Power Dynamics in Capitalized Korean Language Classrooms: Said, Heard, and Depicted Subjectivities of “Korean Teachers”

This paper explores the complexities of Korean pedagogy, which are socially bound and individually enacted according to power dynamics applied within Korean language classrooms. By critically analyzing teacher interview data alongside a Korean fiction piece titled K'orian t'ich'ŏ [Korean Teachers], this project uncovers that teacher-student relationships are multi-layered. Such layers stem from traditional Korean values where teachers are expected to wield authority over students, but simultaneously transposed into the globalized classroom environment where part-time female workers provide teaching services to international customers subscribing to and evaluating these services. Employing deconstructionist frameworks, this qualitative study aims to question the prevailing narratives of native-speaking language teachers’ nationalist, ethnocentric, and individualist pedagogy. Consequently, this paper explicates Korean language teachers’ subjectivities within and against the globally capitalized power dynamics, situating postcolonial marginality in South Korean context with Spivak’s theoretical terms.