Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Promoting critical racial awareness in teacher education in Korea: reflections on a racial discrimination simulation activity

  • Published:
Asia Pacific Education Review Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Through historically perceived as an ethnically homogenous country, rapid demographic changes in the Republic of Korea have resulted in increasing diversity. However, current multicultural education programs struggle to promote acceptance and appreciation of this diversity. This paper details one pedagogical activity, a racial discrimination simulation activity designed to allow learners to experience discrimination to critically reflect on more subtle forms of oppression in society and classroom contexts. The activity was implemented in a graduate school teacher education program in Korea with 55 learners over a 4-year period. Pre-participation surveys, classroom discussions, blog postings, and reflections were analyzed using grounded theory to investigate learner reactions. Learners reported a strong disconnect between race and Korea and classrooms in Korea. Based on findings, immediate attention is necessary in teacher education programs to prepare teachers to talk about race and diversity in classrooms and confront racism in current educational contexts.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. All quotes are verbatim as said or written.

  2. This describes self-reported ethnicity, nationality, gender, and current teaching status. Though at times, it appears redundant, I wish to acknowledge the separation between ethnicity and nationality.

References

  • Bhabha, H. K. (1994). The location of culture. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brooks, J., Knaus, C., & Chang, H. (2015). Educational leadership against racism: Challenging policy, pedagogy, and practice. International Journal of Multicultural Education, 17(1), 1–5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chang, I. S. (2012). Multicultural education in Korea: Its origin, status and direction. Multicultural Education Review, 4(2), 60–90.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chang, Y. M. (2015). Teachers’ perspectives: Making sense of ethnic nationalism, ethnic identity and multicultural education in South Korea. International Journal of Education, 7(2), 17–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Charmaz, K. (2006). Constructing grounded theory. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cho, J. (2010). Biracial children shunned by classmates. The Korea Herald. http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20090124000033.

  • Cochran-Smith, M. (2004). Walking the road: Race, diversity, and social justice in teacher education. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Delgado, R., & Stefancic, J. (2012). Critical race theory: An introduction (2nd ed.). New York, NY: New York University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Doolan, Y. (2012). Being Amerasian in South Korea: Purebloodness, Multiculturalism, and Living Alongside the U.S. Military Empire (Master’s thesis). Ohio State University, Knowledge Bank. (http://hdl.handle.net/1811/52015).

  • Drake, I. (2008). Classroom simulations: Proceed with caution. Teaching Tolerance, 33, 42–48. http://www.tolerance.org/magazine/number-33-spring-2008/feature/classroom-simulations-proceed-caution

    Google Scholar 

  • Eels, L. W. (1987). So inequality is fair? Demonstrating structured inequality in the classroom. Teaching Sociology, 15, 73–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fairclough, N. (1995). Critical discourse analysis: The critical study of language. New York, NY: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grant, A. R., & Lee, I. (2009). The ideal English speaker: A juxtaposition of globalization and language policy in South Korea and racialized language attitudes in the United States. In R. Kubota & A. Lin (Eds.), Race, culture, and identities in second language education: Exploring critically engaged practice (pp. 44–63). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hammond, K. (2006). More than a game: A critical discourse analysis of a racial inequality exercise in Japan. TESOL Quarterly, 40(3), 545–571.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jeong, H.W. (2011). Damunhwa sahoe ui insig cheongsonyeon ui bunseog [Analyses on Cognition of Middle and High School Students Towards Multi-Cultural Society]. (Unpublished Master’s thesis). Hankook University of Foreign Studies, Seoul, South Korea.

  • Kang, M. O. (2015). Multicultural education in South Korea: Language, ideology, and culture in Korean language arts education. New York, NY: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaur, B. (2012). Equality and social justice in teaching and teacher education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 28(4), 485–492.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, S.Y. (2012). Standing against the educational exclusion of the multicultural families in South Korea. In Paper presented at the Western Political Science Association Annual Meeting, Portland, Oregon, USA. http://wpsa.research.pdx.edu/meet/2012/kimsoonyang.pdf.

  • Kim, J., Kang, C., & Lee, E. (2014, February 4). Closed off Korea: South Korean Perception of Multiculturalism and Policy [닫힌대한민국: 한국인의다문화인식과정책]. The Asan Institute for Policy Studies. Retrieved from http://asaninst.org/wp-content/themes/twentythirteen/action/dl.php?id=28587.

  • Korea Immigration Service. (2014). Vibrant Korea Growing with Immigrants. [Resource file]. http://www.moj.go.kr/HP/TIMM/imm_07/image/bro_eng.pdf.

  • Kubota, R. (2001). Teaching world Englishes to native speakers of English in the USA. World Englishes, 20(1), 47–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kubota, R., & Lin, A. (2006). Race and TESOL: Introduction to concepts and theories. TESOL Quarterly, 40(3), 471–493.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kumaravadivelu, B. (2001). Toward a postmethod pedagogy. TESOL Quarterly, 35(4), 537–560.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ladson-Billings, G. (1998). Just what is critical race theory and what’s it doing in a nice field like education? Qualitative Studies in Education, 11(1), 7–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, I. (2009). Situated Globalization and Racism: An Analysis of Korean High School EFL Textbooks. Language and Literacy, 11(1), 1–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, I. (2011). Teaching how to discriminate: Globalization, prejudice, and textbooks. Teacher Education Quarterly, 38(1), 47–63.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, W.Y. (2012) Multicultural students at risk of being bullied. The Korea Herald. http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20120109001091.

  • Lee, J.Y. (2013). Multicultural education in the Republic of Korea: How elementary school teachers interpret multicultural education and its practical use in classrooms (doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from eScholarship. (http://hdl.handle.net/1811/52015).

  • Lee, S. W. (2013b). Multicultural education and language ideology in South Korea. Working Papers in Educational Linguistics, 28(1), 43–60.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lim, F. (2011). Korea’s Multicultural Future?, The Diplomat. http://thediplomat.com/2011/07/south-koreas-multiethnic-future/.

  • Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. (2008). The School Curriculum of the Republic of Korea. [Data file]. file:///C:/Users/Administrator/Downloads/National+School+Curriculum-English%25282008%2529.pdf.

  • Nieto, S. (2004). Affirming diversity: The sociopolitical context of multicultural education. 4th ed, New York: Allyn & Bacon Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Park, G. (2013). My Autobiographical Poetic Rendition: An inquiry into humanizing our teacher scholarship. L2 Journal, 5(1), 6–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pennycook, A. (1999). Introduction: Critical approaches to TESOL. TESOL Quarterly, 33(3), 329–348.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peters, W. (1970). The eye of the storm [Motion picture]. USA: ABC News.

  • Picower, B. (2009). The unexamined Whiteness of teaching: How White teachers maintain and enact dominant racial ideologies. Race, Ethnicity, and Education, 12(2), 197–215.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schroeder, L. (2011). Racial preference for white English teachers prevalent in Korea. Yonhap News Agency. http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/n_feature/2011/04/04/99/4901000000AEN20110404002300315F.HTML.

  • Schwartzman, N. (2011). SKorea: Too many bi-racial kids not getting an education. Asian Correspondent. www.travelwireasia.com/2011/08/skorea-student-understanding-of-multiculturalism-lacking/.

  • Schwartzman, N. (2012). SKorea: Most mixed race kids adopt Korean identity. Asian Correspondent. http://asiancorrespondent.com/80853/skorea-most-mixed-race-kids-adopt-korean-identity/.

  • Shin, K. W. (2006). Ethnic nationalism in Korea: Genealogy, Politics, and Legacy. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Skerrett, A. (2011). English teachers’ racial literacy knowledge and practice. Race, Ethnicity, and Education, 14(3), 313–330.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • So, K., Lee, S., Park, J., & Kang, J. (2014). The idea of cosmopolitanism in Korea’s national curriculum. Asian Pacific Journal of Education, 34(1), 1–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spalding, E., Klecka, C., Lin, E., Odell, S., & Wang, J. (2010). Social justice and teacher education: A hammer, a bell and a song. Journal of Teacher Education, 61(3), 191–196.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Statistics Korea. (2014). Vital Statistics of Immigrants 2013. [Data file]. http://kostat.go.kr/portal/english/index.action.

  • Sung, K.W. (2014). An English teacher as a critical pedagogue. In Paper presented at 2nd annual graduate student symposium on TESOL research and practices, Dankook University, Yongin, South Korea.

  • United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. (2007). International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination. Geneva: UN. http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/docs/CERD.C.KOR.CO.1.pdf.

  • United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child. (2002). Committee on the rights of a child consideration of reports submitted by the States parties under article 44 of the Convention (Publication No. CRC/C/70/Add.14). UN Convention on the Rights of a Child.

  • Watson, S. L., Park, G. C., & Lee, H. (2011). Pre-service teachers’ awareness and attitudes on South Korea’s increasing cultural and ethnic diversity and the role of multicultural education in K-12 schools. International Journal of Education, 3(2), 1–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research was conducted with the support of the Dankook University 2014 research fund.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of TESOL, Dankook University, 152 Jukjeon-ro, Suji-gu, Yongin-ssi, Gyeonggi-do, 448-701, South Korea

    Shannon Tanghe

Authors
  1. Shannon Tanghe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shannon Tanghe.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Tanghe, S. Promoting critical racial awareness in teacher education in Korea: reflections on a racial discrimination simulation activity. Asia Pacific Educ. Rev. 17, 203–215 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-016-9424-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-016-9424-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation