed on her, and found the Korean society’s awareness of multiculturalism problematic. Her travel experiences led her to develop a new perspective on her identity, encompassing extra-racial and multiracial aspects. In the course of her teaching career, she realizes that she had internalized societal prejudices about the so-called “Damunhwa” (the Korean term referring to multicultural people and phenomena), and thus experiences negative emotions. The teacher makes pedagogical decisions based on her experiences of being “othered” in Korean society, as she actively builds relationships with multicultural students. She experiences being “othered” within the peer teachers and shows little response to it. Based on these findings, the research discusses the implications and limitations, offering suggestions for further study.