Pre-service Elementary Teachers’ Overseas Teaching Practicum and Development of English Teacher Agency

Abstract

This study examined the reflections of four Korean pre-service elementary teachers regarding their three-week overseas teaching practicum in the United States and how the overseas teaching practicum contributed to the development of their English teacher agency. The study was conducted as a case study, and the participants’ interview transcripts and final reports were collected as data for analysis. The collected data were explored using thematic analysis. Two major themes were found in this study. First, the pre-service teachers developed confident English teacher agency. Second, the pre-service teachers developed their teacher agency under full awareness of the different school cultures focusing on teacher assistance system and classroom environment management. This study highlights the teachers’ own decision to free themselves of the burden of the Teaching English in English (TEE) policy and the conservative Korean school culture. The study concludes with important implications and suggestions for future research on the pre-service elementary teachers’ overseas teaching practicum and the development of their English teacher agency.