Korean Teachers Research Articles

Mediating Role of Psychological Capital in Korean Teachers’ Grit and Burnout

This study aimed to investigate whether psychological capital mediates the relationship between grit and teacher burnout. Data from 574 Korean elementary and secondary school teachers were analyzed using correlation and regression analyses to determine whether psychological capital negatively mediates the link between grit and burnout. The results revealed that grit significantly reduces teacher burnout and confirmed the negative mediating role of psychological capital in this relationship. Given the limited research in this area, these findings contribute to the theoretical and empirical understanding of how grit, psychological capital, and burnout are interconnected in the teaching profession. For future research, the author suggests exploring group differences in burnout, grit, and psychological capital based on teachers' demographic factors, using multilevel or hierarchical linear models to identify distinct strategies and the impact of individual and organizational characteristics.

The interplay between teaching for social justice beliefs and intergroup contact experiences in teachers’ responses to new curricular autonomy

ABSTRACT This study explores how South Korean teachers’ beliefs about social justice teaching intersect with their intergroup contact experiences when teaching migrant students under expanded curriculum autonomy. A comparative qualitative case study approach was used, drawing on interviews, classroom observations, and stimulated recalls. The findings reveal three models of social justice teaching – functional, critical, and liberal – as manifest in each teacher’s practice. The discussion highlights two key aspects: First, regarding contact experiences, teachers’ experience of being minoritized in intergroup contact has a more pronounced effect on their prejudice reduction than the density or frequency of contact per se; and indirect contact with outgroup members can be as effective as direct contact in reducing stereotypes. Second, concerning teacher beliefs and policy implementation, teachers’ beliefs significantly shape their interactions with minoritized students; and increased curriculum autonomy does not necessarily lead to critical social justice teaching. Implications for teacher education are discussed.

국어교사의 음성에 대한 고등학생들의 선호도 및 감정 반응 조사 연구

Objectives The purpose of this study is to investigate the characteristics of the voice of Korean language teachers preferred by students by examining the preferences and emotional responses of high school students to the voice of Korean teachers. Methods To this end, after producing a test tool consisting of a questionnaire and 12 audio data of Korean teachers, 514 high school students were selected as subjects for the study to investigate the preference and emotional response. Results First, high school students tended to prefer voices that make them focus on classes, accurately convey the contents of the class, and prevent them from getting sleepy. Second, It was found that high school students' preference for the voice of Korean teachers was moderate. Third, there was no significant difference in students' preferences according to the presence or absence of voice problem of Korean teachers, but there was a significant difference in preference according to gender and career. Fourth, it was found that abnormal voices evoke more negative emotions in students than normal. Fifth, it was found that there was a positive correlation between the positive emotions and preferences of Korean teachers, and a negative correlation between negative emotions and preferences. Conclusions Korean teachers need to check and manage their voice usage patterns in order to enhance students' task performance and concentration, and in particular, they need to adjust their voice so that they can elicit a positive response from students so that they do not get bored. In addition, when a Korean teacher controls the voice in class, the situation of the class, such as the number of students and the structure of the classroom, should be considered. Finally, in order to create voice education materials for Korean teachers, it is necessary to analyze the voice usage patterns of highly experienced teachers.

Impact of Occupational Socialization on South Korean Physical Education Teachers’ Interpretation and Delivery of the Hanaro Teaching Model

Purpose: To determine the impact of occupational socialization on eight South Korean teachers’ interpretation and delivery of the Hanaro Teaching (HT) model. Method: Data were collected through formal interviews, film of teachers employing HT, document analysis, reflective journaling, and the critical incident technique. They were analyzed using analytic induction and constant comparison. Findings: The teachers interpreted and delivered the HT model in four different ways. These were the full and full+ versions of the model, watered down, and taking a cafeteria approach. The organizational socialization phase was key in shaping how the teachers delivered the model. The teachers’ acculturation and professional socialization were mainly supplemental. Conclusions: The fact that seven of the teachers employed HT without any formal training suggests that the model was fairly easy to learn. Specific training in undergraduate physical education teacher education, however, could lead to more teachers employing the full and full+ versions of the model.

텍스트 마이닝을 활용한 교직단체 운영 특성 분석

The purpose of this study is to analyze Teachers’ Organizations’ Operational Characteristics by using text mining. To solve this research problem, press releases issued by Korean Federation of Teachers’ Associations(KFTA), Korean Teachers and Education Workers’ Union(KTU), and Korean Federation of Teachers Unions(KFTU) were collected, and the collected data were analyzed for keyword frequency analysis, centrality and network analysis, CONCOR analysis using Textom, UCINET. Through this, the following research results were derived. First, as a result of keyword frequency analysis, ‘teacher’, ‘education’, and ‘school’ were identified as the top keywords. Second, through keyword frequency analysis, it was possible to identify keywords that were ranked relatively higher by group or derived only from specific groups. Third, as a result of centrality analysis, the keyword with the highest degree centrality was ‘teacher’. Fourth, as a result of CONCOR analysis, 8 clusters were formed like ‘Response and support for civil complaints’, ‘Improvement of field-centered educational environment’, ‘Revision of the law for fair life guidance’, ‘Request for legislation through the National Assembly’, ‘The response to child abuse’, ‘Infringement and protection of teachers’ authority’, ‘Improving the school violence system’, ‘reduction of administrative work’. Based on these results, implications for the management of teachers’ organizations were presented.

Indonesian and Korean teachers’ awareness of interculturality and world Englishes

Indonesian and Korean teachers’ awareness of interculturality and world Englishes

Understanding cross-cultural differences in pedagogical beliefs: A comparison among South Korean, Spanish, and German early childhood teachers

This study aimed to elucidate how cultural values and the ECE context in three distinct countries —South Korea, Spain, and Germany— shape teachers' perspectives on their pedagogy. This study unveiled three key findings. First, the study identified partial strong invariance for the pedagogical beliefs measure. Second, Korean ECE teachers showed significantly stronger constructivistic beliefs than Spanish teachers. Third, instructivistic beliefs were significantly higher among Korean teachers than German teachers. The findings emphasize the notable differences in teachers' pedagogical beliefs among the three countries, underscoring the substantial impact of cultural values and ECE background on the development of the teachers’ beliefs.

일본인 학습자를 위한 요리 한국어 교재 개발 연구

This study is intended to define the development process of the 『K-food Korean』 textbook, which was designed to enable Japanese learners to learn Korean and Korean cuisine at the same time, and to present practical ways to apply it in the educational field by combining Korean cuisine and Korean language education. K-food refers to popular Korean food currently enjoyed by people around the world, beyond the category of traditional Korean food. The K-food menu is based on the results of a survey, but selected by focusing on that Korean teachers and cooking instructors participate to explain the cooking process in easy Korean, and foreign learners who are new to cooking can easily follow along by watching cooking videos. As a result, 10 menus such as ‘Kimchi-jjigae, Bulgogi, Tteok-bokki, Gimbap, Chicken, Sujebi, Dak-hanmari, Sotteok Sotteok, Hotteok, and Ttungkarong’ were selected, composed of a total of 10 units with each cuisine as one lesson. The biggest advantage of this textbook is that it is composed of the Korean cuisine and Korean language parts organically and independently, and it is different from other Korean textbooks that utilized already developed cuisine in that not only Korean teachers but also professional cooking instructors participated to select menus and produce cooking videos. Based on the results of this study, it is expected that the K-food Korean language program will be successfully spread not only in Japan but also in other countries.

학교 명상의 필요성과 도입 방법에 관한 사례 연구

In this study, we conducted in-depth interviews with 5 teachers from City A to investigate the perceived necessity of mindfulness education among Korean teachers and its potential application in the school setting. Through the interviews, we focused on analyzing the necessity of mindfulness education in schools, implementation methods, appropriate education time, difficulties in implementation, and ways to overcome them. The interview results are as follows: First, teachers reported that mindfulness education would be helpful in addressing students’ depression, impulsivity, stress management, identity exploration, attention, and prevention of school violence. Secondly, regarding the application of mindfulness education, suggestions were made for theoretical education linked to the curriculum, breathing meditation before evaluation, integrated classes, autonomous activities, and education for perpetrators of school violence. Thirdly, effective mindfulness education time was mentioned as homeroom, immediately after lunch, morning or after-school programs, and mandatory education hours. Fourthly, anticipated difficulties include a test-oriented learning environment, lack of awareness and perceived necessity of mindfulness, teacher burden, and student resistance. Fifthly, suggested solutions include appointing mindfulness experts, applying mindfulness to existing programs, reaching consensus within the educational community, and making mindfulness education mandatory. In summary, teachers recognize the necessity of mindfulness education, but for its successful implementation in the school setting, it is necessary to raise awareness among the entire educational community, including teachers, students, and parents, as well as provide institutional support.

Online Interventions to Improve Mental Health of K-12 Teachers: A Scoping Review

Purpose: To explore mental health interventions using online technologies for school teachers and identify characteristics and effects on teachers’ mental health improvement.Methods: The method of Arksey and O’Malley was referenced. Two researchers independently searched seven electronic databases. Eleven experimental studies of online mental health interventions for K-12 teachers were analyzed for publication information, intervention characteristics, and summaries of outcome evaluations.Results: Publication years ranged from 2014 to 2023. Most studies were conducted in Europe. Teleconferencing was the most frequently used. Virtual reality has seen recent development. Cognitive factors were frequently evaluated to ensure the program’s effectiveness, including mental health awareness and coping skills. Thus, cognitive behavior therapy was the most significant component of interventions to improve teachers’ health.Conclusion: Our scoping review illustrates recent trends of online interventions to improve teachers’ mental health. Due to very limited information on Korean teachers, it is necessary to adopt available online interventions considering educational systems and teachers’ characteristics. Highly accessible modality, person-centered contents of mental health concern, and careful protection of teachers’ privacy are recommended for promoting mental health of teachers.

The Composition and Personnel of Korean teachers in Public Secondary School during the Japanese Colonial Period

The Composition and Personnel of Korean teachers in Public Secondary School during the Japanese Colonial Period

한국어 교사, 한국어 학습자, 한국인 모어 화자의 단어 연상 의미 관계 비교 연구

Objectives This study investigates the semantic relations of associated words between Korean language teachers, Korean language learners and Korean native speakers through word association test. Methods This word association task was conducted with 3 subject groups. They were given 10 stimulus words which were derived from the novice level in Korean language text books, then they were asked to associate and write 3 associative words to 10 stimulus words. Results This study reveals three important results. First, Korean native speakers’ group showed the most associated words among the 3 groups. Second, Korean language teachers’ group showed the least number of associative words. Third, Korean language learnes’ group and Korean teachers’ group had the the most common associated words. Conclusions The result that Korean teachers’ group showed that least number of assciated words suggests that the diversity of associative words may have emerged due to occupational influences but it also means that the trained teachers focused on the language learners’ proficiency and associated the words which they use in teaching or from textbooks. Second, whereas the associative words of native Koreans are very authentic and various, other two groups’ associative words seemed more focused on the vocabulary in the textbook so they had more associated words in common. Therefore, in order to teach and use the authentic Korean words to foreign Korean language learners, we may utilize the word association test to find and develop more ways to use the authentic words which are frequently used in each field.

고등학생의 문장 중요도 평정의 특징 분석

Purpose: This study aimed to discuss the educational implications for reading education and evaluation using sentence importance ratings by analyzing the characteristics of high school students' sentence importance ratings. Methods: After examining the sentence importance ratings by both Korean teachers and high school students, the students' ratings were scored based on the teachers' ratings as a standard. The overall characteristics of sentence importance ratings, as well as differences by gender and level, were analyzed using a one sample t-test. Additionally, the response frequencies of Korean teachers and high school students were compared according to the importance of the sentences. Results: First, the level of high school students' sentence importance ratings was generally low. Second, there was no difference in the level of sentence importance ratings among high school students by gender or level. Finally, unlike Korean teachers, high school students struggled to differentiate between sentences of high or low importance. Conclusion: The use of sentence importance ratings is required in reading education, and integrated instruction is needed rather than guidance differentiated by gender or level. In reading education, there is a need to strengthen direct instruction on distinguishing between important and unimportant information.

Perception of Prospective Korean Language Teachers on the Multicultural Phenomenon in Korean Society

The purpose of this study is to examine the perceptions of prospective Korean language teachers on the multicultural phenomenon in Korean society. For this purpose, written interview data of 30 prospective Korean teachers were collected and analyzed. Written interview data were analyzed using Nvivo12. The contents of the analysis could be categorized into first, the concept of multiculturalism, second, problems of multicultural phenomena, third, perception of multicultural phenomena, and fourth, tasks to be addressed in the future. Multicultural society reveals a complex and multi-layered conflict structure in which internal conflict elements of society coexist with the increase in various minority migrants from the external environment. Therefore, in order for a multicultural society to pursue and realize the value of integration, it must be able to control and resolve newly arising conflict factors in a constantly changing environment. In recent years, the word multicultural has become common in Korean society, and Koreans, are living daily with various immigrants. Therefore, to understand the multicultural phenomenon in Korean society, it is necessary to collect and analyze the opinions of a variety of classes. This study will help Korean society move toward a healthy multicultural society.

독일과 한국의 중등학교 교원 양성 기관의 교직과정 운영 현황 비교 연구

This study aims to compare the current status of secondary school teacher education programs in German and Korean Universities and to draw implications for discussions on the operation and improvement of teacher education programs in Korea. To identify the current status of teacher education programs in Germany, we first selected one or two German universities that currently operate teacher education programs in each federal state, and then collected and analyzed information on teacher education programs posted on the official websites of each university. The focus of the analysis was on identifying the detailed operation status of the five components of the teacher education program, which are practice, pedagogy, and other areas, except for the major and teaching method. To identify the operation status of the Korean teacher education programs, we collected and analyzed the information on the teacher education programs posted on the official website of the College of Education at University A in Korea. This study then compared the detailed operation status of the German and Korean teacher education programs, focusing on practical, pedagogical, and other areas, and found that the proportion of practical areas in German teacher education programs is higher than in Korean teacher education programs, and that, unlike Korean teacher education programs, which have only practical courses in schools, German teacher education programs have practical courses in various education-related organization other than schools. Based on these differences, this study suggests three implications: increasing the proportion of practical courses in teacher education programs, introducing practical courses that take place in education-related organizations other than schools, and offering a variety of pedagogy-related elective courses at universities.

Validation of the Inclusion Scale

Despite the importance of inclusion in education, studies that clearly define and operationalize the concept of early childhood inclusive education in South Korea remain scarce. In this study, we aimed to translate and validate a comprehensive measurement scale to assess Korean early childhood teachers' attitudes and perceptions regarding inclusion. We analyzed data from a group of 224 respondents from 82 daycare centers in South Korea and tested the inclusion scale's internal consistency, subscale reliability, and content and construct validity. The exploratory factor analysis identified four factors with varying number of items in each factor. Researchers could use this instrument to better understand Korean teachers' beliefs about themselves with respect to inclusive education. Implications for research include the utility of the survey instrument with Korean early childhood teachers.

Emerging Multilingual Children’s School Language Socialization: A Three-Year Longitudinal Case Study of a Korean Middle School

This qualitative case study reports the impact of schooling on migrant children’s language socialization, particularly focusing on the role of language ideologies and practices within Korean schools. Despite an increasing population of migrant multilingual children in Korean schools, the education system predominantly follows a monolingual orientation with Korean as the primary medium of instruction. The research aims to address this gap by investigating the influence of Korean teachers’ and emergent multilingual youths’ language ideologies on bi- and multilingual language education. Additionally, this study explores how emerging multilingual children comply with or exhibit ambivalence/resistance toward instructed practices. Data were collected over three years from a regional middle school in South Korea and inductively analyzed using constant comparative methods. The findings underscore the significance of creating a multilingual space in classrooms where teachers value diverse linguistic and other semiotic resources, fostering more active engagement and negotiation of meaning among multilingual students. In contrast, monolingual-oriented classrooms result in the students’ passive behavior and hinder socialization into the Korean school environment. This study advocates for a more inclusive learning environment that recognizes and embraces multilingual values, facilitating meaningful language practices among emerging multilingual youth.

창의적인 교사에 대한 한국과 중국 중학교 교사의 암묵적 지식 비교 연구

Objectives This research was to investigated the implicit knowledge of creative teachers possessed by middle school teachers in Korea and China. the study aimed to analyzed the cross-country variances and contribute to comprehension of the educational systems and cultural characteristics of both nations.
 Methods A survey was administered to a total of 174 middle school teachers in Korea and 187 middle school teachers in China. Participants were requested to freely crticulate the characteristics of creative teachers. The col-lected responses were subsequently analyzed from both cognitive and affective perspectives.
 Results The results revealed that Korean teachers ranked fluency, communication skills, originality, expertise, flexibility, respect, openness, consideration, breaking stereotypes, and encouragement as the foremost charac-teristics of creative teachers, in that order. Conversely, Chinese teachers mentioned originality, communication skills, expertise, applicability, flexibility, progressiveness, passion for education, fluency, respect, and humor as the key traits. While certain cognitive characteristics of creative teachers displayed similarities across both coun-tries, disparities were observed in their affective characteristics. Additionally, both countries placed greater em-phasis on the cognitive aspect of identifying a creative teacher, rather than the affective aspect. Chinese teachers exhibited a higher emphasis on the cognitive aspect than their Korean counterparts.
 Conclusions This study has effectively demonstrated dissimilarties in implicit perceptions regarding creative teachers between Korean and Chinese educators. The findings of this research are anticipates to enhance the un-derstanding of the educational systems and cultural characteristics prevalent in both countries.

Teachers’ union revitalisation through business unionism: a case study of the South Korean teachers’ union movement

ABSTRACT This study examines a case of union revitalisation based on business unionism, contrasting with the prevailing notion that union revitalisation occurs primarily through social movement unionism. The Korean Federation of Teachers Union (KFTU) was formed in 2017 to challenge the established Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU), which we describe as an example of social movement unionism. Criticising the centralised organisational structure and radical political struggles of the KTU, the KFTU has rapidly expanded by absorbing a substantial number of teachers in their 20s and 30s. In 2022, the relatively new KFTU claimed that it surpassed the KTU in membership. This study investigates how the newly-formed union, based on business unionism, emerged and flourished quickly. To address this inquiry, this research analyses three critical factors that influence union revitalisation: context (social and political changes), agents (a new generation of teachers) and strategies (organisational strategies of the KFTU). We find that these three factors intricately interacted with one another, leading to the rapid success of business unionism, but at the same time, the union’s long-term sustainability remains in question.

Quality of teaching at secondary schools in Nicaragua, South Korea, and the Netherlands

ABSTRACT What are the differences in teaching quality in countries with large cultural and economic differences, such as Nicaragua, South Korea, and the Netherlands? Can these differences be bridged with training programmes? In Nicaragua, South Korea, and the Netherlands, respectively 271, 407, and 144 English and mathematics teachers in secondary education were observed by specially trained observers. The difference in teaching quality between Nicaraguan teachers and teachers in South Korea and the Netherlands is about 1.5 SD. The difference between Dutch and South Korean teachers is about .13 SD. After 160 hr of teacher training, in combination with training of observers in reliable observation, the Nicaraguan teachers grew slightly more than 1 SD. Further research should check whether a growth in teaching skills of teachers in developmental countries is accompanied by a growth in learning performance of students.