EPIK EXPECTATIONS: HOW EXPERIENCES AND CULTURAL ASPECTS IMPACT FEMALE ENGLISH IN SOUTH

Amanda Kay Ark

A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate of Bowling Green State in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

May 2020

Committee:

Hyeyoung Bang, Advisor

Christopher J Frey

Beatrice Martina Guenther

Sheri Wells-Jensen

©2020 Amanda Ark All Rights Reserved

iii

ABSTRACT

Hyeyoung Bang, Advisor

In its efforts to become a globally recognized country and to increase its human capital,

South Korea created the English Program in Korea, or EPIK program, in 1995 to bring Western,

English-speaking people to the country to teach English as a foreign language in Korean public schools (Chang, 2018, EPIK, 2013). However well-intentioned this program may have been, these teachers often have very little understanding of , culture, or customs (Shin

& Kellogg, 2007). They are hired by the EPIK program under the pretense that they do not need such knowledge and supports will be provided in country (Herbert & Wu, 2009, Jeon, 2010,

EPIK 2013).

With very little training, EPIK teachers are expected to not only teach and work in a new country and culture, but also live successfully in that culture. This study set out to explore what experiences and aspects of culture may impact EPIK teachers as they seek to adjust to Korean schools and life, or their acculturation and self-efficacy. A Hermeneutic phenomenological study was created using 60 to 120-minute in-depth interviews with nine, female EPIK teachers living in the same city. Results of interviews were supported and triangulated with two self-reporting scales, an acculturation scale and a teaching self-efficacy scale.

Results showed that participants identified community as one of the most important aspects of their experience in Korea and related building strong community with their schools and co-teachers as what most helped them to adjust to living and teaching in . Other aspects identified as having a strong influence were placement on the hierarchy and power distance within schools, classroom discipline, and adjusting to small life differences. This study strongly recommends that the EPIK program needs to create more stable policies for what is iv expected of its Western teachers, formalize what supports they will have in and outside of schools, and also standardize the co- selection process to ensure better training for selected schools. These changes will create more successful infrastructure for the EPIK program to be able to best serve the students, Korean teachers, and Western teachers it hires.

v

“[I]t's just really not what I expected and what was kind of advertised through EPIK” -Study Participant, quote from interview 05/22/19

vi

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to acknowledge the work of my main thesis advisor, Dr. Bang, in getting my

work and my study to where it is today as well as Dr. Frey for his work to assist me and my

readers for giving me insights into my writing and how make my research the best it can be.

To my research participants for their willingness to share their stories and explore their

experiences and being open enough with me to help maybe change the shape of the EPIK program and teaching and working in South Korea.

Finally, to my parents to whom I have so much to thank for helping to pull me out of the pit of despair and support my crazy idea to get a second master’s degree and start a career

change. Your never ceasing love and support has meant to world to me. I love you both.

vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO STUDY ...... 1

Introduction to the Problem and Rationale for the Study ...... 1

Justification for the Study ...... 2

Research Question ...... 3

Chapter Summary ...... 4

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ...... 6

Korean Culture and ...... 6

Korean Culture and ...... 7

The Framework for Neo-Confucianism ...... 7

Self-Cultivation ...... 8

Fidelity and Ritual Formalities ...... 9

Summary of Neo-Confucianism ...... 9

Korean and Western Philosophy ...... 10

Ritual or Religion ...... 10

Monism or Dualism ...... 11

Cyclical or Linear Improvement & Shame or Guilt ...... 11

Out-In Perspective or In-Out Perspective ...... 12

Confucianism’s “Effect” on Education in Korea ...... 12

Korean Culture and its Effects on Education ...... 15

Korean Culture’s Effect on Communication ...... 17

Section Summary ...... 18 viii

Modern Education, English Education, and the EPIK Program ...... 18

General Korean Education: The System ...... 18

English Education in Korea: A History ...... 20

Post WWII ...... 20

Post U.S. Occupation ...... 21

1988-1996 ...... 22

The EPIK Program ...... 23

The Native Speaker as the Most Knowledgeable ...... 28

Summary ...... 32

EPIK’s Impact and Teachers ...... 32

EPIK’s Impact: Evaluation and Assessment ...... 32

Culture and EFL Education ...... 35

NETs and KETs: East and West in the School ...... 37

Summary ...... 39

Theoretical Frameworks ...... 40

Berry’s Acculturation ...... 40

Bandura’s Self-Efficacy ...... 41

Reasoning for the Use of These Frameworks ...... 42

Summary and Reasoning for the Study ...... 43

CHAPTER 3: DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY ...... 45

Main Research Question ...... 45

Research Design ...... 46

Methodology ...... 46 ix

Instruments ...... 48

Acculturation Scale ...... 48

Self-Efficacy Scale ...... 50

Individual Interviews ...... 51

Participants and Setting ...... 51

Procedures ...... 53

Data Analysis ...... 54

Reliability and Limitations of Study ...... 55

Chapter Summary ...... 58

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ...... 60

Quantitative Analysis Results ...... 61

Interview Results ...... 64

In School Results: Community Aspects ...... 66

Co-Teacher Relationships ...... 66

Offices as a Connection to the School ...... 70

Value as a Teacher: Value in the School Community ...... 73

“Forgotten Foreigner”: Feelings of Being Lost or Left Behind ...... 75

Hierarchy...... 78

Placement on the Hierarchy ...... 78

Hierarchy Taking Away Power ...... 79

Consequences of the Hierarchy ...... 81

Academics and Teaching ...... 83

Working with Co-Teachers ...... 84 x

Value as a Teacher: Academic Based Value ...... 86

Value of English ...... 88

Correcting Previous Stereotypes of Korean Student Behavior ...... 90

Discipline ...... 92

Outside of School Themes ...... 95

EPIK’s Lack of Training for its Teachers ...... 95

Daily Life Actions ...... 98

Discrimination in Korea ...... 100

On Being Black ...... 100

On Being White ...... 101

On Being Asian ...... 103

On Being LGBTQIA+ ...... 103

Cultural Aspects of Fitting In ...... 104

The Cultural Aspect ...... 105

The Pressure to Fit In/Conform ...... 106

Overall Life Fulfillment and Comfort ...... 108

Discussion ...... 110

Cultural Aspect 1: Community Connection (정) ...... 110

Co-Teacher Relationships ...... 113

School/Korean Culture ...... 115

Cultural Aspect 2: High Power Distance (장유유서) ...... 116

Cultural Aspect 3: Non-Pluralistic (한민족: Han Nation) ...... 119

Mismatch in Expectations ...... 120 xi

Lack of EPIK Training ...... 121

Understanding of Lifestyle ...... 121

Classroom Discipline ...... 122

Teacher Efficacy: experience does not equal value ...... 123

Chapter Summary ...... 125

CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSIONS ...... 128

Summary of Study ...... 128

Implications ...... 129

Theoretical Implications ...... 129

Practical Implications ...... 129

Implications for EPIK teachers ...... 130

Implications for the EPIK program and its policies ...... 131

Implications for school personnel ...... 132

Limitations of Study ...... 132

Suggestions for Further Research ...... 133

REFERENCES ...... 134

APPENDIX A: ACCULTURATION SCALE ...... 149

APPENDIX B: SELF-EFFICACY SCALE ...... 150

APPENDIX C: INTERVIEW PROTOCOLS ...... 152

APPENDIX D: DEMOGRAPHIC SURVEY ...... 153

APPENDIX E: DATA QUOTE SORTS ...... 154

APPENDIX F: MEAN SCORES FOR PARTICIPANTS...... 155

APPENDIX G: IRB APPROVAL ...... 157 xii

APPENDIX H: CONSENT FORM ...... 158

xiii

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page

1 Results Coding and Links ...... 65

2 Discussion and Links of Results ...... 112

xiv

LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

1 List of Participants ...... 52

2 Correlation Table ...... 62

1

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO STUDY

Introduction to the Problem and Rationale for the Study

The English Program in Korea (EPIK) program began in 1995 as a reaction to South

Korea’s (from henceforth called Korea) new educational standards that focused on using English education as a form of international education for globalization (Chang, 2018). This program hires hundreds of teachers called Native English Teachers (NETs) each year, all of whom come from one of eight western counties: America, Australia, Canada, England, Ireland, New Zealand, and South Africa (EPIK, 2013). The government employs its NETs through EPIK and these teachers are hired to teach to the national curriculum (Herbert & Wu, 2009). However, most of those hired by EPIK have little to no educational training, awareness of Korean culture, or of

East Asian cultural values (Shin & Kellogg, 2007). In fact, they are hired without this knowledge with EPIK advertising that they will provide all the support needed for NETs to be successful.

Because these teachers are hired under what is the idea that if whoever hired speaks

English, and they have a co-teacher in the Korean school that speaks English everything will work out. EPIK’s expectations are 1. teachers go into EPIK expecting to be able to be successful, happy, and comfortable due to the supports that EPIK provides, and 2. EPIK expects schools and cities to provide these systems. However, both, usually, fail (Moodie & Nam, 2016, Jeon, 2010).

EPIK teachers and Korean teachers alike encounter many problems with lack of standardization, communication skills, or cross-cultural knowledge (Jeon, 2010, Barratt & Kontra, 2000). Also,

EPIK teachers are undervalued in schools and must go through cultural adjustment by moving to a new country (Jeon, 2009). If EPIK teachers are told that can be successful in their jobs and live in Korea without Korean skills or a deep knowledge of Korean culture: what would actually keep anyone from succeeding in EPIK? I decided to start exploring this question though culture and 2

see what effect, if any, that cultural knowledge has on EPIK teachers since they are told they

don’t need to have it to be successful in Korea.

I was an EPIK teacher for four years (from 2013-2017) and I found that the promises of

the program fell short both in support and the premise that no previous knowledge of culture is

needed. I had many moments during my first year of teaching when I felt both unsupported by

the program, certain that I would have felt lost if I hadn’t researched Korean culture for a year

before coming. Research supports my experiences as often, the process of cultural understanding

helps with smoother and successful adjustment to the culture (Berry, 2006). There were also times when I didn’t feel like a real teacher or that I could teach well, even though I had two teaching degrees. These feelings stemmed from the idea that the school didn’t value me as a teacher, which has been a feeling of many other EPIK teachers as well (Jeon, 2009). These experiences are why I decided to focus my study of perceived cultural impacts based on teaching self-efficacy (belief in ability to teach and work in a Korean school) and acculturation

(adjustment to the culture), as those were the biggest problems I, and others, encountered in this

program. I wanted to explore these problems not only from a policy-based, cross-cultural

psychology standpoint, but also a very personal one as well. I ended up loving my experience in

Korea, and the cross-cultural educational opportunities so much that I wanted to research how to

make the experience better for others and for the Korean students and teachers that are all

affected by the EPIK program on a daily basis (Kopperud, 2015).

Justification for the Study

Since there are Western teachers employed in Korea, there is a mix of cultures in the

classroom. Besides the culture variances between countries, educational culture is also a consideration. Korean and U.S. schools, for example, vary on almost all levels. There are large 3

differences in teacher authority, discipline, assessment strategies, as well as the students’

lifestyles and expectations (Ark, 2013, Cho, 2004). Additionally, in the EPIK program, you are

hired to team-teach or co-teach with a native Korean teacher (Sin & Kellogg, 2007, Herbert &

Wu, 2009). All of these aspects of culture and cultural differences might potentially cause cultural conflict in the classroom and even outside the classroom as well.

Despite these potential dilemmas and the commonality of mixed cultures in the classroom in Korea (almost every public elementary and has a foreign teacher), in looking through the literature, little research specifically looks at the phenomena that EPIK teachers experience in terms of cultural clash in the Korean classroom. Among hundreds of research articles about English education in Korea, very few articles looked at EPIK teachers and their interactions in the classroom and none of them looked at EPIK teachers and their personal experiences (Moodie & Nam, 2016). Jeon (2009, 2010) has done some work with interviewing

EPIK teachers and their experiences, but they reported casual conversations of their experiences rather than a full study or case study. Most studies focus on EPIK teachers and their impact on the schools, teachers, and students they serve (Moodie & Nam, 2016, Shin & Kellogg, 2007,

Herbert & Wu, 2009). My study seeks to begin to fill the gap in the research of EPIK teacher experiences by expanding on research into EPIK teacher perceived experiences and how those experiences impact their teaching and cultural adjustment. Those are my main focuses as they are the two biggest parts of an EPIK teacher experience: being hired to teach and living in a new, nonwestern, country.

Research Question

The goal of this study is to see how culture may impact teaching and living in an unfamiliar culture as perceived by sojourners in South Korea who have come to teach English as 4 part of the EPIK program. The study will look into how culture potentially impacts participants’ self-efficacy as teachers as well as their cultural adjustment, or acculturation, to Korea.

Therefore, the study will look at those teachers who have chosen to stay in Korea for multiple years, but also those who have decided to stay for only one or two years. The combination of participants will allow me to compare whether ability to embrace, understand, or adapt to culture, is what motivates those who want to stay and discourages those who do not. I will also look at the comparison between how the acceptance or non-acceptance of the culture impacts both the classroom (teacher self-efficacy) and life outside the classroom (acculturation).

My research questions are

1. How do EPIK teachers view the effectiveness of EPIK program to develop their

teacher self-efficacy and positive acculturation strategies?

2. How do EPIK teachers view cultural discrepancies in relation to their self-efficacy

and acculturation in teaching and in communities?

3. What experiences do EPIK teachers identify as impacting their self-efficacy and

acculturation to Korean schools and society?

Chapter Summary

This chapter covered the reasoning for my study as well as the justification of this research and the research questions. I have chosen the topic of EPIK teachers’ experiences due to my own personal experiences in the EPIK program as well as the idea that EPIK advertises a smooth transition for teachers without a need for pre-understanding of Korean culture of the language. The study will focus on culture and how it might impact the two major parts of an

EPIK teachers experience: teaching in a Korean school and adjusting to life in Korea. Previous research has been sparse with almost no focus on the personal experiences of EPIK teachers. 5

Based on these ideas this study was designed to focus on EPIK teacher experiences on encountering culture and their own teaching self-efficacy in school and acculturation in and outside of schools. The main research question of this study is: What experiences and aspects of culture do EPIK teachers identify as impacting their teacher self-efficacy and acculturation?

Overview of the remainder of this Document

In the next chapter I will be looking at the background research into my topic that helped to create not only my research questions, but the background theories and ideologies that affect

Korean culture, and education. Chapter 3 then discusses the actual design of my study including how the study was conducted and an overview of my participants. Chapter 4 will be the listing of my results followed by a discussion of how those results relate to previous research and to my initial research question. Finally, Chapter 5 will review the entire study and follow implications of my study and suggestions for further research.

6

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

My main research question is: what experiences and aspects of culture do EPIK teachers

identify as impacting their acculturation and self-efficacy? EPIK teachers are Western teachers placed in South Korean public classrooms to teach English as a foreign language and are given housing in Korea as well. A review of literature needs to do background research on culture in

Korea, Korean education, differences between Western and Eastern thought and educational

values, English education in Korea as well as the EPIK program, acculturation, and self-efficacy.

The following is a summary of that research. As there are many topics that are inter-related it could have been organized in many ways. This chapter will start by covering Korean Culture then move to Korean Education and English Education. From there, the EPIK program and

policies will be covered as well as research into what EPIK teachers do and experience. Finally, this chapter covers the research lenses of acculturation and self-efficacy as well as the reasoning behind why this study is new and important.

Korean Culture and Education

This first section of this literature review broadly covers Korean culture. However, as one can do with no culture, Korean culture is many faceted and affected by many things. I have chosen to take a deep look into Confucianism and its effect on Korean culture as well as the differences between Eastern and Western thought and how Korean history plays a huge role in the classroom culture of modern-day Korea. This look into Confucianism in Korea will start with a short historical analysis of Confucianism in Korea and the major values it created amongst the

Korean people. 7

Korean Culture and Confucianism

Korea’s culture has been affected by Confucianism in two ways. First, the teachings of

Confucius came to Korea from China and were taught in Korean schools from 4BC to 1910 CE

(Lee, N.D.). Consequently, Korea is included in the countries that are called Confucius Heritage

Cultures (CHC), countries and cultures that have been affected by the teachings of Confucius in

Early China (Tam, 2016). However, basic Confucianism was not the most influential part of

Korean history; neo-Confucianism was (Koh, 2003). This distinction is because the Jeoson

Dynasty, 1382-1897, the longest running dynasty of Korea, was a neo-Confucius state (Koh,

2003, Lee, 2016). It was so much of a neo-Confucius state that even the four main gates into the

capitol and the center bell each represented one of the five virtues: wide wisdom (north), rising

benevolence (East), exalted rituals (South), abundant righteousness (West), and spreading trust

(Bell) (Lee, 2016). There are many factors within neo-Confucianism. The following is a basic

outline to better understand its effect on Korean Culture and education.

The Framework for Neo-Confucianism

Neo-Confucianism focuses on the relationship between gi (matter) and ri (principle) or

principals and material force (Lee, 2016). The theoretical framework of neo-Confucianism is that

principle and material force together lead to self-cultivation, and to achieve that, you must have

fidelity. All three, principle, matter, and fidelity, are kept in harmony by ritual formalities. If

done well, following all ritual formalities accumulates and create a well-maintained statecraft,

and therefore, a harmonious and prosperous society (Lee, 2016). To have this kind of society,

traditional neo-Confucianism emphasizes the five relationships in traditional Chinese

Confucianism. There must be: 1. closeness between the parents and children; 2. loyalty between 8 the king and his vassals; 3. differentiation between husband and wife; 4. trust between friends; and 5. an order between adults and children (Koh, 2003).

Because gi and ri are the foundation of the philosophy, much debate occurred between neo-Confucius philosophers about the nature of gi and ri. These debates are known as the four- seven debates, and the two major differences in philosophy came from Yi Yi, and Yi Hwan (Lee,

2016, Koh, 2003). They are called the four-seven debates because the ideas behind the nature of gi and ri came from the four buddings/beginnings and the seven emotions of human nature and how the four buddings and seven emotions relate to each other (Lee, 2016). The four-seven

debate’s arguments are large and long but the main idea of it is the argument centers around

whether gi and ri are separate in nature or if they are one being.

Yi Hwang, who was the first to write about this debate, believed that since ri represents

principle then ri was natural, pure virtue and therefore the dominant one that manifests the four

buddings. This conclusion supposes that the four buddings are purely good, and the seven

emotions, which come from gi, can be good or evil (Lee, 2016). The second, later theory came

from Yi Yi. He asserted that “Gi is manifest and ri rides on it” (Koh, 2003, p.1). Those who

subscribed to Yi Yi’s theories believed that everything is dependent. When it comes to the four

and seven, gi influences the mind directly while ri envelopes the gi, and then the mind influences

and directs the four and seven (Lee, 2006). Other ideals that are parts of neo-Confucianism but

not as significant as the four-seven debates are self-cultivation, fidelity, and ritual formalities.

Self-Cultivation

Yi Hwang was a major proponent of the area of self-cultivation in neo-Confucianism and

many of his writings and teachings focused on this concept (Koh, 2003). Self-cultivation is the

“holistic concept that includes all kinds of human efforts to change themselves into a fulfilled 9 being overcoming their current existential incompleteness” (Lee, 2016, p. 170) and there were four ways to practice this idea. The first, quiet reverence, was considered to be the most

important practice to Yi Hwang and other neo-Confucian scholars (Lee, 2016, Koh, 2003). Quiet

reverence embodies the idea of inner cultivation and self-reflection, and this is why it is the most

important aspect of self-cultivation. The other three practices, which can be related to the first,

are moral cultivation, learning and investigation, and cherishing the heavenly principle and

denying human desires (Lee, 2016). By doing all of these things: learning, self-reflection, caring

for others, respecting human nature, and working for a correct mind, followers of the philosophy

can succeed in self cultivation.

Fidelity and Ritual Formalities

Fidelity relates to the five major relationships within neo-Confucianism (teacher and student, etc.) listed above. One should be faithful to and respect those who are leaders. This idea is important enough that scholars have argued and even been killed over who should receive the scholars’ respect (Lee, 2016). This concept is one of the major portions of Confucianism that did not change in the new ideologies of neo-Confucianism. Ritual formalities are how people should live during neo-Confucian times. These formalities can cover everything from ceremonies to honor leaders and commemorating deceased relatives, to what a queen should wear when mourning the death of her son, to even something as small as the proper way to bow and greet

one-another (Lee, 2016).

Summary of Neo-Confucianism

Neo-Confucianism is a philosophy focused on bringing a group of people together

through a focus on self-cultivation (a theme seen in cultural research later) and proper lifestyles

and was the largest influence on Korea and Korean culture during the Dynasty. Neo- 10

Confucianism seeks to find a way to cultivate oneself through understanding one’s place in the

world and respecting that place as well as learning, reflecting, and treating others with respect

and having respect for tradition. These ideals that permeated the culture can be seen in new and different ways in modern Korea, having changed due to new applications in modern, non-farm based, lifestyles.

Korean and Western Philosophy

There are, of course, similarities between Eastern and Western thought. However, understanding the differences between them can help us understand how culture took ahold of

these philosophies and created the cultural differences between the East and West seen today.

Although it is impossible to summarize all of Western and Eastern thought to compare them, a

review of the literature did show some major differences in the tendencies between the two. This

portion of the paper will explore the different ideas that will be written about more for this thesis

and will act as a guide for future research. Each of the following subheadings for each

comparison will list the Eastern idea first and then compare it to Western thought.

Ritual or Religion

The first idea to cover is how the musings of Western and Eastern philosophy began, as it

is a major point difference where the two are concerned. Eastern thought was borne out of rituals of the times, and those rituals can be linked to all the major philosophies of eastern thought, in

this case; Taoism, Buddhism, Vedic ideals, and Confucianism (Stephaniants, 2002). The type of

ritual varies from group to group (ex. sacrifice in Indian culture and social order rites in Chinese

culture), but ritual is the basis upon which Eastern thought grew and promoted reflection among

their practitioners (Stephaniants, 2002, Leaman, 2002). In contrast, Western philosophy was

borne out of questioning the Greek religions and reflecting upon what purpose and life were 11 outside of those religious beliefs (Kelly, 2004). This distinction helps to explain a trend when

looking at both philosophies side by side. Eastern thought centers around continental groups and self-reflection and regulation whereas Western thought spread through maritime and was more focused on the self, verses others.

Monism or Dualism

One of the most interesting observations this researcher had while studying the

differences between Eastern and Western philosophy was the difference between where the ideas

of Collectivism and Individualism may have come from: the ideas of monism and dualism.

Monism is the idea that nature, humans, heaven, and earth are all one, which is a major

component of Eastern philosophies especially Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism

(Stepaniants, 2002). In contrast, Western Philosophy tends to focus on dualism, where nature and

humans are separate, or heaven and earth are separate (Kelly, 2004). The correlation helps us to

understand how Eastern thought has influenced the culture to emphasize the idea that all people

are one and connected (i.e. collectivism), while Western thought saw people, nature, and ideas as

all separate, which promoted a culture of individualism. The ideas of ritual v. religion and

monism v. dualism combined help inform the understanding of the other differences compared

below.

Cyclical or Linear Improvement & Shame or Guilt

The idea of self-improvement is very important in both Western and Eastern philosophy

because it is what guides why we must question ideas in the first place. Eastern thought focuses

on improvement in a very cyclical manner, that is, that one should be constantly reflecting on

what one can do better next time. On that note, this idea combined with monism explains the

greater importance of shame in Eastern philosophy, and now culture: not only does what you do 12 affect your self-image, but it also affects any groups with which you are involved (Leaman,

2002;, Hofstede, 1980). This belief is in contrast to Western thought in which development and failure are individual. In Wester thought, one improves on a linear scale, slowly improving without great reflection upon parts that have already been considered as “improved” (Kenny,

2006, Kelly, 2004). On top of that, thanks to dualism, Western thought focuses on guilt, or feeling bad about one’s self only, not what one did and not how a mistake may have affected others.

Out-In Perspective or In-Out Perspective

All of the above differences help to inform the greatest cultural difference: an out-in

perspective verses an in-out perspective. An out-in perspective is one of self-awareness,

reflectiveness, and inward enlightenment (Stepaniants, 2002, Leaman, 2002). Eastern thought

takes in the world around it and reflects upon what is seen and applies it to one’s own life.

Western thought, however, does the opposite and can be seen as the boundless inquiry approach

(Kelly, 2004). With the Western in-out perspective one projects their thoughts and ideas out into the world. Ideas and beliefs are all personalized towards how each individual sees the world.

Confucianism’s “Effect” on Education in Korea

A caveat for the rest of the paper here: Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism should both be seen as influences on Korean culture, but we need to think critically: there is a reason Korea is seen as one of the most Confucianism based cultures in the world despite being extremely

“westernized.” Confucianism is the Korean cultural basis, but history and culture must be taken into account to see what the difference between true neo-Confucianism is (a way of self- reflection and betterment) and what culture has turned it into (a focus on extreme study, focus, filial piety, kowtowing to a superior). “Due to [the] fact, that Confucianism influences the 13 entirety of social life in East Asia to a varying degree term “Confucianism” should be analyzed and interpreted according to the specific sociological factors, with the emphasis set on the

analysis of its connections with other value systems” (Sleziak, 2013, p. 28). This

recommendation is especially important to think about as neo-Confucianism actually failed, and

fell out of favor as early as the 18th century when commerce dominated farming. Therefore, it is

incorrect to assume neo-Confucianism is the end-all-be-all for what has effected Korean culture and education (Koh, 2003).

As a result, throughout the rest of this paper CHC refers to Confucius Heritage Culture as it was taken and interpreted by the people, even if current interpretation differs from historical interpretations. For example, many papers cite Confucianism as the reasoning behind teacher- centered education because, according to proper relationships, the teacher always knows best and the student should always defer to the teacher (Hyun, 2001). However, this is a CHC idea that the members of a culture have taken hold of and extended beyond its initial application without

considering that Confucius ideals go on to say that a teacher should care for and train a student as

best they can. Additionally, if it is not a mutually happy relationship then someone is doing

wrong to the other (Sleziak, 2013, Ark, 2013). Throughout this paper, teacher-centered classrooms are considered a CHC effect on education; whereas a literal Confusion effect is the idea that being educated is one of the best things one can do to achieve li, or, the ability to

function well in society (Koh, 2003).

CHC countries tend to have strong educational values with a focus on education and

college entrance (Williams, 2017). Korea is no different, often being diagnosed with an

“Education Fever” (Park, 2009). Many researchers blame this reputation solely on neo-

Confucianism because neo-Confucianism was the dominant culture of traditional Korea and 14

“education in traditional Korea was valued as both a means of self-cultivation and a way of achieving status and power” (Seth, 2002, p. 9). This value, paired with the examination system that those who wanted to enter a governmental position, are the major influencers of Korea’s

“education fever.” Although what was studied and tested were Confucian texts, it is not exactly

Confucianism but the and Korea’s history that helped push it into the fever of

the 20th century. This history, which will be covered further in depth later, is that of needing to

quickly rebuild and a push for country unity and world acknowledgement after the

(Seth, 2002). Along with this focus on education, Korean parents’ spending on private education,

which far exceeds other countries, is often blamed on its CHC nature (Lee, N.D.). This societal

push for privatization comes from the country’s history of the ruling class paying for lessons and

study abroad programs with non-ruling people believing that they must do the same for their

children to have equal chances of success as the children of leaders (Kwon, Kristiansson, &

Walker, 2017).

Another influence on Korean education in a CHC culture is how teachers are treated. In traditional Confucianism, one of the major relationships is that between student and teacher,

where teachers are seen as the head of the classroom and the most knowledgeable (Koh, 2003).

Culture has taken hold of that in Korea and because of parents’ perceived importance of college

entrance and examinations, teachers are seen just as important as parents to children in Korea

(Shin & Koh, 2005, Kim & Bang, 2017). Of course, there are other thoughts of the impacts of

Confucianism, but this study, which focuses on experiences, will focus on the main ones that

people tend to point to when discussing Korean educational culture. Therefore, CHC will stand as a difference between Korea and Western education rather than just Confucianism. 15

Korean Culture and its Effects on Education

Korean culture’s largest influences are Confucianism, a history of Japanese colonization, and a push for regeneration and re-building after the Korean War (Hyun, 2001, Seth, 2002, Kim

& Bang, 2017). This review will focus on how these aspects have affected Korean education.

Confucianism’s deep influence can be seen in the general communication culture of Korea as it pertains to everyday communications and communication within the educational system (Shin and Koh, 2005). However, it is important to recognize that Confucian influence is limited in the sense that there are basic ideals, but society and culture has taken them and used them for their own needs (Bang, 2019).

Confucianism influence on education can be seen through the valuing of educational success (Kim & Bang, 2017). Confucius believed that those people who worked hard to cultivate themselves should be the leaders of the country (Ark, 2013). This idea was taken up by Chinese government leaders and sparked what were called the “civil servant examinations” which were taken to prove one could be a leader in the country (Zhao, 2007). This practice overtook the idea that leadership should simply come from birthright and made it possible for all people have a fair chance.

Chinese philosophy was taught in Korea from the inception of formal education in Korea in the 300’s A.D. and was taught in Chinese (Choi, 2007). Therefore, the civil servant examinations were also used in Korea (Choi, 2007). These examinations were used in Korea until the Japanese takeover in 1910 (Seth, 2002). The cultural ideal that hard work and hard study means that you can advance your station in life is still alive in East Asian cultures today

(Ark, 2013). Specifically in Korea after the Korean war, college entrance was limited to those who could afford to pay their way into . However, this practice went against the Korean 16 societal ideals that all peoples should have a fair chance to become leaders (Seth, 2002).

Consequently, the Korean SAT was created to ensure that all students, no matter their financial

background, could have the chance to enter college (Lee, 2006).

Although the basic idea behind examinations can be linked to Confucianism, the reason

these tests became so high stakes is tied to the historical background of Korea. After the

devastation of the Korean War, Korea was desperate to rebuild and the whole country got

together to make Korea the best it could be (Seth, 2002, Lee, 2006). Then, due to the idea that a

good education meant a better life, Korean parents began to push for their children to attend

college. The huge push for college attendance meant the high-stakes nature of the KSAT

increased because students were required to pass the KSAT to get into college and culturally, a

good college means better life prospects in terms of jobs, success in life, and even marriage (Ark,

2013, Choi, 2007). Ironically, an attempt to make education more democratic by allowing hard

work rather than birth to determine entry into the university led to a shift in focus. The Korean

education system began to be based on rote learning, and even to this day, the major focus for

students and parents is exclusively on the college entrance examinations (Shin & Koh, 2005).

This shift has, in turn, shaped the culture of “education fever” where parents have taken this

emphasis and turned it into an obsession for which they are willing to invest thousands into their

students’ education both publicly and privately (Park, 2009, Kim & Bang, 2017). In summary,

the Confucian background of valuing education has been taken from history and applied to

current Korean culture, a tendency that has affected another part of the educational system,

teachers.

The result of the focus towards rote memorization in classes along with another

Confucian aspect that has been turned around by East Asian culture is that of the teacher as head 17 of the classroom. True Confucianism looks at relationships between different groups like parent- child and teacher-student and sees them as mutually respectful; the child should listen to the parent, but the parent should care for the child (Ark, 2013). However, aspects of culture have

tended to focus on the lower’s respect of the upper (Bang, 2019). This has turned into teachers as

the center of the classroom and the importance of students’ listening to them has only increased

due to focus on rote memorization for exams (Mitchell & Lee, 2003, Ghazarian & Youhne,

2015).

Korean Culture’s Effect on Communication

Confucianism’s influence on society can be strongly seen through Korean

communication values, which we will focus on for the purpose of this paper. Suk-hyon Kim

(2003) writes in their study of Korean communication culture that Confucianism’s influence is

the reason for much of Korea’s preferred communication styles of “thrift on Words, Silence and

Smiling, Group-Networking(Collectivism), Chemyon, Nunchi, Kongson, Harmony of Eum and

Yang, Chong and Euiri” (p. 1). These ideals can be seen in the fact that value building group harmony, speaking in terms of “ours” rather than “my,” harmony between peoples, and value being able to see someone’s needs in a situation without asking them (Kim, 2003, Lim &

Choi, 1996, Hyun, 2001). These traits mean that a lot of communication in the culture is based on group support and high-context interactions (Hofstede, 1980, Kim 2003). Group culture can be explained as the idea that it is important to be close to the group you are associated with, be it family, work, or peers (Lim & Choi, 1996). In fact, “due to the homogeneous nature of the

Korean people, the role of communication in Korea have been geared to promoting bond[s] rather than enhancing information exchange and developing persuasive skills” (Kim, 2003, p.

96). High-context communication involves being aware of those with whom you are interacting 18 and your surroundings to know what someone is trying to say to you (Ark, 2013). This need is even evident in the Korean language where pronouns are not important and the meaning of a word can change based on the previous sentences (Cho, 2004). These are all cultural aspects that are important to understand in Korean EFL education as it involves both Korean classroom

culture and communication culture which will be discussed further in a later section.

Section Summary

This section covered South Korean culture and its implications for education and

communication. South Korea is a Confucianism-based culture that has deep roots in neo-

Confucianism thanks to the Joseon dynasty, but unlike what many assume, even more than

Confucianism, history and its effects are what helped shape Korean education and

communication culture. Current culture covered was high stakes testing, a focus on rote

memorization, teacher-centered classrooms, high-context communications, and deep historical

and emotional bonds between Koreans and within social groups. The next section looks at

education itself with a brief overview of the Korean education system, a historical analysis of

English education in Korea, and a deep dive into the EPIK program and its policies.

Modern Education, English Education, and the EPIK Program

General Korean Education: The System

The current Korean educational system has a structure that has been the same since the

early 90s. The system is set up with a 6-3-3-4 structural system, with six years of elementary

school, three years of junior high, three years of high school, and four years of college (KMOE,

2015). Korea has a nearly 100% elementary education entrance rate and almost equally high

completion rates for middle school and high school (Choi, 2007). Elementary school is free and

compulsory. Although middle school and high schools are not free, they are affordable and, 19 thanks to legal restrictions and teacher training, all public schools are fairly equal in educational standards (Levent & Gokkaya, 2014).

Teacher education programs do not require teachers to get a master’s or doctorate degree,

but teachers do have to pass each teacher entrance examination of the Municipal Office of

Education’s in a specific city. These tests begin with a paper portion in which general education

topics are covered. If a student passes, they then take a content-specific portion. The third and

final test is a scored teaching demonstration (Levent & Gokkaya, 2014). If a teacher candidate

passes all three portions, they become a teacher with that city’s Office of Education and can be

placed in any school in that area. Teachers can stay in their schools for up to five years before

being moved to another in the district, but they will always have a job with that city unless they

request a transfer (KMOE, 2015).

The current curriculum was written in 2015, was implemented in its first stages in 2017,

and will complete implementation by 2020 (KMOE, 2015). Subjects for elementary schools

include: Korean language, social studies/moral education, mathematics, science/practical arts,

, arts (music/art), and English. Additionally, in the case of grades one and two,

subjects include Korean language, mathematics, and integrated subjects of moral life, inquiring

life, and pleasant life (KMOE, 2015). Middle schools add history as well as elective subjects

such as technology or home sciences, and Korean high school students can choose which

subjects they want to take based on future career goals (KMOE, 2015). There is also the

implementation of the “Free Semester” program in middle school where the fall semester sees no

exams for first-grade middle school students so they can pursue different ideas and subject

instead of studying for examinations (KMOE, 2015). 20

English Education in Korea: A History

English education began on the Korean peninsula in the late 1800s during the Joseon dynasty. Although English was not widely taught, there were public institutions that taught

English to help translate Korean documents for international use, and missionary schools taught

English as well (Chung & Choi, 2015). The focus of English study was on American English, the dialect that has always been the focus in Korea. This is because those who studied English abroad almost always did so at American and brought back American ideologies and linguistic dialects with them (Cho, 2017). The use of English continued to rise until the second

Japanese occupation of the Korean Peninsula in 1910. After the Japanese occupation began, they took over and changed the educational system. Japan often limited Koreans’ access to education, favoring Japanese nationals over Koreans for university entrance and access to valued subjects like English. English was only taught through Japanese textbooks and instructors severely limited access to English education (Chung & Choi, 2015, Lee, 2006).

Post WWII

After the Japanese occupation ended in 1945, Korea was unable to fully reclaim itself as a country as both the Russian and militaries wanted access to the country. This inability to allow the Korean peninsula to stay as one country, as well as the Korean War, split

Korea into what we know it today: the North and South . During the US Military occupation of South Korea, 1945-1948, Korean educational policy was deeply influenced by

American educational values and policies (Lee, 2006). This influence continued after South

Korea gained independence and began to create new policy in the New Educational Curriculum

(NEC) after the Korean War (Chang, 2009). This influence is “evident in Korea making

American English the official English style of Korea in the first NEC, as well as adopting 21 and educational philosophies that were in vogue in the US at that time, such as contrastive analysis and behaviorism, which was the basis for the audio-lingual method” (Chung

& Choi, 2015, p. 8). Also during this time, the Peace Corps was in Korea and volunteers were doing English teacher training through the Peace Corps as requested by the Korean government

(Lee, 2017). However the culture of Confucianism and intense education could not change too

much. Since 1953 Korean education has been characterized by “long hours of study, strict

discipline, educational advancement contingent on success in competitive entrance exams, and a

high level of competency among teachers, whose education followed a rigorous and rigorously

enforced course of training” (Seth, 2002, p. 3).

Post U.S. Occupation

After this time the first president of Korea, Rhee Syngman, as well as most of his cabinet

were all educated in the U.S. (Cho, 2017). In fact, because Korea started out with this kind of

majority leadership, “it was U.S.- educated President Rhee Syngman who set the tone for what

has now become the academic, business, and political domination of English and an American

degree in Korean society” (Cho, 2017, pp.68). Beyond this, from 1963 to 1979 “President” Park

Chung Hee, who quickly became a dictator of the country (Eckert et al., 1990), wanted to push

Korea into the modern age. His approach included looking at the human capital of Korea while

continuing to push for English education. However, Rhee’s regime’s focus on grammar proved

to be insufficiently effective. As a result, Korean educational policy makers moved the focus to

speaking and listening (Chung &Choi, 2015, Chang, 2009). Although president Park was

assassinated in 1979, not much change happened in educational policy as Korea remained under

a military dictatorship until 1987 while Korea was looking forward to hosting the Summer

Olympics in 1988. 22

1988-1996

Many things in Korea began to change in light of the approach of the 1988 Olympic

Games. Korea was sure the Games would not only put the country in an international spotlight,

but would allow it to be seen as a modern and innovative country (Jeon, 2010). Not only did

these facts encourage the Korean government to finally give in to the peoples’ demands during

the protests period of the 1980s and allow for the first actual election, but they also spurred a

surge in interest in the English language since that would be the language needed to

accommodate most of the participants in the 1988 Olympics (Shin, 1999, Eckert, et al, 1990,

Chung & Choi, 2015). The late 1980s pushed Korea into a globalization, segyehwa, frenzy in

the early 1990s making new educational policies to reflect Korea’s goals of becoming a fully

recognized global power. Korean people were asked to become global citizens, segye shimin.

While how to become a global citizen was largely unclear, the one part of globalization that was clear was that to be a global citizen, one must speak English. Although the push for segyehwa ultimately caused a market crash for Korea, this national desire for Korean recognition pushed

English educational policies even more (Jeon, 2010). "Reinforcing Foreign " and "Reinforcing Globalization Education" were the educational reformation tasks that were promoted during this time (EPIK, 2013). However, Korea in the early 1990s was not successful at English as shown in international test scores. As a result, a push to make even more changes began and “the 1990s are distinguished for the burgeoning of a post-authoritarian civil sphere, the increasing ascendance of the middle class, rising consumerism, and correspondingly the

liberalization of after- school education services and programs” (Park & Abelmann, 2004, p.

648). There was an even larger push after the 1997 Asian financial crisis: 23

With the aftermath of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, English became a more explicit

priority in curricular reforms and the public began to associate English as a vehicle for

social mobility. The neoliberal restructuring of the economic system and unstable

employment aided in creating a national obsession with English leading many families to

seek a competitive edge through private English education and study abroad. Since

private education incurred sizable expenses for families, the MOE attempted to appease

the public by implementing early English education, the hiring of NESTAs [NETs] … to

improve the quality of English teaching and reduce expenditures for families (Lee, 2014,

p. 98).

The has led to a focus and importance placed on English as well as the influence of parents, as seen above, in wanting more English education for their children or, as stated by

Park and Abelmann (2004), “this history reveals the roots and tenacity of the South Korean demand for both curricular and extra-curricular English education” (p. 650). Also, one of

Korea’s biggest competitors, Japan, had recently created a program to help with their own goals of global image and English ability.

The EPIK Program

The EPIK program’s beginnings actually start with an idea that came out of Japan.

Around the same time as the 1988 Olympics, the Japan Exchange and Teaching, or JET, programme was created by the Japanese government. The JET programme was created as a solution to Japan’s “image” problem and the government’s inability to influence cities and towns to diversify, as well as parental backlash towards teaching English as going against Japanese nationalism (McConnell, 2000). Although Japan’s reasons for the JET programme’s creation was different than Korea’s, the idea that Japan used this type of program to gain international 24

influence was an appealing benefit of creating a similar program, along with Korea’s self-

identified need to improve English test scores and English education itself. Therefore, the JET program was another major influence on Korea’s decision to create a similar program (Williams,

2017). Korea’s focus on English education and the need to improve is also reflected in the ideology towards English at the time. Although Japan feared English for its opposite nature to the Japanese traditions, people in Korea had embraced it with a “fever” due to the ideologies of

English historically and at the time of the policy’s creation.

The English Program in Korea (EPIK) program began in 1996 in reaction to Korea’s new educational standards, which implemented English as a required subject for all secondary

students. On top of this, there was an ideology that Koreans were bad at English and needed training which had originally come from the Peace Corps program (Cho, 2017, Lee, 2017).

Following a program Japan had created, Korea latched onto the idea that the best people to help

teach Koreans English would be those who spoke English the most fluently: the native English

speaker (Carless, 2006). This idea is what formed the basics of the EPIK program; to bring in

native English speakers to become teachers in South Korea to improve the English ability,

education, and cultural understanding (NIIED, 2016).

The EPIK Policy: A Summary of Goals and Teacher Duties

According to the guide produced by the National Institute for International Education

(NIIED, 2016) for the Korean Co-Teachers in charge of EPIK NETs:

원어민 영어보조교사 선발ᆞ지원 사업(EPIK : English Program in Korea)은 기존의

입시위주의 문법과 독해 중심의 영어교육에서 듣기ᆞ말하기의 실용 영어회화

중심으로 영 어교육을 혁신하여 초⋅중⋅고등학교 학생들의 영어 의사소통능력을 25

신장시키는 데 그 목적이 있 다. 더불어 국내 영어교사들의 회화연수 강화, 영어

교수기법의 개선을 통하여 영어 공교육 강화에 공헌함과 동시에 문화교류를 통한

국제 이해 증진 및 외국인들의 한국에 대한 이해 를 제고하기 위한 것이다.

The English Program in Korea (EPIK: English Program in Korea) is an innovative

English language teaching and learning center based on the existing entrance-oriented

grammar and reading-based English education. The purpose of this course is to enhance

students' ability to communicate in English. In addition, it contributes to the enhancement

of English public education through strengthening the conversation training of domestic

English teachers and improvement of English teaching techniques, and to promote

international understanding through cultural exchanges and enhance foreigners'

understanding of Korea (p. 1).

To achieve this, the current policy hires teachers from one of seven English-speaking countries: the United States, Canada, England, Ireland, South Africa, and Australia, and New

Zealand. Those who wish to apply must have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited English-

speaking college. If one does not have a degree in English or Education then a TESOL certificate

must be obtained. Those who are hired are placed into a public school in Korea and are thought

of as assistant teachers: teachers who supplement the English education curriculum and assist

Korean English teachers in their lessons (NIIED, 2016).

These assistant EPIK Native English Teachers (NETs) teach 22 hours a week during a

40-hour work week and are required to be at the school even when not teaching that day. They

are also required to do any tasks asked of them by the school or their individual city’s Office of

Education. These additional tasks include lessons for students, teachers, and even after school 26 language lessons or camps. The policy does not list specific curriculum or lesson advice for

NETs but states that the school will advise them on what to teach (NIIED, 2016). For compensation the policy currently provides housing, insurance, and visa registration for all

NETs. NETs are paid a salary based on location, education and time teaching in Korea; and the salary ranges from 1,800 Won a month to 2,700 Won a month (~2,000 to 3000 USD a month).

The employment contract is for one year with the option to renew yearly. Such a large

investment of time and money by the Korean government to bring in these teachers can seem

hard to understand when they pay so much for so many undertrained and culturally unaware

teachers, unless you look at the history of English education in Korea as well as the ideology in

Korea towards English and what it can do for the country.

Despite the difficulty one can have finding information on the EPIK program and policies

in English, it is very easy to obtain the curriculum and education policies of Korea in English

from the Korean Metropolitan Office of Education (KMOE) on their website. The curriculum is

called “The School Program of the Republic of Korea” and is currently dated for both 2008 and

2017. Although there is a new 2017 curriculum, the actual curriculum in English has not changed

as much from 2008, so both are used as reference to the policies in this paper. The 2017 policies

seem to have only been edited in course options, i.e. who takes English and when, not curriculum

options, i.e. what is being taught in English. Annex 14, the English-focused policy, is the same in

2017 as it is in 2008. In fact, the Korean curriculum resources pages have only the 2017 policy

with the 2008 Annex 14 (KMOE, 2017). As the new educational policies of 2017 will not be

fully enacted until the end of 2020, the 2008 policies are still the best polices for analyzing

English Education in Korea. Annex 14 lists a brief outline of curriculum in all subjects and in all

levels of Korean education. The last fifty pages of the document are the English Education 27

Curriculum, specifically labeled as “English curriculum” in the 14th volume of the School

Program. This document is split into the characteristics, goals, and content of the English education plan as well as an attached list of vocabulary and phrases needed for the English curriculum. The document’s contents, although very straightforward, offers its most enlightening goals in the “Characteristics” section of the document listing:

English, being the most widely used language, is playing an important role in the

communication and bonding between people of different native languages. For

elementary and students who must live in the future, the ability to

communicate in English is an essential skill that they must learn at school. To contribute

to the nation and society, to show leadership as a cosmopolitan citizen, and to enjoy a

wide range of cultural activities, the ability to understand and use English is essential.

The ability to communicate in English will act as an important bridge connecting

different countries, and will be the driving force in developing our country, forming trust

among various countries and cultures (KMOE, p. 41).

This description sets up the entire document and the goals of the national English curriculum in

Korea. With a focus on communication skills and abilities after brief outlines of skills to be learned at each level of education the document has an appendix from pages 63-128 listing vocabulary, spoken phrases, and communication goals.

This focus on communication and “leadership as a cosmopolitan citizen” can be linked to

Korea’s belief that English fluency is important to being competitive in a global market. Not only had previous low English scores influenced a change in curriculum and Korea subscribing to the English First tests, as mentioned above, but parents also influence the English policy of

Korea. Korean parents are one of the factors that push intensive English language policies and 28 even influence the commodification of the language through their own actions (Park &

Abelmann, 2004). Parents in Korea are the biggest influencers of education on their children.

Korean parents spend over 20% of their income on education alone every year (Hultberg

Calonge, & Kim, 2017). Much of this money is spent on English private education (Park &

Abelmann, 2004). They also have a tradition of “goose fathering” where the “goose dads” are fathers who stay in Korea to earn money while their wife and children live abroad to attend, mostly, English-speaking schools (Park, 2009). Both of these examples are how Korean parents also subscribe to the idea that English language ability is the best way to give their children a successful future. In fact, Korea has decided to teach English in due to parental and social pressure (NIIED, 2016).

Although the English Curriculum itself makes no mention of EPIK or its teachers, it does show how the policy of the EPIK program could have come about since the focus of the English education curriculum is on English communication and being comfortable leading globally. By having native English-speaking teachers (NETs) in Korean schools, Korean students can, not only learn natural pronunciation from these NETs but also be exposed to non-Korean peoples.

However, why would the EPIK program not make sure all NETs have education-focused backgrounds? It is because of the widely held belief that Native Speakers know best.

The Native Speaker as the Most Knowledgeable

Korea and other countries subscribe to the “native speaker myth,” which is the idea that native speakers are the best way to teach English fluency and proper pronunciation (Kubota,

2002, Herbert & Wu, 2009, Jeon, 2010). This is important to the policyscape of EPIK because

Korean educational policies state that “students should be exposed to a variety of educational experiences which can develop their fluency and accuracy” (KMOE, 2008, p. 42). In their 29 article Native English speakers’ authority in English, Wang (2016) summarizes in their research that the native speaker myth can be seen to have stemmed from the idea that East Asian speakers

find English difficult to produce naturally, that English speakers who speak English first are

more knowledgeable about the language than those who have studied how to speak English and

therefore are the best ones to bring in to increase a country’s ability to speak English. Korea had

a push for globalization, a zeal for English, Korean people’s opinions of the need for more

education, and subscribed to the wide-spread idea in non-English speaking countries, that native

speakers make the best teachers. All these combined to create a greenhouse of the ability for a

program like EPIK to not only be created, but also to continue without a lot of change or

assessment outcry from Korean parents who greatly influence schools (Park, 2009).

The Multi-Faceted Institutional Home of EPIK.

The National Institute for International Education (NIIED), a division of the KMOE,

currently manages the EPIK program. However, one must assume, that the program has relations

with immigration, and the consulates with all of the countries NETs come from because the

policy involves the wellbeing and treatment of internationals, as well as individual schools,

teachers, and city offices of education. Officially, the policy paper states that there are five major

groups that work with and run the EPIK program (NIIED, 2016). These groups are the NIEED,

the KMOE, individual Korean Embassies, City MOEs, and the EPIK governing body. Each

group has individual responsibilities that relate to the program and its running. With these five

groups listed, the policy is namely a national policy, but is also affected internationally, locally,

and even personally.

The KMOE is in charge of the NIIED as well as creating the English language

curriculum. The NIIED is the home of the EPIK program and in turn is in charge of screening, 30 interviewing, and accepting applicants, training EPIK teachers, providing consulting services for

EPIK teachers, working with immigration and country consulates, as well as building best practices for the EPIK program and all other EPIK business needs. Within the NIIED, the EPIK governing body makes all the decisions for policy changes and creation. The Korean embassies in all countries have the duty to issue visas as well as advertise the EPIK program. The individual MOEs choose which teachers they want from the pool hired by the NIIED, where to place those teachers, and how to utilize their EPIK teachers in city-wide or school-wide programing.

This policy is semi-national. EPIK teachers are all across the country, but different cities are allowed to create different individual policies for their own needs for schooling as stated in the policy guidelines (NIIED, 2016). For example, due to Busan’s large number of businesses and its reach for internationalization, all teachers who work in Busan must now have a background in Education as well as a TESOL or TEFOL certificate. has their own program to hire teachers called GEPIK (which roughly translates to EPIK for the Seoul and metropolitan areas), to have better control of what kinds of teachers get hired for the capitol (EPIK, 2013).

Even schools have additional power. As stated in the policy, individual schools can decide what they want to do with their EPIK teachers by assigning class, grade levels, and even after-school responsibilities.

Due to these multi-faceted levels of involvement there is a lot of confusion for teachers.

Unless a teacher personally reaches out to EPIK or the NIIED, they tend to have no interaction with those organizations. EPIK teachers are first the responsibility of their co-teacher, then their schools, then the office of Education for their city. Each MOE has one person in charge of all of their EPIK teachers, and this person is the only one you interact with unless you intentionally 31

move up the ladder working with each group until you get the answer or help you need. The

confusing nature of the policy, particularly who gets to institute what parts of the policies to whom, has had a great effect on the implementation of the EPIK policy and any changes that might need to be made to it.

As one could expect for a program where the organization is so multi-faceted, and its

created has basis in a strong desire to increase test scores and global identity, there were a lot of problems when the program was first implemented. Although there is no real research from the first ten years of the program (1997 – 2007) it is believed that the launch of the EPIK program was a failure (Dake, 1997). Many teachers left after the first few months. There was confusion about contracts, schools did not want to invest all the money needed for pension payments, training was unsatisfactory, and teacher roles were not well defined to NETs or Korean English

Teachers (KETs) (Dake, 1997). The program was also initially overseen by a small office in a

university. It was not until the program was moved to be a part of a government official

organization like the NIIED that the policy was able to recuperate and gain traction (EPIK,

2013).

After the shift to the NIIED in 2007, NETs began to be hired by the thousands each year.

Contracts were the same across the board for all EPIK teachers: all teachers received government

pension and living conditions were better for all teachers. Contracts were also changed to yearly

contracts around this time as well (EPIK, 2013). Since these changes, news about EPIK has

become more difficult to find. One cannot find a shift in policy or procedure on their own, and

changes to the contracts are made on a yearly basis and, in this author’s experience, announced

to EPIK teachers at the time of re-signing. The only major changes are where teachers are

placed. At first, NETs were placed throughout the nation at different levels, so there were EPIK 32

teachers in each public school in Korea. Now, teachers are placed only in Elementary and

Middle Schools unless there is a special request from a High School in each MOE (EPIK, 2016).

Summary

English education has a long history in Korea and the EPIK program is not a new idea.

Nor is EPIK a very new policy. having started in 1996 as a reflection of other policies. This

reflection comes from the idea that Koreans are not good at speaking English and that the native

speaker is the authority of the language even if they are un-trained. Korea wants to be a global

country with a solid global economy and views students as potential to be that kind of country,

but they need good English to do so (NIIED, 2016). Therefore, thousands of Westerners are

hired every year to improve English education based on these ideas. The next section looks at

how the EPIK policy and similar programs effect English education and the teachers and

students themselves.

EPIK’s Impact and Teachers

This section contains a discussion and evaluation of the EPIK program, the people

involved, and research into EFL programs and programs similar to EPIK. EPIK has not been

evaluated on a comprehensive scale internally nor externally, so it makes the program and its

effectiveness hard to evaluate. After I attempt to do so I will cover other previous research

studies that investigated what EPIK teachers encounter such as culture in the classroom, EFL

education policies, co-teaching, and communication both inside and outside of the classroom.

EPIK’s Impact: Evaluation and Assessment

Beyond research done by individuals about aspects of the EPIK program, there have not been formal assessments of the EPIK policy that can be found in English. This researcher’s

Korean language skills are not advanced enough to look on academic research sites for 33

evaluation of this program. However, since the program is for the improvement of English on a

global level and for internationalization, the program should be assessed and the results shared.

This evaluation is especially important since the consulates of Korea in each country are

expected to advertise the EPIK program (NIIED, 2016). In the same vein, one of the biggest

negative evaluations of the policy is that you cannot search for the policy itself in English. Even

in Korean the only comparable resource available is the EPIK handbook that Korean teachers

receive each year. However, this handbook was not even on the NIIED website nor was it easily

searchable. This is a huge oversight as this program has so much money poured into it, but no in-

depth information in English that is from an official government website or document. Even the

NIIED website in Korean about the EPIK program only lists the process to get hired and some of the benefits; no policy is listed. In fact, there are no outside links on the entire page (NIIED,

2018). The most that can be said is that the Korean and English websites are exactly the same.

This commonality means the information seemingly available through the “official” channels is

the same. Also, NETs are only informed of changes to the EPIK program if it is announced in a

news outlet or in another way.

However, one can use the individual research cases mentioned above to assess the EPIK

program based on its “hidden” goals of globalization, or segyehwa, and its stated goals of

increasing English ability and improving English Education in Korea as well as intercultural

understanding (NIIED, 2016). As for globalization, Korea has been able to use the EPIK

program to expose Korean students to teachers who are not Korean, allowing students to feel

comfortable interacting with people outside of Korea. In addition, having EPIK teachers provide

a range of experiences for students based on different cultures, personalities and lessons, students 34

have, at the very least, been exposed to different cultures and ideas (EPIK, 2013, NIIED, 2016,

Jeon, 2009).

As for the research into EPIK’s listed goals, there has been much research into the co-

teaching aspect of the program. All EPIK NETs co-teach with Korean teachers, share teaching

ideas, and hopefully jointly shape the face of English Education in Korea (EPIK, 2013). In their

article summarizing the research done in recent years into English Education in Korea, Moodie

and Nam (2016) found that many articles had the same findings. Firstly, the co-teaching model,

even after over 20 years of activity, is still very much a soft policy (Fok, Kennedy, & Chan

2010). In the handbook there is no direct statement of the expectations of NETs and KETs

interactions inside or outside the classroom when it comes to lesson planning, yet it is an

expected part of the policy (NIIED, 2016). This lack of direction means that there is no

continuity of the EPIK experience, with experiences ranging from some teachers never teaching

together, leaving the NET alone in the classroom with English illiterate students to the NET and

KET working together in sync in a textbook definition of team-teaching (Moodie & Nam, 2016,

Jeon, 2010). The ambiguity is to the point where, after looking at several studies, Moodie & Nam

(2016) decided that, “both [NET]s and KETs have largely been left on their own to decide how

to teach” (p. 81). Beyond better policy, for successful team teaching there needs to be training, a

cultural understanding, and openness to different ideas (Carless, 2006). The EPIK program

seems to lack in this sense. Additionally, despite the goals of EPIK, NETs are severely undertrained, and devalued with many NETs feeling like they are trained monkeys or that students and Korean teachers do not value their lessons (Jeon, 2009).

When it comes to EPIK and the NIIED training teachers, NETs are only given between

55 and 70 hours of training which includes: culture, basic Korean, lesson creation, classroom 35

ecology, and other basics (NIIED, 2016). This training means that teachers are severely

undertrained in the EPIK program. Many teachers are hired based on one interview and one

lesson plan and do not have to have a degree in Education or in English (EPIK, 2013). As for one

of the other goals of the EPIK program, to help improve English education standards, this is also

not well covered due to the lack of training and cultural boundaries. When teachers are not

trained well or seen as professional none of their intended work can happen. Even well-trained teachers who can create a new and sound educational idea may not have their ideas enacted if they do not fit into the cultural expectations of the hierarchy of the office of education. This means that “hiring inexperienced NESTs conflicts with two program goals, namely, to improve teaching methods and to develop materials. Research can consider these goals and assess the emerging teaching methods and quality of materials developed by co-teaching teams” (Moodie

& Nam, 2016, p. 82).

Culture and EFL Education

Culture, education, communication and language are all deeply linked together,

(Gudykunst, Ting-Toomey, & Nishida, 1996, Wang, 2016). This linkage is especially true in the

EFL classroom where students and teachers may have different languages and cultures. Crozet and Liddicoat (1999) found that often in intercultural language teaching, engaging with culture in the classroom is often misunderstood by teachers and not addressed even though it is important to learners. They found that learning has also failed because EFL teachers have not “fully recognized the links between language and culture, [and] did not proved an approach to

depicting culture in language use” (p. 123). Remembering the cultural effects of language when

teaching means being able to understand the culture in which you are teaching and the impact of 36

that culture on the local language as well as the background of your own culture on the language

you are trying to teach.

The cultural differences in the classroom especially between Western cultures and East

Asia are wide due to the deep Confucianist background of countries in East Asia (Ark, 2013).

Steven Simpson (2008) notes differences between Western and Eastern educational culture.

These include educational values like book knowledge in the East verses communication and in the West, and hierarchical relations in the East verses horizontal relations in the

West. His summary of EFL culture in the classroom showed that for the Chinese classroom to be effective there either needs to be a compromise between the two cultures or that one culture needs to totally let go and allow the other culture to take over. This conclusion again shows a need for teachers to understand the cultural differences they are encountering to be effective EFL teachers. Álvarez -Valencia and Bonilla-Medina (2009) agree, writing in their study that an intercultural space needs to be found by communicating with the teachers of the new culture, ie. the culture the NET is teaching to because, “teachers should be aware that practical experiences coming from their colleagues constitute a resource for their personal and professional growth”

(p. 167). In the EFL classroom culture is always interacting with teachers and students on multiple levels and teachers need to be aware of these interactions for successful EFL teaching

(Álvarez –Valencia & Bonilla- Medina, 2009). This analysis is especially true as it applies to learning how to teach in the new culture. Research even shows that the more a NET understands culture the more the can teach in their own cultural style while understanding how their students may interact with the lesson (Ghazarian & Youhne, 2015).

37

NETs and KETs: East and West in the School

One important concept of the EPIK program and native speaker teacher programs like it is the aspect of co-teaching (also called team-teaching). Within the EPIK program, NETs are always placed with a KET who is in charge of them and also teaches with them (NIIED, 2016).

NETs also teach with any other Korean teachers they need to in order to fulfill their duties as an

EPIK teacher. This expectation means they can teach with anywhere from one to ten Korean teachers (EPIK, 2014). The reasoning behind this is that by employing NETs they can be a cultural diplomat for their co-teachers and students, encourage fluency, and help teachers and students to practice English. However, this ideal relationship often fails due to undertrained

NETs, lack of communication, and lack of policy understanding (Carless, 2006, Kim, 2010).

Undertrained NETs results in new Western teachers being placed in public schools without training on Korean culture and communication. Consequently they are unaware of the differences they may encounter (Kim, 2003, Carless, 2006). These conflicts will be discussed more in the discussion portion of the paper.

These problems are important to understand and explore because problems with communication and training or professionalism can cause tensions in relationships between

NETs and KETs (Carless, 2006). Due to these problems, many studies have focused on cross- cultural team teaching in EFL settings in East Asia (Moodie & Nam, 2016). Most of the research into good co-teaching practices and what makes them strong can be summed up in the conclusion to In-Jae Jeon’s 2010 research focusing on relationships between co-teachers in EFL:

[A] close and friendly professional relationship between native and non-native teachers

should be established in order to implement the effective and successful co-teaching

practice in a classroom setting. To achieve this goal, it is essential for co-teaching 38

teachers to make a consistent effort to maintain a close partnership in both interpersonal

and professional perspectives (p. 62).

However, not many studies have actually looked into how miscommunications can be solved

using understanding of differences between cultural values in relation to both communication and education (Jeon, 2010). Therefore, it is important to look into how these relationships can develop positively though the cross-cultural psychological lenses.

The different cultural based styles of communication that Koreans have may be very confusing for any foreigners, especially NETs who are thrown into the Korean classrooms after only 6o hours of training that does not include much cultural communications training (Kim,

2003, EPIK, 2013). This confusion means it is important to understand the differences in communication styles that may occur between KETs and NETs. These communications are based around Confucianism, the Korean idea of nun-chi, power-distance, and collectivism. KETs will be likely to communicate based on the Confucian ideals of their cultural past. This cultural knowledge means that KETs will communicate on a different level than NETs. They may talk around a subject rather than approach it directly. KETs may also expect NETs to understand what is needed in a situation due to the Korean culture of nun-chi (눈치). This may cause some problems or misunderstandings between the KETs and NETs. Since all NETs are from a low- context language speaking culture and the idea of nun-chi does not exist they may prefer more

direct communication or assume that what is said to them is exactly what is meant rather than

reading into what was said. The closest western culture can get to nun-chi is to “read between the

lines” but that still fails to encompass what nun-chi is (Lim & Choi, 1996). Another aspect of

this expectation of nun-chi may be that a KET will expect an NET to know what is right and

wrong without telling them; which also shows a communication problem across cultures (Kim, 39

2003). Without NETs being aware of these ideas they may not be able to communicate well with their KETs.

As a country with high power-distance, Korea has a hierarchical way students, teachers, principals, and administrators relate to each other (Hofstede, 1980, Ark, 2013), this hierarchy

means students might not communicate their feelings with teachers, and even between teachers

and principals certain things must not be said (Hyun, 2001). This structure differs from what

NETs in Korea might be used to because all EPIK teachers are from low-power distance

countries (Hofstede, 1980, EPIK, 2014). As a result, NETs might be used to taking any ideas or

issues directly to the head of a school/company or might be used to teachers and students having

a closer relationship and might offend KETs if they do not follow the rules of high power-

distance relationships (Carless, 2006).

If KETs do not struggle with their own cultural communication background, the problem

can continue and fester (Kim, 2010), and then NETs could even be removed from schools due to

these issues (Luo, 2007). Kim (2010) found, if a teacher confronts the issue and talks to the NET

directly or asks the EPIK program for assistance to communicate the problem to their schools,

the problem can be discussed and could even identified as a matter of miscommunication rather

than the NET purposefully going against the culture. This conclusion shows a need for a KET to

cross from their own culture of indirect communication to the NET’s culture of direct

communication and problem solving.

Summary

As one can see from this background research into the literature about the EPIK program

and its teachers, not much has been done to evaluate the effectiveness of the program overall nor

has anyone researched the EPIK teachers themselves and how they feel about their ability to be 40

effective teachers or about their adjustments to the Korean classroom and culture (Jeon, 2010,

Moodie & Nam, 2016). Therefore this study is not only new to the area but pertinent, as the well- being and self-efficacy of EPIK teachers is important to both their own humanity as well as the culture of the classroom and their ability to be effective teachers (Kim, 2010). Next, the literature review will cover the theoretical frameworks that will be used in this study to take a closer look at the EPIK teacher experience.

Theoretical Frameworks

The theoretical frameworks for this study center around the cross-cultural psychological theories of acculturation and self-efficacy. Since cultural differences themselves are already well researched and were used in the literature review above, this study will focus on participant self- identified cultural differences while focusing on self-perceived acculturation and self-efficacy.

The two frameworks will be based on the two major proponents of them: Berry for acculturation and Bandura for self-efficacy. After covering these two theories individually, an argument will be made for combining them in this study, explaining why they are not only compatible, but the perfect combination for what this research aims to observe: observations of these EPIK teachers based on their personal experiences adjusting to culture and teaching.

Berry’s Acculturation

When someone from one culture encounters a different culture, differences are bound to

be felt. Acculturation attempts to answer the question of what happens when that person moves

into the new culture. In summary: in what ways are thoughts, actions, and ideals changed by

encountering and interacting with a second culture? Berry’s (1992, 1997) acculturation theory is

a way to look at the links between culture and the individual from the perspective of cross-

cultural psychology, specifically in how culture affects behavior. Berry proposes four major 41 strategies for acculturation: integration; assimilation; separation; and marginalization (1997).

Individuals are placed on this scale according to how important it is for them to keep their own

(non-dominant) cultural identity and how important it is to be valuable in the new (dominant) culture. Placement on the scale allows understanding of how an individual may be reacting to their new culture or able to fit into the new culture, if they try to interact fully or if they reject the new culture, or even if the extremes happen and an individual rejects their own culture or rejects both cultures (Bergen, 2008). Recent research shows that acculturation is linked not only to behavior towards the new country, but also attitudes about the dominant culture as well (Shim &

Schwartz, 2007).

In relation to this research, acculturation can impact and change our reactions to the culture around us and this is important because EPIK teachers interact with a different culture at the level of Korean culture verses their own culture, as well as home classroom culture verses

Korean classroom culture, and the differences in linguistic culture (Cho, 2004). Berry’s theories can help to assess EPIK teachers’ views and attitude towards the host culture. The connection between actual self-efficacy and reaction to culture can help explain the feelings of NETs.

Bandura’s Self-Efficacy

Bandura is one of the leaders in creating self-efficacy scales. “Perceived self-efficacy is concerned with people’s beliefs in their capabilities to produce given attainments” (p. 1,

Bandura, 2006). A self-efficacy scale asks individuals to assess themselves and think about how successful they are. According to Bandura (1994), there are four sources of self-efficacy: mastery of experiences; vicarious experiences (seeing someone like you succeed); social persuasion; and reducing stress reactions. These sources help individuals to build confidence in their self-perceived ability to do something. Self-efficacy and self-esteem are different in the 42

sense that self-esteem is how one feels about oneself, but self-efficacy is how confident one feels

in their ability to be able to do something or succeed in a given task (Bandura, 2006).

For this research study, understanding how EPIK teachers view their own capabilities is

important because I want to know if these teachers believe they can do a good job being a true

teacher in their schools, and if they do, are their schools using them to their full potential?

However, a connection between the two theories needs to be made. Berry’s research indicates

that acculturation also effects self-efficacy (Bergen, 2008). By combining Berry’s theories with a

self-efficacy scale created using Bandura’s theories the interaction between acculturation self-

efficacy can be investigated.

Reasoning for the Use of These Frameworks

The reasoning for using these frameworks is twofold. Firstly, as briefly mentioned above, there is strong reason for combining acculturation with self-efficacy. Research has shown that self-efficacy is directly affected by acculturation when looking at immigrant self-efficacy in countries other than their own (Kim & Omizo, 2006, Lui & Rollock, 2012, Rivera et al, 2007).

Miranda & Umhoefer (1998) found in their study of Latino immigrants in the U.S. that

acculturation and language usage were the greatest predictors of positive career self-efficacy

regardless of age or years in the United States. Similarly, other studies have shown that high

acculturation corresponds with high-self efficacy and less intense perceived boundaries (Kim &

Omizo, 2006, Rivera et. al., 2007). However, one must realize that these studies were based on

Latino or general Asian immigrant populations and Korea’s culture has been shown to shape

acculturation differently. In their study of Korean immigrants, Shim and Schwartz (2007) found

that, due to the unique nature of Korean culture including han, Koreans had a harder time

adjusting unless they could connect with their own culture and that length of time in country was 43 one of the most relevant indicators of positive acculturation. This difference shows that it is

important to do specific studies of Westerners adjusting to Korean culture and vice-versa due to

Korea’s unique culture and lack of plurality.

The second reason for using these theories is that there is a large gap in research pertaining to acculturation of Western people into Eastern cultures (Berry, 1997). It is important to take a look at the sojourner experience in Korea as it pertains to acculturation in a society that is not pluralistic which could potentially increase the difficulty of acculturation and decrease the chance for high self-efficacy (Berry, 2006, Rivera et. al., 2007). Using this framework makes this study pertinent not only to the EPIK program and EFL teachers in cultures other than their own but also to cross-cultural Psychology as a discipline.

Summary and Reasoning for the Study

As shown above, there is much research on how there are cultural differences in the EFL classroom especially when there is a NET in a culture other than their own. When it comes to the

EPIK program, there have been many studies on how to have a successful co-teaching relationship and the communication between NETs and their Native Korean co-teachers. There is even research on student opinions of the NETs and the NETs’ effect on the school culture.

However, even amongst all this research there has been a severe lack of study of the NETs themselves both inside and outside the school when it comes to culture, acculturation, and their self-perceived ability to be successful teachers and members of their communities. Therefore, my study aims to fill in this gap of the research by studying the EPIK teacher experience through the lenses of acculturation and self-efficacy. My hope for this study is to create a profile of how experiences, time, and culture affect EPIK teachers to seek ways to not only help EPIK teachers themselves, but the EPIK program overall to become a more successful endeavor in reaching its’ 44 goals of building student confidence in English, helping Korea become a global competitor, and bringing Korea into the cultural spotlight.

45

CHAPTER 3: DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

This chapter seeks to show the research design for this study. It will cover the methodology of the study which is a Hermeneutic approach to phenomenology. Participants will be interviewed to learn about their experiences of the EPIK program of which they may have not

thought about before. These interviews will be triangulated through two scales, teacher self-

efficacy and acculturation. These scales were chosen to triangulate the data since both scales

cover the experiences being collected in order to answer the main research question. Next, the

setting and participants are discussed: nine participants from the same city in South Korea.

Participants filled out the questionnaires and then met with me for a 60-90-minute individual

interview. Interviews were then transcribed, coded for themes, and then major themes supported

though interview data and/or the two scales. Research reliability is then discussed.

Main Research Question

The main research question I was interested in answering was: What experiences and

aspects of culture do EPIK teachers identify as impacting their self-efficacy and acculturation?

Therefore, I not only needed to look at EPIK teachers’ views of Korean culture but I also needed to have acculturation and self-efficacy scales to know about each participants’ level of

acculturation and their own self-efficacy. I created my study to look at some qualitative data of

EPIK teachers personal experiences in Korea and adjustment to life in Korea as well as two

quantitative data measurement instruments, a self-efficacy and an acculturation scale, to see how

they might affect each other. The following chapter is a discussion of the design of my research,

my participants and the procedures, as well as my data analysis and touching on the validity of

my research as well as my personal biases in this research. 46

Research Design

Methodology

This research was conducted as a qualitative study, using a phenomenological research

style. Data was triangulated through quantitative questionnaires. Phenomenological studies are

studies that record the perceptions of people as they experience a certain phenomenon (Husserl,

1999). Therefore, phenomenological research involves in-depth interviews with research

participants who are currently experiencing the phenomenon (Christensen & Johnson, 2016). In the case of this study, the phenomenon being experienced is that of being an EPIK teacher in

Korea. A study based in phenomenological methodology needs to be intentional, focused on a direct experience, and have questions that direct participants to intentionally reflect on those experiences (Smith, 2006). Therefore, participants know interview content in advance and the interview questions are structured so participants can think about their experiences and what those experiences mean to them.

My research focuses both on experiences and culture, Korean culture as well as the culture of the participants. Therefore, it is pertinent that the particular phenomenological methodology used in this study looks at both the experiences of my participants as well as the historical and cultural backgrounds that may be affecting those experiences. For this reason, I have chosen to use the Hermeneutic approach to phenomenology. According to Laverty (2003) the methodology of this style of phenomenology can be described thusly:

Hermeneutic research is interpretive and concentrated on historical meanings of

experience and their developmental and cumulative effects on individual and social

levels. This interpretive process includes explicit statements of the historical movements 47

or philosophies that are guiding interpretation as well as the presuppositions that motivate

the individuals who make the interpretations (p. 27).

This definition means that the hermeneutic approach interprets the experiences of those

within the phenomena by looking at not only their current individual experiences but also

what has happened historically to impact those experiences or the people themselves.

Modern phenomenological researchers suggest long interviews with no more than

ten people (Groenewald, 2004). These interviews should be a conversation between the

researcher and the participant about the participant’s perceived experiences. These

interviews can have specific protocol, but they should be as unstructured as possible. By

being unstructured all participants do not have to be asked the same questions or even in

a certain order. This methodology puts no restrictions on the participants, allowing for

participants to explore what experiences affected them personally and allowing for the

researcher to probe for more clarity or detail into their experiences (Starks & Brown

Trinidad, 2007). During the research process, the researcher should also take memos or

keep a researcher’s notebook to record observations as well as instances of personal

connection to the research (Christensen & Johnson, 2016). This step is especially

important for me since I am very connected to the research as I have personally

experienced the phenomena I am researching.

Within phenomenological research, participants can be asked to show their experiences in

different formats to help triangulate data from the interviews (Groenewald, 2004). Therefore, my

methodology includes two self-reporting questionnaires to help capture the experiences of my

participants (Greene & McClintock, 1985). The goal of my design is to triangulate my data and provide support for the interviews through the two scales of acculturation and self-efficacy 48

(Christensen & Johnson, 2016). These two scales are being used since the focus of my study is how the experiences of my participants effect their teaching self-efficacy and acculturation and both scales are designed to be a reflective process for participants to fill out independently.

Instruments

The instruments for this study are two scales that look at the frameworks directly as well as semi-structured interviews. The purpose of the scales is to triangulate the data from the interviews (Groenewald, 2004). The following is an explanation of each of these instruments moving from acculturation, to self-efficacy, and finishing with the Individual interview protocols.

Acculturation Scale

The group being interviewed can be considered sojourner expatriates. They are sojourners because they do not (necessarily) plan to immigrate to the country and they go to work for a specific reason in a foreign country (Bochner, 2006). Therefore, the acculturation scales used were for sojourners. Unfortunately, not many well-tested scales of this sort exist as most acculturation studies center around immigrant or refugee acculturation in Western, pluralistic societies (Sam & Berry, 2010, Pedersen et. al., 2011). However, there is a scale created for sojourners in any country based on the research of Pedersen, Neighbors, Larimer, &

Lee (2011) who created a 24-item scale for Americans studying abroad, which most fits my study participants. As it has been tested for any country, it fits the country context of my study as well. Every question from this acculturation scale was used, only changing “host country” to

“Korea” when applicable to avoid confusion amongst participants as they could fill out this scale before meeting with me if they so wished. Pedersen et. al. designed their Sojourner Adjustment

Measure (SAM) to test six different factors: social interaction with host nationals; cultural 49

understanding and participation; language development and use; host culture identification;

social interaction with co-nationals; and homesickness/feeling out of place. There were four

items for each of these factors, totaling 24 items. Each item is rated by participants from one to

seven; one being strongly disagree to seven being strongly agree. Reliability for the scale was

tested and internal reliability had a Cronbach’s alpha score of 0.87 and all subscales were

deemed reliable with Cronbach alpha scores ranging from 0.67 to 0.90.

However, in looking at research in acculturation scale creation, sociocultural and

ecological aspects should be considered as well (Berry, 2006). Demes and Geeraert (2014)

compiled scales and research into cultural distance and acculturation and suggest that scales

should include items for psychological and sociocultural adaptation/perceived cultural distance.

These are aspects such as comfort with the new country’s climate, food, living practicalities, or nervousness about acting the way nationals do (Demes & Geeraert, 2014). Since this research is focused on experiences with the aspects of culture the acculturation scales used in this study should include questions like these as well. I chose nine items from the suggested items list that were not covered in the SAM scales. The final acculturation questionnaire had 33 items to be rated on the same on to seven as the SAM. The questionnaire had five subgroups, four in each of the first six and nine in the final, with related questions: social interaction with host nationals (ex. meaningful social interactions with local people); cultural understanding and participation (ex. enhanced my understanding of Korean culture); language development and use (ex. increased my understanding of Korean); host culture identification (ex. behaved in ways typical of Korean society); social interaction with co-nationals (ex. actively tried to make friends with non-

Koreans); homesickness/feeling out of place (ex. missed my family and friends back home), and adaptation to practicalities (felt uncomfortable with or frustrated by the weather). See Appendix 50

A for the full questionnaire. The scales are evenly balanced between positive statements and

negative statements, and questions from some categories are intermingled so as to not lead

participants to answer in certain ways, but rather think about each question individually. Alpha

scores for the scales used in this study did not match those of Pedersen et. al (2011) due to the

small sample size and some missing scores from participants.

Self-Efficacy Scale

This researcher created the self-efficacy scale using Bandura’s 2006 guide on how to

create effective self-efficacy scales for multiple types of scale seekers. The scale was designed

specifically for this study because the environment EPIK teachers are in is unique and no current

self-efficacy scale exists for their situation. It also allows for observing self-efficacy in specific

areas that I thought were worth exploring based on my personal experience as an EPIK teacher.

The scale I created had 35 items in which participants rated on a scale of 0 to 100 in terms of

how confident they were in doing that item with 0 meaning “not confident at all” 50 being

“moderately certain can do” and 100 being “highly certain can do.” The items were sorted into

four categories: instructional self-efficacy (ex. create lessons that students can understand),

disciplinary self-efficacy (ex. control disruptive behavior in the classroom), co-teaching self-

efficacy (ex. communicate needs to my co-teacher), and school life self-efficacy (ex. participate

as fully in school life as Korean teachers do). See Appendix B for the full questionnaire. This

scale was the larger of the two as Bandura (2006) asserts that scales must have many steps to

ensure that data is sensitive and reliable. In this case, labels are not hidden and items are not

mixed up between categories because participants need to be directly guided to reflect on each

item and their confidence in it (Bandura, 2006). All subscales (instructional, disciplinary, co teaching, and school life) showed high internal reliability, with Cronbach’s alpha scores ranging 51

from .88 to .98.

Individual Interviews

I conducted semi-structured, individual interviews with all of my participants. The

interviews were planned as one 60 to 90 minute interview with a potential group interview for

follow-up questions. However, during the data collection phase it was found that only individual

interviews could be done, so the focus group protocols were never used. Interviews consisted of

a protocol of five main topics with questions designed to cover the topics as well as allowing for

follow-up questions for any statements that needed them. The questions I created covered the

topics of choosing to come to Korea, preparation practices, language acquisition, teaching and

school culture, life in Korea, Korean culture, and adjustment. Question protocol was specifically

made to create organic conversation, so not all participants were asked the same questions in the

same order or even all of the questions. See Appendix C for full protocols.

Participants and Setting

Participants in my study were recruited via word-of-mouth and snowballing, where one

participant suggested to another that they participate in my study (Christensen & Johnson, 2016).

I was able to get nine (N=9) participants, all of whom were female EPIK teachers teaching in the same city in the center of South Korea. The area participants were recruited from was a newly

built residential area, and some were even from schools that were less than four years old. I

mention this because the culture inside and outside of the schools could be less traditional than

schools and towns that have been around for decades. I was an EPIK teacher for four years in the

same area as my study. I had hoped to be able to recruit on a larger scale and more efficiently

through my personal connections so that time would not be a huge limitation. However, I could

only stay in Korea for two and a half weeks, so my study depended upon those who could agree 52 rather than a lengthy time planning process. I started recruiting from the U.S. but found it inefficient and frustrating, so I depended on word-of-mouth once I was in Korea and had already conducted one or two interviews. My original intention also had been to obtain participants all from the same country but due to the aforementioned time constraints, availability, and miscommunication, not all participants were from the same country. However, personal experience and conversations with these groups made me realize that country of origin was not as big a factor as being from a Western culture.

Table 1. Study Participants Home Year in Years as

Name Country Race Degree EPIK Teacher Current Schools Experience In

B U.S. White MM Comp. <1 0 1, Elementary Elementary

Daisy U.S. Jewish BA English 2 3 1 Elementary Elementary

BA

Davis England Black Animation <1 0 2 Elementary Elementary

MA Elementary &

Rumi U.S. Asian TESOL 3 7 1 Elementary Middle

BS

Anna U.S. Black Education <1 1 1, Elementary Elementary

Marsh- BA

mallow U.S. Black Sociology 1 1 2, Middle Middle

Ginger U.S. Asian BA Cinema 2 2 2, Middle Middle

MA Elementary &

Meadow U.S. White English 6 8 2, Elementary Middle

South Elementary &

Mikki Africa White BA English 2 2 1, Middle Middle

53

From my nine participants I had a rather even distribution of school experiences, race, and time spent in Korea. Three participants taught only middle school, three only in elementary,

and three had experience in both. Four participants had been in Korea two years or less, and five

had three or more years of experience. Participants were all from Western, English-speaking

countries or at least had lived in these countries through school age. Additionally, there were

four black teachers, two Asian-americans, and two members of the LGBTQIA+ community,

which also gave me sub-population data in addition to whole population data. See Table 1 above

for a list of participants with general demographic information.

Procedures

I obtained IRB approval for my research in April and tried to begin recruiting through

using a script. I prepared all of my documents and then flew to South Korea in early

May to conduct interviews and finish recruitment. Once a participant agreed to meet with me for

the study a day, time, and location was arranged at the participants’ convenience. During the

time before meeting, participates were sent the two scales of self-efficacy and acculturation as

well as the consent sheet I would show them at the interviews. Upon meeting the participant they

were first asked if they had any questions about the study and if they wanted to participate in the

interviews. After they said “yes” I collected their two surveys, turned on a recorder, and the

semi-structured interviews were conducted as stated in my instruments and protocol. Except for

one interview that occurred at a private office in their school, all interviews were conducted at a

café location chosen by the participant. Although asked, no participant requested a more private

room or a home visit. I purchased any drinks/food that the participant wanted before the

interview began as a way of saying thanks but no other compensation was provided.

54

Data Analysis

Interviews were transcribed by the author and the electronic transcription service temi.com. Those transcriptions were then checked again for accuracy before being marked as complete. The transcriptions were then printed and read over for initial codes, then read and marked again for potential codes such as “co-teaching”, “students.” This process follows phenomenological steps of initial coding of interviewing data as presented by phenomenological researcher Colaizzi in 1978 (Knaack, 1984). Once I had a general list of themes that were emerging, quotes that applied to all themes were pulled from all transcripts and were collected into documents. The Colaizzi method of phenomenological data analysis then has researchers sort significant quotes into themes (Beck, 1994); I did this physically. The quotations pulled were then printed on colored paper (one color for each participant) and I did a physical sort of the data finding general themes first, followed by organizing quotes in each group into more connected themes, each time connecting back to original protocol and research questions

(Knaack, 1984). Then quotes were sorted again into groups that covered a similar idea (discipline issues, value as a teacher in the community, feelings of discrimination). These were then pasted in groups onto poster-board where themes could be drawn and connected to each other. This step was crucial as the themes drawn should be interpreted from the quotes found in initial coding and sorting (Beck, 1994). For a visual of the final process see Appendix E. These discovered themes were then used for the results of my research. The questionnaire results were run though a

Pearson-correlation program to garner points of comparison in the use of triangulating and supporting the results of my interviews.

When preparing to report results, I chose to list quotes as results by finding a trend of quotes from my participants, and if at least four of my participants stated a similar idea in their 55

interviews, then I have listed them below as a trend or theme. One of the most interesting discoveries in these results is that when I first started coding, I thought I would have to write

about a lot of my participants individually since the feeling from their interviews ranged from

being very happy in Korea and being fluent in the language with six years of experience

(Meadow) to a teacher with only three months of experience describing their first few weeks in

Korea as hell and feeling isolated in their job and unsure if they made the right decision (Davis).

However, when I decided to physically sort the quotes and codes I pulled from my data, trends

started to appear, and all my participants had similar experiences and observations despite the

disparity in placement and experience.

Reliability and Limitations of Study

This study had several limitations. Firstly, as mentioned above, I did not have a lot of

time in country and I could not get many participants signed up before arrival in Korea so I did

not get participants from solely one country. Therefore, cultural experiences from home country

to Korea could vary between just two participants and the other seven. Also, my data spans

different sub-groups gathering experiences from people of different races, sexualities, levels of

education, and school placements. Therefore, there is the potential for the data to be skewed by

these experiences. However, for the purposes of my study, I do not see these as an issue as I am

looking at the general EPIK teacher experience and wish to generalize data rather than separate it into certain groups.

This study had a few measures for reliability. Firstly, data was triangulated using the method of having phenomenological research participants restate their experiences through two

scales related to the issues at question of self-efficacy and acculturation (Groenewald, 2004).

Therefore, the answers to these scales can be used to support the statements and experiences of 56

the participants. The other reliability measure is that of member-check where I have checked in

with some of the participants. These check-ins have been to determine if transcriptions were correct, individual statements were interpreted well, and if themes that quotes have been related

to make sense for the person who made them (Starks & Brown Trinidad, 2007, Beck, 1994).

These forms of reliability also help to ensure I limit my researcher bias.

Statement of Researcher Perspective and Bias Potential Epoch

Phenomenology is about researching the stories of the experience. Knowing this

definition, I want to state my bias as a researcher in this study through my own story of my

experience in the EPIK program and how it shaped this research. I began my career in education

studying adolescent and young-adult math education at Bowling Green State University. As I

was finishing my degree I was offered a position to be a graduate student in curriculum and

teaching. I knew that in Ohio, Master’s degree were professionally advantageous and so I

decided to go directly into graduate school. The summer before I started graduate school, I was

inspired to teach abroad in South Korea. I began to research the country and its practices as well

as exploring their popular culture media such as dramas and pop music. I applied to the EPIK

program in the Spring of 2013 and was accepted to the program for intake in September of 2013.

I did a lot of research before going so that I could answer any questions people had about my

decision to go and also made sure I learned to speak basic Korean prior to my arrival.

Additionally, my studies in my graduate program focused on East Asian schooling, culture, and

educational and I was unafraid to go to Korea because of the promises of the EPIK

program.

EPIK advertises the program as something that you can do without any background in

Korean culture. In fact, from my own experiences, there wasn’t even encouragement to research 57 the culture or language first. Advertisements feature Westerners being so happy and excited to be working with Korean students and at the head of the classroom teaching full lessons, all without a teaching degree. Pre-arrival training and the interview process focuses on creating lesson plans and being a happy, active teacher. There was no training on cultural differences in education, the possible roles you may play in the classroom, or even online Korean language learning. It was simply stated that you would be taken care of by the program and what it provides. I arrived in country and was told when I got to the city that I would be teaching in an all-girls middle school. I was picked up by my co-teacher who didn’t speak English very well.

While other teachers were taken to a store by their co-teachers to help get supplies for their empty apartments, I was given a milk pint and a cheeseburger in a bag from a convenience store and sent home to await my first day of school. When I walked to school (figuring out the way on my own) I walked in and wondered around trying to figure out where I was supposed to go up on arrival. Then I was thrown headfirst into teaching instead of getting time to adjust to the school and the culture, or even observing some classes. By the end of the first week I was just happy to have survived. I didn’t feel I had gotten the support I was told I would have, and it was harder to communicate with others than initially advertised by EPIK. I had grandiose expectations about what my experience would be and even after two teaching degrees and hours researching Korea and its culture, I wasn’t prepared for what I would encounter. I ended up loving my time in

Korea and I often encourage others to go but with one caveat: don’t listen to the EPIK program, you won’t be ready for what you encounter.

This story is important to tell to state my part in this research, not only was I inspired to do it as an EPIK teacher, but I experienced the exact things that I am studying. This bias was important to remember as I analyzed and wrote about the stories and voices of the participants in 58 this study as I wanted to share their stories and not just what agreed with my own experiences. I did not want to project my own experiences onto what they were saying. I, of course, cannot say that my own experiences did not impact the study at all. However, I do believe that I was able to step away from inserting my own experiences when recording and sorting the data. I was also lucky in the sense that all of my participants had similar experiences to each other; there were not instances of contrary information that I had to choose how to interpret or instances of seemingly extraneous data. My hope going into this study was that my participants would have better experiences than I had since I love Korea and want other Westerners to be happy there.

Consequently, any time data agreed with my experiences, I was, from a non-researcher prospective, unhappy when the data not only match my own experiences but matched the experiences of the other participants as well. However, I know that even with efforts to avoid it, personal connection to the research could subconsciously create bias and skew my results.

Therefore, I have kept a researcher journal and throughout the process of research, data collection, and analysis I have made notes about my own experiences and feelings to ensure I was aware of my own biases are intruding upon or supporting my data (Groenewald, 2004,

Christensen & Johnson, 2016).

Chapter Summary

This research methodology was designed to help answer the main research question: what experiences and aspects of culture to EPIK teachers identify as impacting their teacher self- efficacy and acculturation? I decided to use a phenomenological approach gathering experiences of these EPIK teachers through in-depth interviews and hermeneutic interpretations. The research was designed to be triangulated through self-reporting scales of acculturation and teacher self-efficacy. Research was conducted in South Korea with 60-90-minute interviews with 59 each of the nine participants where the scales were also collected. Interviews were then transcribed and coded and scales scored then compared with the results to support the themes when possible. Results were reported based on trends found in interviews and/or supported by the scales. Limitations included sample size and researcher bias.

60

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter covers the results of my study and then discussion of the results as they relate to my research question. The results portion of this chapter is split into three sections. The first will be a short discussion of the results of the questionnaires and demographic data that were run though a bivariate correlation. Those results show that there are no differences between different demographic factors in relation to self-efficacy and acculturation. Therefore, in the case

of my research sample, results may be applied across the group. There was also a strong correlation between co-teacher self-efficacy and all other aspects of school life and Korean

cultural adjustment.

The second section contains the results of the interviews in relation to life inside of the

schools. These results show themes of community, hierarchy, and academics. The community

theme looks at the relationship between EPIK teachers and their co-teachers, the impacts of

being placed in certain offices in the school, being valued in the school community, and being

left out of the school community or by other teachers (forgotten foreigners). The aspect of

hierarchy has no subthemes but explored general effects of the hierarchy on EPIK teachers in the

schools. The academics section is split into the sub-themes of: co-teaching with teachers inside

the classrooms, being valued as a teacher inside the classrooms, academic value of English

education, student actions, and finally disciplining students.

The third section of the results covers data that the interviewees placed outside of the

schools. This section of interview results has the major themes: EPIK training; discrimination;

fitting in; and general life satisfaction. The EPIK training theme looks at data showing

participants feeling like training did not help them. Then results look at how daily life in Korea

can be more difficult than in their home countries. The next section, titled discrimination, looks 61

at participant experiences of the topic in relation to the sub-groups of being black, white, Asian, and LGBTQIA+. The next section looks at results in relation to fitting into Korea based on culture and the pressures that can come from that culture. Finally, the results look at the overall

positive life satisfaction my participants have of living in Korea.

The final section of this chapter is the discussion of the results of this research based on

the research question of: What aspects of culture do EPIK teachers identify as impacting their

self-efficacy and acculturation? The discussion covers three Korean cultural aspects and two

aspects of western culture. The three Korean cultural aspects covered are the aspects of

community connection (정), where connection to community through co-teachers, offices, and

connection with the culture is discussed, high power distance (장유유서) where the idea of how

power affects roles in Korean schools is discussed, and the aspects of a non-pluralistic society

(한민족: Han nation) where there are pressures to act or live a certain way are discussed. The

two western factors are the idea of discipline and its importance as well as experience and its

automatic built in value for western teachers.

Quantitative Analysis Results

This study used two quantitative scales: teacher self-efficacy and acculturation. These

two scales were not used as pure qualitative data, but rather to triangulate the interview’s

qualitative data. The results of the two scales are not as important as the interview data.

However, the two scales were filled out by all participants before meeting to interview to help

participants begin to think about their experiences (Groenewald, 2004). The quantitative scale

results will be examined briefly before the interview data. The scales will then be used again in

the discussion for support of interview results.

62

Table 2. Quantitative Results Co- Socia Cult. K Host Hom

EPIK Teach Inst. Disp Tea S. Life l Und. Lang Id. West esick Life

Years in EPIK 1

Years Teaching .922** 1

Instructional

S-E .668* .683* 1

Discipline S-E .816** .810** .813** 1

Co-Teaching

S-E .485 0.553 .819** .831** 1

School Life S-

E .652 .676* .824** .796* .905** 1

Social with

Koreans .627 .582 .846** .646 .752* .913** 1

Cultural

Understanding .514 .674* .505 .770* .784* .669* .391 1

Korean

Language Use .687* .786* .495 .724* .665 .639 .460 .901** 1

Host Culture

Identity .598 .669* .563 .669* .717* .724* .659 .808** .897** 1

Interactions

Westerners -.505 - .304 -.369 -.153 -.133 -.415 -.653 .191 -.143 -.261 1

Homesick .531 .709* .214 .367 .341 .519 .387 .661 .778* .719* -.204 1

Life Extras

/Practicalities .742* .720* .423 .811** .600 .634 .456 .809** .808** .787* -.070 .611 1

In order to examine any relationship between demographic data, self-efficacy scores, and self-reported acculturation scores, I analyzed correlations among each of the demographic factors, the average scores for each section of the self-efficacy scale (instructional, discipline, co- teacher, and school-life), and each portion of the acculturation scale (social interaction with host nationals, cultural understanding and participation, language development and use, host culture 63

identification, social interaction with co-nationals, homesickness/feeling out of place, and

socio/cultural perceived distance). Please see Table 2 below for bivariate correlation values

between factors. The results for the correlation analysis showed little important correlation

between any specific demographic information (e.g., race or academic degree) and any of the

self-efficacy or acculturation groups. As a result, demographic data was removed from the table

above. However, years in EPIK and Teaching were kept in as they are important data for Korean

experiences (more time may mean more experiences). For a full table of values, see appendix E

There was just one demographic factor, ethnicity, that had a significant correlation with two acculturation factors (socialization with Koreans and Westerners) that may need discussion.

There was a negative correlation (-.830**) between ethnicity and socialization with Korean

nationals and an almost reflective positive correlation (.844**) with ethnicity and socialization

with other Westerners. Ethnicity scores were placed as white=1, Asian=2, Jewish=3, Black = 4.

Within this group White and Asian participants (n = 5) were more likely to have positive

acculturation towards socialization with Koreans than Black and Jewish participants (n=4), who

were more likely to have higher socialization with westerners.

The table shows that there was a significant positive correlation between years in the

EPIK program and instructional self-efficacy (.668*), discipline self-efficacy (.816**), Korean

language use (.687*) and life particulars (.742*). Within this group, those that have been in EPIK

longer were more likely to have a higher self-efficacy with factors inside the classroom

(instructional and discipline) as well as positive acculturation towards Korean language use and

life in Korea. Other factors that correspond in this way are: cultural understanding with Korean

language (.901**) and identity with the host culture (.808*). Participants with higher positive 64

cultural understanding had more Korean language use and were be more likely to identify with

Korean culture.

The most important result was that co-teacher self-efficacy had a high positive correlation

with six other factors: all the other self-efficacy factors (instructional .819**, discipline .831**,

school life .905**) as well as the acculturation (social interactions with other Koreans .752*,

cultural understanding and knowledge .784*, and identity with host culture .717*). This

correlation means that within this study’s sample, a good relationship with co-teachers and a

self-perceived ability to communicate with them may lead to higher levels of self-efficacy

in teaching, discipline, and school life as well as increased levels of acculturation in terms of interacting with Korean nationals as well as Korean culture. Co-teacher self-efficacy had a high correlation with factors related to schools and Korean culture. This data infers that an EPIK

teacher’s relationship with their co-teacher(s) can help to build up their relationship with Korean culture and their total school/teacher self-efficacy. Although this correlation was the largest result, insight may be drawn from mean scores in singular groups of the two scales (e.g. discipline self-efficacy mean scores or identity with host culture mean scores). Individual results of mean scores (mean scores for each participant can be found in Appendix F) will be used in support of interview results in the discussion portion of this chapter.

Interview Results

The following are the results of the interviews. The results are split into two major

sections: In school and out of school aspects. Each of these is split into different themes and

subthemes. In school aspects have the theme of community with subthemes of: co-teachers;

offices; value as a teacher; and forgotten foreigners; the theme of hierarchy; and the theme of

academics with subthemes in: teaching with co-teachers, value as a teacher, student 65

FIGURE 1: INTERVIEW CODES WITH CONNECTIONS 66 expectations, and discipline. Out of school results are split into the themes of EPIK training, daily life, discrimination with sub themes of life as a black, white, Asian, and LGBTQIA+ person, the theme of fitting in with sum themes of culture and pressure, and the final theme of overall life satisfaction in Korea. A graphical summary of the codes found in the results and how they are organized below can be found in Figure 1.

In School Results: Community Aspects

The in-school results begin with the idea of aspects of community. The results of my interviews followed a trend of discussing connections to the school community through co- teachers, the offices, as well as value as an educator.

Co-Teacher Relationships

In every school that EPIK teachers are placed in, there is at least one English-speaking teacher assigned to take care of the EPIK teacher in terms of helping to explain job expectations and do paperwork (EPIK, 2013). For the rest of the results I will refer to this caretaker style of co-teacher as the main co-teacher. There also may be other co-teachers with whom participants teach in the classrooms. However, my participants discussed how these co-teachers are not standardized within the schools. I interviewed both middle-school and elementary school EPIK teachers and their experiences separate some from there. Logistically, all co-teachers in middle schools are “subject teachers” where they are hired to teach only one subject, English. In elementary schools, co-teachers can be subject teachers or they can be homeroom teachers, where they are trained to teach all subjects and stay in the same room with the students all day. Some EPIK teachers I interviewed spoke of having co-teachers both in the form of subject teachers and homeroom teachers, some just homeroom teachers, and some subject teachers. The downside to not having a standard for choosing co-teachers that my participants discussed was 67 that you don’t know if you will have a co-teacher that actually speaks English or not (Rumi,

Meadow, Ginger, Anna).

Participants talked about the importance of having a good main co-teacher and how they can improve or harm your experience. Most of my participants had positive expressions towards their main co-teachers. They expressed sentiments like feeling grateful for having a very helpful main co-teacher, or feeling lucky for having a good relationship with their co-teacher because they have friends who do not. Anna had this exact sentiment, “I'm so grateful for my co- teachers like I care for my friends and other people that came in the same intake as me I hear what they go through, and I just, I can't imagine going through that and I'm forever so grateful.”

She also said that her main co-teacher treated her as a member of the family. Anna also mentioned that she was lucky that her main co-teacher also spoke English fluently since she was married to a Canadian. So she always understood what Anna needed. Mikki had a similar experience of a co-teacher that treated her like family, “I was like her daughter she was lovey.” B talked of “lucking out” because her worries that she would have a bad co-teacher were unfounded and that hers are very kind and because of that her transition has been very smooth. Meadow’s experiences in middle schools and elementary schools have covered all of the possible options and she said that she, personally, has always had a good relationship with her co-teachers, but she added to that stating that she has always been independent and doesn’t want to rely on her co-teachers to help her. However, she also said that her main co-teachers have never made her feel like a burden and she has heard of other EPIK teachers being made to feel that way. For my interviewees, good relationships with co-teachers were important and these participants who had warm feelings towards their main co-teachers were sometimes also grateful because they had heard about bad things happening if they didn’t have a good co-teacher. They 68

also had smooth transitions into Korean school life and the community of the school because they had co-teachers helping to guide them. There was also a sense of importance in not being made to feel like a burden, meaning there was a feeling of dependence on these co-teachers and a lack of independence for EPIK teachers.

The opposite of this was experienced by those who did not have good regular and main co-teacher experiences. The clearest example of this was in Davis’ story about her first weeks at her main school (the school she teaches at three days out of five per week) and in Korea. She described them as “hell, it really was” for several reason but one of the main aspects she cited

was that she didn’t even know who her main co-teacher was. She had almost no idea how to get

in contact with her main co-teacher. She felt like there was no one to ask for questions, “There's

not really anybody to ask for help because everybody's busy. Um, so it's just really not what I

expected and what was kind of advertised through EPIK, I feel like.” This experience led to

Davis feeling isolated in her main school with no help and nobody to turn to for questions about the job or school.

Other examples of struggles with unhelpful co-teachers came in the form of difficult

communication or lack of needed communications. Marshmallow said, “my new main co-teacher

is very new to coaching, so she still very kind of frazzled at times and forgets to tell me things.”

She also said that since her new main co-teacher has no training in co-teaching or how to take

care of an EPIK teacher she ends up finding out information from her students. Rumi spoke of

her current co-teachers not being good at English at all since she teaches with mostly homeroom

teachers who have no real training in English. “The communication is difficult because they are

older, so their English isn't [as] good. So yeah, I'm not able to talk to them as well as I am with

the younger teachers” she later talked about this lack of communication meaning that she often 69

did tasks her co-teacher would help with herself; asking for what she needs directly to the office

or finding things on her own. But she also stated that she understands that this was not always

possible for first time EPIK teachers and her six years in Korea helped her have the confidence

to do it. Communication problems also came up for Meadow, but she did not talk of them in a

negative way, but she had a main co-teacher who spoke no English at all. Meadow was able to

communicate with them in Korean, but she acknowledged that someone without her language

skills would have been in trouble in that school. Therefore, an unhelpful co-teacher means more

struggles for EPIK teachers and a greater need to figure things out on your own, also an

increased feeling of being a burden or lost in their own school.

Main co-teachers are the key source of information and guidance. Being left without contact to a main co-teacher or without one that offers to help you can be one of the biggest downfalls for an EPIK teacher. When they had a good co-teacher that speaks English well and/or is willing to help them, my participants felt cared for and not alone. In contrast, those who had difficult relationships felt isolated and burdened with unanswered questions. Those who had help within the school were very grateful as well since they have someone to help them within the school. These observations and stories from my participants show that the base of building community and an EPIK teacher’s main connection to their school is through their co- teacher or main co-teacher. They see an importance in building those relationships so they can get help in their schools not only with how to do the job but so they feel less isolated from the school as well. This conclusion leads to the second idea of community that my participants talked about: being placed in a teacher’s office as their base rather than having a desk alone in an

English room.

70

Offices as a Connection to the School

In Korean schools, teachers have an office and students have home base in their

classrooms. This happens in K-12. Offices range from the “main office” where the vice principal and head teachers sit, “homeroom teacher offices” which usually house homeroom teachers near their classrooms, and “subject offices” where all teachers in the office are subject teachers. All

EPIK teachers also have their own desk or space in the schools but again, placement is not standardized. Some EPIK teachers are placed in one of the main offices or homeroom teacher offices, some are in a subject office while, others are placed in their own room by themselves.

Some of my participants have experience in multiple office styles due to having taught multiple years in Korea, and some due to teaching in multiple schools.

Meadow and Davis are two participants who currently are in two kinds of offices since

they currently teach in two separate schools. Both have a similar experience in both offices

despite having a six-year difference in teaching experience in Korea. Davis is in her own

room/office at her main school and in the main teachers’ office in her second school. She

described the feeling of her main school as very isolating because she does not have any

interaction with anyone in the school outside of classes, whereas in the main teachers’ office in

her second school she gets to be in the middle of the hubbub and see and participate in the little

interactions teachers have with each other. She also talked about her presence in the main

office naturally bringing her into the school community by saying, “I also feel like me being

them in their presence a lot, they feel a bit more, um, less intimidated by foreigner coming in,

you know?” She went on to explain that this exposure lets Korean teachers feel more

comfortable practicing English with her and she felt more comfortable trying Korean with

them. Meadow’s experience was similar, in her main school she was in the main office and felt 71

like a fully participating member of the school community. She felt very involved with the

school and the people in it. However, at her second school, she was in a subject office with two other English teachers. She described this as being very isolating and the only parts of the school she sees were the English room and her office. She said she feels like she could be teaching her classes at the second school via satellite and she would have the same connection with the students and teachers as she does now. Both of these EPIK teachers feel it is important to be in

the main office to have a sense of community and connection within the schools, and not being

in a larger office isolates them from the community and connection with the schools.

The positive sentiments Davis and Meadow had towards the main offices were echoed

in those of my participants who also were in main or homeroom teacher offices. B described her

placement in the main teachers’ office as being ideal because even though it is a little loud, “it

kind of keeps me with the flow of everything. Yeah. A little bit more connected.” She also liked

her location because she never felt left out of what was happening at the school. Marshmallow’s

experience was similar; she felt like since she was in the main office the non-English teachers

tried to talk to her and include her. Even though she thought it was hard and awkward for them to

do so, she was still always invited to share snacks with them or similar office activities. Anna

also talked of inclusion in the office saying that she was afraid she would be left out but

everyone has opened up to her and she feels encouraged to interact with the teachers and

students. All of the teachers I interviewed who were in larger offices felt a sense of community

and connection within those offices as well as an ease of being able to interact with other

teachers in their schools. This data shows that for my interviewees, placement in these offices

helps them to build communities and make personal connections in their schools. 72

Related to this was the idea of comradery in the offices. Ginger spoke of this when she

talked about being in an office with the youngest teachers in her school. She said it

was very casual compared to other offices, “it was really a, I don't know, like a lighthearted,

jokey kind of atmosphere” and the teachers interacted a lot both inside and outside of the school

even having a group chat on the Korean messaging app KaKao that they included her in. She felt

that they were a group that interacted well together. Meadow had a similar experience in

different offices in her middle school she taught in the first 4 years of her time in Korea. She

talked about how the atmosphere in the main office was a bit stuffier since the vice-principal and

head teachers were in there, but in the homeroom teacher offices it was a lot more fun and they

did everything together. She spoke of an experience of one person asking the office “are we

going to lunch?” and everyone agreeing and getting up to eat lunch together or a similar thing

happening with snacks or coffee in the office:

So office culture is … very collective, very let's do things all as a group no matter where

you go. But the level of authority of the people in the room changes the mood if I'm if

you're in a grade office it's much smoother much more comfortable and there [is] a lot

more camaraderie.

My participants show that office placement can be very important for EPIK teachers to

feel like they are an important part of their school and the school community. When placed in

a larger office EPIK teachers get to participate, even passively, in the community and cultural

aspects of the office and feel like they are connected. Being placed in the office also exposes

them to the other Korean teachers so those teachers may feel more comfortable around them. When they are not placed in a larger office, they feel mostly isolation from not only other teachers but from their school’s overall community. As we will see in the next portion of the 73 results, connection to the community of the school can mean feeling valued as a teacher in their schools.

Value as a Teacher: Value in the School Community

When asked the question “Do you feel valued as a teacher?” some of my participants equated their being valued to their position in the school community at large. By this I mean they stated that when asked about being valued they talked of how the teachers and students thought of them outside of the classroom and teaching ability. Although the four participants who talked of value in forms of community, Ginger, Meadow, Rumi, and Daisy, mentioned connection with the school, they all spoke of it in different ways.

Ginger talked about how since she had been in her school for three years, she finally felt like she could participate in the school now that her students and co-teachers were “more comfortable” with her after seeing her for this long. She mentioned feeling like she has “a presence” at the school and that has led to the school asking her to participate more. Rumi made an opposite connection with rapport, stating that although she has been in her school for three years as well, she only had a surface level relationship with people in her school due to lack of language understanding. However, since she is of Asian descent and, as she believes, understands Korean culture because of that decent, she is valued as a teacher because she can fit into the community better through that understanding of culture. Both Ginger and Rumi felt connected to the schools and therefore valued as a teacher through community and invited to participate in that community; one through rapport and one through cultural understanding.

Two participants drew this connection to community and value directly through their statements. Meadow directly mentioned her need for community building as part of her feeling valued as a teacher. She pointed this out by stating, “the lack of connection with the community 74

that… was not conducive to feeling like my work was valuable.” But she also then agreed with

others that it took a few years to feel valued and find that community from other sources. Daisy

had different experiences from the others. Although like Meadow she directly correlated her

value as a teacher with her connection with other teachers at the school, she felt that she still had

not achieved this even though she had been at her school for three years. She spoke of

community in the sense of being invited to social events outside of school as well as speaking or

communicating with her during school hours. However, Daisy attributed this to the general

feeling towards English teachers in her school in general, “I noticed with all my co-teachers there

is a level of separation between teachers that are subject teachers, especially English subject

teachers and the rest of the teachers”. She then went on to talk about how this comes naturally

from the separation of subject teachers from main teachers through different offices in the

school, connecting with community in the offices as mentioned in the section above, and that this

separation caused the English teachers to be left out of social events and that when these co-

teachers talk to the EPIK teachers in English they are looked up on with distain. Again, although

experienced in different ways, both Meadow and Daisy felt their value as a teacher in direct

relation to their self-perceived membership in the school community.

Meadow, Davis, Ginger and Rumi talked of how their value as a teacher was directly

related to their value in the school community in some way, shape, or form be it through rapport,

cultural connection, feelings of connection to community, or invitations to participate socially. It

should be noted that all these comments about feeling valued and in relationship to membership

with the community all came from those who had been teaching for two or more years in the

EPIK program. This distinction could mean that although each had their own personal experience and way of making meaning from those experiences, all four eventually related their 75

value as a teacher to the community in the school. It could be inferred that those who have had

more time in the country and the schools are the ones who begin to connect feeling valued as a

teacher in their school and being valued as a member of the school’s community.

“Forgotten Foreigner”: Feelings of Being Lost or Left Behind

Many of the participants in my study spoke of instances of being forgotten or being left

out by their co-teachers. This feeling came in the form of not being told something, not given the

support they needed, or something that was promised by EPIK was not given to them by their co-

teachers. I define these instances as the moments of feeling like the “forgotten foreigner.”

Although Korean teachers may not be forgetting the EPIK teachers in these cases, it is how these

experiences make my participants feel. These were experiences expressed by all my participants

especially when speaking about their first few months or year in Korea.

One of the experiences of forgotten foreigner that all of my participants talked about was

the idea of what EPIK teachers call “Korean time” or “Korean surprise” which they defined

as “when you get told something that you should be told at least the day before but you get told

on the day or the moment before” (Mikki). This phenomenon is something that was told to EPIK

teachers that they would experience during orientation, in fact Meadow, Mikki, Anna and B

all mentioned this when talking about orientation, and Korean Time was mentioned by all participants at some point in their interviews. This phenomenon was most often attributed to schedule changes within the school. Mikki expressed frustration with only being told these

changes the moment before rather than at the beginning of the day or even a day ahead of time and even attributed it to being because she is the foreigner in the school:

I'm in my office thinking have this free lesson because I usually do and I get a phone call

saying about our classes with this class and there's like ‘no no no the one from 76

tomorrow's move to today grade 3 Class 2’ and I'm like ‘okay I got to print then cuz I

had no idea. I'll be there as soon as I can’...there's a lack of communication that comes

from being the foreign teacher and sometimes it just feels like I'm the foreigner and

everyone forgets about me which is not the case I'm just being sensitive but that's how it

kind of comes across.

Marshmallow discussed that she only ever discovered schedule changes when she walked

into the classroom and the students told her she was not supposed to be there because of a

schedule change, however she understood that her co-teacher was often “frazzled and forgets to

tell me things” making her less frustrated than Mikki. However, this aspect of Korean surprise

can be negative as well. Davis was expecting her first week to be one of relaxing and learning the ropes with her first lessons to start the following week. However, she was told an hour later that in fact she was teaching that day so she had to rush to create a lesson of some sort “in 5 minutes” and then proceed to teach every period that day and for the rest of the week instead of having that promised adjustment time. This experience led her to describe her first week as,

“Hell it really was” and she directly blamed this idea of Korean time for that hellish week.

The other instances mostly came from participants feeling abandoned or forgotten during

their first few days in their schools/in the city or when a change happens in their school. Ginger

had the experience of getting left at a store far from her new apartment on the first day in the city

by her co-teacher who wanted to just leave her and asked her to just, “go find a friend or

something and I was like I just I don't even know where I am I don't even know what's going

on.” Although she attributed this to her main co-teacher’s misunderstanding of what it meant to

be a main co-teacher, she went on to describe that her first week in her school she was not given

a direction for her lessons nor was she even given a textbook so she could plan what she was 77

going to teach. Meadow had a similar experience, “I asked her if how do I get to school and she

said I don't know and I had to try to remember how to walk there I'm fortunately I did” and

although she figured it out, she then had no computer or textbooks and had to ask for them to be

given to her and then also had to ask what she was supposed to teach for her lessons. Both

Meadow and Ginger had the experience of having to ask for teaching supplies, schedules, and

the like that should have been provided to them automatically as teachers.

Marshmallow’s experience came when there was a change to her office. She was told that

she was now in the 2nd grade teachers’ office but she found that there was a lock on the door and

she did not know the code. She described it as, “a miracle” that she ran into a teacher who spoke

English who was also in her office and could give her the code. Otherwise she would have been

stuck at the school all day without an office space because it was a vacation day for

regular teachers and she was the only one going to be in the office that day but no one had

bothered to tell her the code to her office space. Mikki’s experience also had to do with offices.

but in her case she was told that she was being moved to an office to sit next to her main co-

teacher. However, when she arrived she found out that they had placed her “in a storage closet”

and that they were also putting the native Chinese teacher with her and not her co-teacher. Mikki

used this “forgotten-ness” to her advantage, though. Since her old desk was still empty at the

beginning of the semester, she just stayed sat there and asked if she could stay; her old office said she could.

All of these stories from participants show a feeling of being lost or forgotten in some

way be it a small scheduling error, needing supplies or help for getting started in the job, or

changes to their position or desk location in the schools. These were all either directly or

indirectly attributed to being the foreigner in their schools by each of the participants. 78

Hierarchy

When discussing their experiences in their schools and in the EPIK program, every one of my participants either directly or indirectly spoke of the hierarchy in their schools. This hierarchy is the place of power for each person in the school’s system or community. My participants talked about their and others place in the hierarchy, what that means for them when they need something or want to change something, and how trying to change a situation within the hierarchy can be difficult and cause some repercussions.

Placement on the Hierarchy

Different participants had different experiences of who was in what place in the school hierarchy. B talked of interacting with the hierarchy in terms of the principal being the head of it; saying that she only really saw her at lunch but she tried to make sure to be extra respectful when bowing, and was sure to let her go in front of her in line. Anna talked of the parents saying that she knew that within the school parents were at the top of the hierarchy and she was at the bottom and that it is an aspect of Korean schools that EPIK does not talk about. She thought they did not want to advertise what she deemed as a negative aspect of being an EPIK teacher. Davis also saw parents as being on the top saying that she got the feeling that no matter what a teacher was going through, what a parent says was more important. She then went on to state that the culture of the hierarchy in Korean schools was very visible.

Daisy spoke of the implications of the hierarchy in terms of her and her co- teachers’ position being lowered because of the principal. She felt that even though her school was supposed to be a big foreign language school the principal is “a bit disdainful toward the

English department” and therefore the entire school looked down on her and the other English subject teachers. She directly related this to the hierarchy since the top of the school hierarchy 79

disliked them, the others below leave her subject out as well. Meadow related her position to how she would have acted in her schools back home. She said in the U.S. when you were a

teacher with a problem you could go to the principal but in Korea there were too many steps between an EPIK teacher and the principal, “I think the big difference in Korea I wouldn't go to

the principal because there's too many steps between me and him you never go directly that's not

something that's done”. Mikki’s experience with the hierarchy came in the form of watching how teachers in her school acted. She said that the hierarchy was very visible because new teachers were very meek, acting like they cannot do or talk much while older teachers are around. She then went on to add that, “I feel like I'm quite low in the hierarchy” and whenever she needed to communicate something she could only talk to her co-teachers.

These experiences show that not only is the hierarchy visible or palpable by EPIK

teachers who are new or unfamiliar with Korean schools, but that peoples places on that

hierarchy are just as visible. These EPIK teachers felt that they are one of, if not the lowest place

on the hierarchy and that this position affected who they could communicate with or what they

could do. This means they felt a power-distance and that some of their personal power felt at

stake.

Hierarchy Taking Away Power

For some participants they did not just feel or understand that there was a power distance

but that the experience of understanding their place on the hierarchy took away a sense of

personal power or ability to change things. Some participants expressed ideas of needing to fight

this system through advocating for themselves if something needing to be changed. Daisy said

that she felt that EPIK teachers needed a sense of self-advocacy to be successful in Korea. She

felt that the only way to not feel powerless and like older teachers were just pushing you 80

around because of the hierarchy, would be to stand up for yourself and speak up when something

was wrong. She admitted however that this was very hard, as often times she felt like older

Koreans saw a young person that was standing up to them as rude or bossy. Davis also talked about this problem saying that she felt like there was an idea of “grin and bear it.” She felt like if

you had a problem, the attitude towards your problem was one of nothing you could do so you might as well accept it; she found this difficult to deal with at times. This was especially so since

as she stated, “whereas, [at] home, if you have a problem, you express it. You know, and it will be dealt with.” Ginger had similar sentiments. She talked of having to know where you stood in the hierarchy and how to navigate that to get things done. She said it was possible to have power or agency but you had to know when you got that power and when you could use it to voice your

thoughts and opinions about something. Ginger then went on to state that this was important

since you were interacting with others who had a culture very different from yours but many of

her EPIK friends found this very difficult to navigate. She expounded upon this idea saying:

as an expat teacher and someone that was at the bottom of the totem pole, you know the

school hierarchy…I would say pick your battles. But there's not a lot of battles to be won

so you kind of have to do what you can but kind of ultimately expect that there's not … a

lot things that you can ultimately do which, I think you acclimate to if you teach for a

number of years. But I think that's kind of a main point of restriction for a lot of native

teachers.

Marshmallow expressed this frustration saying one of the hardest things about living in Korea

was when she wanted to change something, but she had to step back and realize that it was not

part of Korean culture to fight the hierarchical system. Although she did not express frustration with this, Meadow also agreed that handling situations within the Korean culture of the hierarchy 81

takes a certain finesse. She talked about how you really needed to understand the culture and the

idea of nun-chi to be able to know what people are feeling since they will not tell you. Only then

could you really understand how to handle certain situations and how most of those situations

were better left as they were if no one was really being hurt by them.

These stories show that dealing with the hierarchy system in Korean schools, and Korean

culture in general, is difficult for teachers to navigate. This difficulty is because they all feel that

the hierarchy takes away their power, or at least their ability to self-advocate; something they had

a much greater ability to do in their home countries. There is an idea that if you want to fight

something you either need to suppress that feeling or work hard to find a way to navigate the

system to be able to make yourself heard.

Consequences of the Hierarchy

Sometimes this aspect of culture affects EPIK teachers in a stronger way. Four of my

interviewees shared long stories of how the hierarchy affected some aspect of their lives and

teaching and how it has created consequences for them. Daisy’s story involved reporting co-

teacher doing something illegal and trying to deal with the situation to help students. “And it was

very distressing to be co-teaching. All that behavior was happening and knowing that there's a

hierarchy there and both age and knowing that I'm at least half her age and knowing that she is a

teacher who's, well known.” She was advised by other teachers to contact the EPIK coordinator but in an indirect way. She wrote a very carefully worded email about the situation. She even went so far as to ask if the behavior was ok even though she knew it was illegal. Daisy went on to say that the coordinator met with her right away and was very concerned with what happened but asked Daisy to understand that this person is well known and she did not know what would happen. Daisy understood, but wanted something to be done. Daisy was happy it happened 82

before a vacation so she could be away from school when it was handled. However, that teacher

remained at the school. So Daisy felt like because the co-teacher she had was so high on the

hierarchy nothing was really done. However, she did feel like she was at least listened to a little

bit as she no longer had to work with that teacher.

Ginger shared a story about how she could not get a co-teacher to correct a wrong test

answer. She was not involved in making the exam but some of her students came up to her

asking if she thought a question was correct or not. She found that the question was totally wrong and in fact there was no right answer. When she asked her main co-teacher what to do she was directed to talk to the teacher at fault but in a “roundabout way [since] you can't really do it directly you know the respect factor, the age factor, the hierarchy thing all of these things”.

When she tried to explain the problem, this older English teacher brushed her off. He accepted none of her explanations and nothing ended up happening since the older teacher did not want to change anything. When the students kept coming to her she ended up telling them to have their parents call the school because she could not do anything else in her position even though the students thought she could because to them she is a teacher like any other.

Mikki’s story centered around an issue in the classroom at her school and something she was asked to teach. She tried to communicate the issue with her co-teachers, but was not heard.

She felt it was bad for the students so she wanted another opinion, so she went to the coordinator of the EPIK teachers of the city (the next step for EPIK teachers after co-teachers). “I emailed

[the coordinator] like ‘I just want your opinion don't tell my school …. this is what they're making me do’.” Mikki said that the coordinator took her seriously and asked some follow up questions before asking if Mikki wanted her to come and observe the situation to see if the office should make a different decision. Mikki accepted and someone from the office of education was 83

going to come in to observe a class; however, the Principal of her school kept them out and was

angry at Mikki’s co-teacher that this had happened. Mikki did not understand since EPIK

teachers are observed all the time for contract renewal or to observe how classes were going at

schools. The relationship between Mikki and her school and co-teacher was damaged. Mikki

ended the story with, “it was very eye-opening to me that my boss can like be prevented from

helping me just because the principal says no, I didn't think that that would be such a thing.”

All of these stories show times when EPIK teachers tried to fix an issue for the good of

students, and they hit roadblocks in getting the situations fixed because of the hierarchy. I have

even followed up with one of these teachers as their situation was ongoing during the time of the

interview and she told me that speaking out and trying to get the situation fixed has actually

had her get in trouble with her school. The school wants them to be fired or moved for what they

“did.” The teacher is even afraid of deportation. Another teacher from the stories above was

afraid to let people know about or bring up their situation for the same reasons. Not only are

EPIK teachers dealing with how to get around the hierarchy when they need to address an issue,

but they feel powerless to do so, they feel that nothing may happen, and they also may have a

fear that something bad will happen to them if they do stand up.

Academics and Teaching

After Community, the second major theme was the idea of the academic and teaching

side of EPIK teacher school experiences. This theme included interactions with co-teachers in terms of inside the classroom and actually teaching students to interactions and observations of

Korean students in Korean schools.

84

Working with Co-Teachers

Inside the classroom, the experiences of my participants in working with their co-

teachers were all over the place. Meadow, Mikki, Ginger, and Marshmallow all discussed that in

middle school you were often left alone in your classroom. Although there was supposed to be a

Korean teacher with them, they felt that they were teaching alone more often than with a co-

teacher. Mikki talked about how this was different from her elementary school experience, but

that the students in her middle school were better behaved so she did not mind that she was alone

when teaching. Ginger agreed with this and stated that she thought that in middle schools this

was more common since middle school EPIK teachers were more likely to teach entire

lessons than elementary teachers who may only teach a game. Meadow discussed that this lack of co-teacher was especially difficult because students often did not understand her or what she was trying to communicate and it was difficult to hear that so often in the beginning and a co-

teacher could have helped support her and the students by providing Korean explanations when

needed. While middle school EPIK teachers were more likely to lack support in the classroom

since they teach entire lessons, elementary school teachers might have different experiences.

Those who have taught or were currently teaching in elementary schools said that their

experiences with co-teaching were based on their responsibilities in the classroom. Meadow

and Anna both talked about how they were asked to only do games at the end of the lesson. Both

of them expressed how this meant that they always had a co-teacher with them but their

responsibilities were minimal. Mikki, B, and Rumi discussed how co-teaching and

responsibilities depended on the teacher. Mikki shared that she had an experience where one co-

teacher told her she was only to stand in the classroom and pronounce words in English at times

while another asked her to play a game at the end of the lesson, and a third wanted her to teach 85

the whole class. B talked about how she had different responsibilities for different age

groups and co-teachers were almost never co-teaching with them except for one of her

teachers. Rumi had similar experiences to the other elementary school EPIK teachers but she

went on to discuss that she thought the reason experiences were so disparate and co-teachers

so wildly different in teaching styles or presence was because there was no real training for co teachers. They did not know how to teach with a foreigner and it was hard to share power in the classroom. So, they did not know what to do with their foreigners causing these issues in what was supposed to be a co-teaching model of education. The regular elementary school teachers all had different experiences with co-teaching in the classroom due to each co-teachers’ different expectations for them and what it meant to co-teach, although no real co-teaching in the sense of two teachers teaching a lesson together happens.

Daisy and Davis had a different elementary school experience than others since they both

taught in an elementary school that has a foreign language focus. So, they were often alone in

their classrooms. Davis talked about how she was often made to teach alone and that since she

was still so new she had no idea what she was doing and missed the aspect of a co-teacher in the

classroom to provide the support she was expecting. Daisy also says that she was often alone in

the classroom since it was expected that her students understand English well but she felt

confident in her own teaching abilities so she was fine with this experience.

Overall, my participants observed that although the EPIK program was created to have

a co-teaching aspect inside the classroom at all times, this rarely happens. Middle school teachers

observed that although they were given the autonomy to create entire lessons, this also meant

that their co-teachers were often not in the classroom to support them or help students understand

the lessons. Elementary school teachers often had a teacher in the room with them but their co- 86 teaching often was just playing a game at the end of a lesson or assisting. Some taught whole lessons on their own but were often left alone in the room when they do. Across the schools, no real co-teaching as EPIK designed the program was observed by any of my participants and all felt that they were either just assistants to the lessons or left alone to teach.

Value as a Teacher: Academic Based Value

Related to responsibilities in the classrooms as dictated by their co-teachers, some of the participants related their value as a teacher to their academic or teaching value in the schools. Responses were mostly about their academic degrees being undervalued or under- utilized or, their position as a teacher in the schools being nothing but an assistant in the classroom or a game runner. This academic value was one of Anna’s biggest frustrations as an

EPIK teacher:

my teachers know that I'm a teacher they know that I have a teaching license…which... I

guess because I know that you know that I went to school for this I went to school to be a

teacher so it kind of hurts me a little when all I do is play fun games… yes I feel that my

position is devalued. I do sometimes feel like a foreigner trophy … I do know that the

games are helpful … it's just for me what I find frustrating I guess about it is that which I

know this [is the] Office of fault is that from what I've noticed that a lot of

teachers that actually have teaching certifications they are either not teaching the level

that are certified for like myself I'm certified for middle school and high school but I'm

teaching Elementary I have a friend that's teaching in a foreign language high school but

she's an elementary school teacher she hates it …when it's like you could have switched

the both of us kind of thing. 87

Meadow also felt some frustration with comparing her degrees and past teaching

experiences to what she did in her school. She discussed that since moving to elementary school

her position as a teacher had been devalued since she had a degree in and used to

teach Shakespeare. Although her co-teachers appreciated what she did, she felt underutilized

since she only did games in her elementary classes. She tried to uplift herself though by giving a

bit of lecture and review before she started the game with students so she could feel more like a

teacher and connected to her past literature teaching jobs.

Although Mikki did not equate her job to having her degree undervalued, she did state

that she was surprised by the initial lack of classroom responsibilities. She did not expect that on

her first day one of her co-teachers would tell her that her job as an EPIK teacher would be to

just stand in the back of the classroom and assist when needed. Mikki said that she almost decided not to renew because of this experience but that co-teacher left and she was given more responsibilities and opportunities to contribute to the classroom when she received new co- teachers. B had a different angle to feeling valued as a teacher in her school: “It's hard to tell because again, coming in with no experience, I'm like, I don't quite see why I should be valued as a teacher. You know, I'm still kind of making this up for as I go.” She explained that even though she only played games in some classes but was teaching full lessons in others, she felt valued as a person in her school but lack of academic value did not bother her.

Those teachers who spoke of their value as a teacher within the context of academics

mostly felt that their position was undervalued due to their past experiences. Degrees obtained

from college, teaching certificates, and experiences teaching outside of their current school

placement did not seem to matter to their co-teachers or to the office of education when placing 88

teachers in schools. However, my participant who lacked previous experiences seemed okay with

not being valued.

Value of English

A few of my participants noted and discussed during their interviews what they felt was a

strange gap in expectations for students, especially for English. This gap was the expectation for

students to be the best student possible grade wise, but they should not stick out too much for their achievements. They explained it as you want to be good but not too good, unless there is a test, then you want to be at the top.

Ginger observed this through the idea of general student achievement. She stated that

students were expected to reach certain benchmarks but to also be competitive in those

benchmarks. She described it as achievement to save face. Of course, other schools/cultures have

benchmarks for all students to reach but there is a pressure to reach these benchmarks to fit in

with the other students rather than for individual achievement. She believed that all students felt

this pressure to try and fit in by trying to be the best. Daisy talked of how she felt that the

competitiveness between students was much higher than between students in the United States.

She felt like this is because, “Korea’s like be competitive but like in the way of being the same

but being the best at being the same.” She went on to explain what she meant through a story of

one of her students: This student was very good at English, practically fluent even though he had

never lived abroad, and he used to like to speak a lot in class. However, the other students bullied

him for being too good at English and so he changed as he got older and refrained from speaking

in class at all and hid the fact that he is very good at this particular subject.

Meadow also had a very similar observation about the effect of this mindset on attitudes

toward learning and English after school. She said that in conversations she had with Koreans in 89

her age group, she found that Koreans thought English was valuable but they had a strange

relationship with it. Koreans would apologize profusely for being bad at English even if they

were good at English and on top of that those who were fluent refuse to speak English in front of

other Koreans. “It's almost like English is like … owning a Rolls-Royce or owning a Porsche: it's

so ostentatious that if you have an amazingly good English that like people will envy you that

and people might even be, be mean to you if you have excellent English and yet everyone wants

[it]”. This attitude occurs because if you are good at English people will envy you are even be

mean or aggressive towards you because of that English skill. As a result, Koreans would often

hide or downplay their English abilities in front of others.

Meadow and Daisy’s observations of the value of English and how nobody wanted to be too good at it since it is considered hard to do leads to the effect that Anna sees in schools now towards learning English. Anna observed that although English is valued highly in Korea, with the belief that high English abilities can open up opportunities for students, Koreans also knew that they may never have to use English outside of school. This means that although she saw students feel the pressure to do well in the subject and study hard, students often did not try in her classes. She thought they were of the opinion that they did not have to prove their English ability in school to pass. She said that students may be good at English but they lacked effort in class or sat there silently because even if they received a bad grade in English they could still graduate and be successful in Korea.

These participants observed that the attitudes toward achievement and learning,

especially towards English, in Korea were a mix of doing the best as you can but not too much

better than others. Students were encouraged to be high achievers but they do not try to stick out

in their achievements. This attitude especially applied to English where it was observed that 90

being what was considered by others to be too good at English could be detrimental to a student

or persons social life. At the same time, since it is widely acknowledged that English is

difficult and also not commonly spoken in Korea it is okay to be bad at English leading to

students not caring if they do well in English class or not.

Correcting Previous Stereotypes of Korean Student Behavior

One thing that all of my participants discussed was their idea of how Korean students

were going to act versus how they actually act in real life. Participants were all surprised that

they did not fit with the stereotype of the “good Asian Student”. They especially had this

revelation when it came to their first break time (a ten minute period between classes/lessons that

students are unsupervised as teachers are switching rooms/traveling to the next lesson) and they

experienced what they describe as the zoo like experience of students running around.

Daisy said that he definitely thought that Korean students were going to be better than

American students, but that idea was shattered when, during break time, she saw students running around “like a pack of wild animals.” This experience was a shock for her since she thought you would never see that in the United States in the hallways. Then in class she saw that the students acted the same way her American students would. Rumi and Mikki had the same observations as Daisy. Rumi said. “I guess prior to coming, I don't know why, but I, I thought that students would be more behaved”, she thought it was maybe stereotypes, but she quickly discovered that they are just like other students. She also discussed the chaos that is break time in between classes. Mikki had almost the exact same comments about expecting students to be the silent, respectful kinds of students she saw in Japanese class videos but they were “ just like in

South Africa so in that sense I was surprised they're not worse than any other kids I have met but yeah I just they didn't fit the stereotype I had in my head”. 91

This idea of students acting crazy in the hallways during breaks was repeated by the

middle school teachers, but they added that some of the in-class behavioral issues were also

different and surprising. Marshmallow observed that the first break time looked around to see if

any of the teachers were reacting to the noise and commotion outside but all the teachers in the

office were not reaction so she assumed that it was completely normal. She then discussed that

students are just as misbehaved in Korea “yell in class they disrespect teachers they sleep in class

there’s just students everywhere. I think the only difference is probably the fact that girls will

just take out a mirror and start doing their make up in class and I’m like what are you

doing?” Meadow again, agreed with this, stating that her biggest problems in her middle school

were students sleeping in class, but also students fighting in class and she would have to try to

stop those flights herself. Ginger also had encountered students sleeping in class and girls doing

their makeup during lessons.

These EPIK teachers observed and discovered that students are not as well behaved that

they had been expecting and they attributed it to stereotypes they had of Asian

students. However, the behavior both inside and outside of class was not only different than what they were expecting but was also worse. Teachers discussed that the chaos of break time was not only surprising but the students actions during that time were not controlled by the Korean teachers. They also observed behaviors inside the classroom like sleeping and doing makeup that were accepted and done without care by the students as normal actions but they could not imagine students in their own countries even attempting.

92

Discipline

The major theme in academics and within student interactions was handling behavior or,

discipline. This theme was the biggest sub-theme in academics because every single participant

discussed discipline and their trouble with it, and almost all participants discussed discipline in

terms of one of the hardest aspects of teaching in Korea. My participants did not realize there

would be a lack of discipline compared to what they are used to in their respective western

countries.

Davis thought that teachers in Korea were not respected as much as teachers in

England. She thought that because of this, students are not “afraid” of teachers and the teachers

themselves are too soft when it comes to discipline. But she also stated that she knew that there

was not really a good punishment available to give students. Anna discussed this lack

of discipline in relation to Korea’s history of using corporal punishment. She talked about how

since corporal punishment was only outlawed relatively recently, nothing has been instated to

replace corporal punishment as the normal form of discipline. Anna believed that this void was

what caused the discipline problem, “I think that would say once they took it out they didn't put in anything to replace it so there's no real punishment for things” and that since schools were

afraid of parents they still had not found an appropriate replacement. She also talked about

how she was unsure if this discipline problem meant that her teachers didn’t want to try and

discipline students or if they just ignored problems in the classroom as it seemed problems were

not being handled by her co-teachers. Both Anna and Davis saw that there was a problem with

discipline in the sense that there were no real discipline choices available for teachers and that in

turn teachers were unsure how to discipline or did not discipline in ways that EPIK teachers

might expect. Ginger found that Korean teachers had the same problems with the discipline 93

system. She said, “even the Korean teachers talk to me about that as well. They express

frustration that they can't do more, but also they're sort of, um, they're, they're not really willing

to step out of what they think....” So Ginger felt they were reluctant try to do more or step out of

the mindset of if there was no corporal punishment then there was nothing they can do. Unlike

Anna and Davis however, Ginger thought the lack of discipline, at least in middle schools, came

from an idea that since students worked so hard and were under so much pressure then it would

be too much for them to also be responsible for their bad behavior.

Other participants discussed the idea that they were unsure if their co-teachers’ or their

own methods of discipline were appropriate or not. B discussed that when there was a problem in

the class that her male co-teachers were more proactive than her female co-teachers. However,

she was unsure of the appropriateness of her male teacher’s style of discipline since he would

yell at single students in front of the while class. She said that it was, “definitely a bit more of

the, we are going to make you feel ashamed in some way, you know?... And I don't know if that's

universal or not, but it felt… not quite right.” Like B, Daisy was unsure of discipline styles but her lack of comfort came from the duality of punishment and care that she thinks Korean teachers had. She talked about how it was so strange to her how one moment a teacher could be yelling at a student to their face and the next moment be wiping that same face in a very caring

way. Daisy had problems deciding how to discipline students in an appropriate way especially since she was unsure if her co-teachers’ ways were good or not. Marshmallow also had problems

with understanding if discipline was right or not when it came to herself. She thought that

teachers were too nice when it came to discipline students and were kind of pushovers, so she

was afraid that her style of discipline would overstep or be meaner than she should have been. B,

Daisy, and Marshmallow all found that not only was discipline difficult to do in Korea compared 94

to what they were used to in the U.S., but they also were unsure what was the correct way to

discipline students. They were unsure how to balance being compassionate enough with being

stern enough to run an effective classroom in this new context of Korean schools versus

American schools.

Mikki, Rumi, and Meadow agreed with all of the other participants but they expanded

upon these ideas with how they go about managing their classrooms. Mikki stated that there is really no control to be had in classrooms. Her experience her first few years in elementary schools in Korea was one where she thought teachers thought control was not needed so she was not sure how to do it. When she was moved to a middle school, however, she improved and she thought she was better able to control students and calm them down but her co-teachers still did not seem to care about behavior issues. Rumi discussed how she also had to take discipline into her own hands since her co-teachers did not seem to want to handle it. “I find myself having to discipline in Korean for them to listen to me…For them to understand.” She said. Not only would all students be able to understand her, versus if she had yelled in English, but she thought that by scolding in Korean and not English students would still be motivated to learn English since that was not the language they were scolded in. Meadow had similar ideas with discipline combining the ideas of Mikki and Rumi having an authoritative presence in the classroom and scolding in Korean but she adds on the idea of having other students help her to control the classroom. She did this by figuring out who the more problematic students were and getting them

on her side by treading gently around them and treating them well, because the most problematic student was usually the one with the most influence. “If you get the problematic kid on your side he will make everyone be quiet for you and make everyone pay attention to you” she said.

However, she warned that if you cannot get them on your side it is best to ignore them and not 95

make them to assignments or anything in class because they can cause the biggest disruptions.

All three of these interviewees agreed that lack of discipline in Korean schools was a big

problem but through experience in their schools they have created, what they thought, were some

effective classroom management strategies.

Overall, my participants all believed that discipline was a difficult part of teaching in

Korea. They attributed this problem to the lack of actual discipline methods available to teachers

in Korean schools and also Korean teachers’ seeming absence of caring to control their

classrooms. This void caused these EPIK teachers to be confused in how to manage their

classroom appropriately and if their co-teachers’ actions or their own were appropriate for

students or if they were too harsh. Those who spent more time in Korea seemed to better

understand how to control their classrooms but they still thought that there was a lack of

available discipline options and teachers did not seem to care enough to step in.

Outside of School Themes

The second portion of my results focuses on observations from my participants that were

not directly related to their experiences inside the schools. This set of data includes the themes

of EPIK orientation, daily life in Korea, and fitting in/discrimination in Korea. All of these experiences could affect school life, but they were all discussed by participants when asked

about experiences outside of their school workplace.

EPIK’s Lack of Training for its Teachers

One important aspect that all of my participants observed is that EPIK, maybe not on purpose, totally misrepresents the support and training they say teachers will get. Participants mentioned depending on outside resources, YouTube videos and or /vlogs, for understanding what to expect in the EPIK program since there was no real training or support 96 before coming to Korea. All my participants discussed that EPIK orientation, which they all received immediately after landing in Korea and before going to their assigned schools, was not helpful to them. Although there were some lessons to be learned the overall sentiment amongst these EPIK teachers was that it was not worth the time.

Those who had orientation more than two years ago had trouble thinking of some of the lessons or lectures that occurred during orientation and attributed this to its lack of usefulness.

Rumi said, “Because the orientation…the orientation was what, a couple of days? Like five days

I believe. Um, and to be honest, I don't remember much from it and because I don't remember it probably wasn't helpful…EPIK didn't cover anything at all”. She did however remember feeling that EPIK had not covered anything useful in the training at all and that before she came she used blogs to understand what she might encounter in the schools and for what cultural aspects she would encounter outside the schools. Meadow agreed with this experience. She said that she used mostly outside resources to understand her job and life outside of the schools.

She remembered, “I had to seek mostly outside resources to prepare for coming. We had eight or nine day orientation and orientation had a lot of speeches and activities, but they didn't actually relate to the things that I ended up doing.” Daisy and Ginger had similar sentiments both stating that they also depended on outside resources and that orientation did not really help them. Ginger discussed that there was no real cultural training and that besides a performance they watched or trying on traditional Korean dress, there was no education on Korean culture in general.

Those who had training a year or just a few months before they participated in the interview had the same ideas about training even though they could remember their orientations better than those who had orientation more than two years prior. Marshmallow commented that the presentations were no help to her, even that she thinks EPIK avoided topics: 97

Some of the presentations were a bit pointless I feel because before that they were mostly

geared towards elementary school and I don’t sing to my students …so I guess maybe

from the get go if they could have separated us a bit more it would’ve been more

helpful… culturally they took us to see a play. I’m sure they don’t advertise that but the

fact that like parents are very much in the hierarchy in schools or the sort of fast culture

like the last late everything is last minute so these are things we sort of learn as you get

here but I don’t think they would necessarily advertise that because they’re not the best

parts of Korean culture.

Anna said that she did not think much of orientation since she felt she had not learned anything new from what she had discovered though outside research. She also said that the lectures on lesson planning were no help since she was asked just to teach games at her school. B stated that

EPIK did not prepare her well and she used a bunch of outside resources even after orientation but that she was of that opinion that no one should depend on one resource anyway. She also said that she wished that there were more practical life parts of training. There was no training on how to do trash and recycling in Korea, how to pay bills, re-fill a bus card for getting to your school, or how to ask for a bag at the grocery store. Davis agreed with the above statements but left orientation with a different feeling than the others. Davis summed up her experience “I felt like we did a lot of stuff without really being given that much useful information like it appeared paper as if it would be really useful. But it really wasn't....no, in fact, I almost felt more confused after orientation.” She said that the confusion “spiraled into a whole load of panic” on the bus ride from orientation to their city and school placements.

All of the teachers interviewed for my study stated that they had to do a lot of research outside of what EPIK provided for them before coming to Korea. They also all stated that they 98

felt that orientation was not helpful in training them for what they needed to do in their

schools. They also discussed that there was no cultural training or explanation on how to do daily

life requirements.

Daily Life Actions

One of the major themes that was discussed by my participants was the idea that daily

needs/actions (i.e. getting groceries, paying bills, taking out the trash) was never taught to them

and so just trying to do each of these things was a big adventure and took a lot of effort and

energy. These aspect were discussed in the sense that they made living in Korea a little more

difficult since the process was often different from their home countries.

B wished for more training in how to do practical things because for the first few months

in Korea everything felt like new:

That's one thing I wish they had [at training] more was like practical stuff. Like if you go

to a grocery store, they are going to ask you, do you want a bag? This is what it sounds

like. This is what you should tell them if you don't want a bag or do I? Okay. Yeah. Just

like very, very practical stuff. Like, you know, um, here's how you reload your T-Money

card at a convenience store, here's how you pay a bill at a convenience store or at the

bank, or here's how you just like very, very practical stuff…like the first couple of

months it just felt like every little thing was new and it just took so much energy just to

do everything, just so much energy and just bravery.

She stated that it would take so much energy to do something because there was that extra aspect

of the bravery it took to do an errand, since she had to think about how to ask for something and then ask about it in Korean. She talked about managing to go to the pharmacy for the first time to communicate her needs but then afterwards thought that it was all she could handle for that 99

day. She said that she was finally to the point, after three months in Korea, where some stuff did

not intimidate her anymore but she still struggled to do things like go to the post-office to send a post card she had sitting in her house for months. Davis felt similarly stating that it was like someone threw you into a pool and you could not swim all that well so you just tried not to sink.

You could probably do what needed to be done but it was so difficult because nothing was the same method as back home and you had to re-learn how to do everything. She thought it could

be simpler than she was making it, but she was not told how to do things and she felt she had nobody to ask. She said that she was better now but all the struggles of those first weeks made her want to quit and go home. Ginger agreed with B and Davis and stated “especially when you first come to a new country, you have to sort of teach yourself how to live, you know, and you

have to teach yourself how to pay bills in a country. You have to teach yourself where to shop.

You have to teach yourself how to sort of, you know, be a person.” Things that came naturally or

you learned naturally when you were in your home country were no longer the same. She said

that these little things were what made you feel like you were away from your home culture

since you were learning how to live again. She said it was a bit easier now but still challenging.

Even those who are confident in their Korean or “new skill learning” skills mentioned life

skills as a difficulty. Anna said that she has not found learning new skills too difficult but that,

“maybe it's because I don't mind teaching myself how to do things”. She said that something that

everyone found super difficult she could do just fine and so much so that she would help others.

The example she gave was internet banking in Korea taking a lot more steps and extra set up

than in America. Although others struggled with it she was fine, but she acknowledged that the

process was a hassle so she understood how it could be hard or frustrating for others. Meadow

also discussed her own confidence and independence helping her with these tasks. She stated that 100

she tried very hard not to rely on others and between that and her Korean language skills she felt

like she could do anything a Korean national could do. However, she said that it’s still not as

easy as it would be in a country or culture you grew up in; “I feel like even after all this time you

can never go on autopilot you have to be aware of what's around you” she said this mindset was

necessary because you still had to be aware of new challenges or cultural aspects that may

arise.

Daily life activities in Korea seem to be a challenging point for EPIK teachers as they

have to learn how to do what feel like simple or natural tasks all over again. They expressed that

there needs to be more training or information about how to do these things or that a new EPIK

teacher should have an independent and adventurous spirit, willing to seek out those challenges

and face them head-on.

Discrimination in Korea

Another theme that came up in my interviews was the idea of discrimination. When

asked if they had been discriminated against all participants mentioned that they had experienced

it or had expected to experience it in some way. Each of their responses correlated with a part of

their identity so the results are split up into experiences being black, white, or Asian in Korea as

well as the LGBTQIA+ experience.

On Being Black

Davis, Anna, and Marshmallow all identified as black and all three discussed how

they knew going into the EPIK program that there had been stories of racist acts against black people in Korea including spitting, pulling or touching of natural hair, and being avoided or run away from. However, they all stated that they felt lucky since they had not experienced much of this if at all. Anna said, “I really prepared myself for that and I never had a single experience 101

nothing, [the worst is] staring at me,” She did have black friends in Korea who had their braids

or dreads touched, but since she had neither, she had also not experienced that. She said that

other foreigners stared at her more than Koreans did. Marshmallow agreed that she had not

experienced much beyond stares except that children acted a bit strange sometimes. She said one child touched her skin and asked in Korean why the chocolate wasn’t coming off, but she understood that the question came from lack of exposure to non-Koreans and the mother was

sufficiently horrified that her child did such a thing. She said the only discrimination that she

really had was a club in a nearby city that had signs on the sixth floor that stated that no foreigners were allowed upstairs. She said they usually ignored that rule but one night she and her friends were kicked out and when they asked why they were just told that no foreigners were allowed upstairs. She saw it as something they could not do anything about. Davis also experienced stares but she added that she sometimes got an odd shifting when she sat next to a

Korean on the bus, “or like on the bus it's like … I've got the plague or so because they don't want to sit near me. But it doesn't happen that often. Um, and it's not enough for me to feel uncomfortable.”

My participants who identify as black have not experienced intense racism or

discrimination in their city. Although they prepared themselves for it and heard that it happens

they all feel that their experiences are okay and nothing really negative happens to them.

However, they acknowledged that outside of their city others were treated differently or badly

for being black so they feel like their city was maybe better for back foreigners than others.

On Being White

The white experience is different from the black experience in the sense of my

participants did not go into the EPIK program worried about being discriminated against. 102

However, they have also experienced stares and feeling out of place. They also have experiences

of feeling that they terrify workers when they walk into businesses or the odd idea that white skin is valued in Korea culturally as a sign of beauty.

B says that there were many times when she walked into a restaurant or a store and she

was very aware that she was the only one that is different. “I've walked in. I didn't know what to

say. I looked at [the server] in panic, she looked at me in panic. We're both panicking, we don't

know, but somehow we managed to communicate and that's good.”. Meadow has had many

similar experiences saying that when she walked into a store, workers were afraid that they

would have to use English with her and they looked physically terrified that she was there. She

had never been kicked-out for it and often asked something in Korean to help calm the workers

but she says she was very aware that her presence could make people uncomfortable.

Mikki said that she had a similar experience to Marshmallow clubbing in the same near- by city only this club did not allow foreigners at all. She said she was not sure how to think about it, but her friends were very angry at the sign. Daisy talked about a kind of weird experience that

since, from her observations, white skin was highly valued in Korea, “And I mean, looking white

is a big deal here and having pale skin while you're at it is a big deal here. So, I had gotten a lot

of comments on this skin.” She said students and teachers were obsessed with her skin but

nobody liked her frizzy curly hair because that was too different.

My white participants all felt forms of discrimination either directly through interactions

with businesses or Koreans or indirectly through stares or feeling out of place. However, they did

not see it as being very negative even though it could make them uncomfortable since they were

making others uncomfortable. Also, the idea that Koreans value white skin was discussed and that it can mean that white foreigners are more valued than foreigners of other descents. 103

On Being Asian

My participants of Asian descent discussed the interesting dichotomy of feeling less different in Korea than in America because they look visibly Asian. Ginger said “this is the first time in my life that I've ever been kind of able to sort of blend in at least slightly. I'm from Iowa and there's not a lot of Filipinos there or even people that really look Asian.” She did not feel like people stared at her or that she was visibly different from Koreans. Rumi had a similar experience saying that Koreans who were not acquainted with her would often assume she was

Korean at first glance. So she did not experience too many stares or feeling left out and Koreans would often speak Korean to her before discovering that she was not Korean. So many Asian participants felt more at ease fitting in in Korea due to their Asian descent.

On Being LGBTQIA+

Although they have not had experiences of discrimination, two of my participants identify as LGBTQIA+ and talked about the fact that due to what they heard about Korean culture from research before they came to Korea, they did not discuss their identities openly. Daisy talked about the fact that she identifies as non-binary (and uses all pronouns) but she never discussed this with Koreans and was not out in her school or anywhere in Korea. She also talked about how she had never even discussed about “capitol g capitol t Gay Things” with

Korean people so, “I've never really let myself have that opportunity to be discriminated against”. Because Daisy avoided topics and conversations about her gender identity the only negative experience they have had was when they led a class for parents about how to properly address those who identify as LGBTQIA+ and some parents were mad that they even had to talk about it. Daisy also said, though, that it was kind of fun when students called her Mr. Daisy teacher because she feel no need to correct them since she uses all pronouns. 104

Rumi identifies as Lesbian and talked about in her first recruitment process her hair was

too short and Koreans were conservative and would assume, she was a lesbian, and that was a

bad thing. Although Rumi does identify as gay and she is out to her family and friends she was

not out to Koreans at work and had never been out in any of her Korean schools, and she did not

want to be. She said it’s a personal choice to keep her profession and personal life completely

separate. She said “Yeah. It's, but it's tough. It's really tough…and Oh my gosh, I couldn't tell

you how many times that I have gone on these blind dates with men, just so that I can say,

yeah…. And, and, um, that's all right. I'm kind of used to it. Yeah, I know. I know. It's, it's really

to save face”. She said it’s tough but it’s what she wanted to do to keep people from judging her

or her school from treating her harshly or wanting her fired. She also shared a story of how her

co-teacher saw Rumi holding hands with her girlfriend and Rumi spent several weeks panicking

that her cover had been blown before she calmed down and assumed that her teacher must have

assumed they were just friends.

Overall, except for those of Asian descent, the EPIK teachers I interviewed have felt some forms of discrimination or racism, but nothing that bothered them too much. Those

of Asian descent felt they could easily fit in so they experienced fewer moments of standing out or being stared at. Those who identify as LGBTQIA+ were not discriminated against because they were not out to anyone, for fear of discrimination. They found that they had to hide who

they were and although they were used to it they found it difficult at times.

Cultural Aspects of Fitting In

An aspect of culture that was mentioned by four of my participants directly was the

experience that Korean culture leans more towards being the same, fitting in, or blending

in. Beyond those who directly mentioned the cultural aspect of fitting in, there was an aspect of 105

all interviews that led to a theme among my participants of discussing the idea of fitting in and if

they try to do so.

The Cultural Aspect

As stated above, four of those interviewed discussed feeling that fitting in was an aspect

of Korean culture that was very obvious. Davis said that she felt like Korean culture was all

about outward appearance and it’s not good to be an individual. It’s not a good thing to stand out

like it would be in England. Where, in her home country it’s neat to be different, she felt that

culturally Koreans did not want to stick out from the crowd. Ginger expounded upon this idea

saying that she felt strange sometimes because “everything looks the same and I don't know your

sort of pressure to the, to fit in”. She felt that Koreans had a lot of pressure to fit in but being a

foreigner, she could sometimes get away with not fitting in since she was not Korean.

Meadow identified this feeling as a Korean cultural value of blending in with excellence.

She went onto explain that she felt like culturally, it was important to blend in but be the best at

doing it. She gave the example of looks for women: one wants to be the prettiest but one’s

version of pretty must follow everyone else’s. Mikki related the cultural idea of fitting in to a

fear of not being homogenous. She found it fascinating since there was one kind of food, not

many different religions, and one major group of people, Koreans. She said she thought Koreans

felt like since it had always been this way, why change? “I want to say the older generation

doesn't seem so happy about so many foreigners coming in they seem to value a like oneness and

one culture we must stick together and protect each other for many Outsiders” Mikki said.

Mikki, Meadow, Ginger, and Davis all identified the idea of oneness and fitting in as a cultural aspect that they see in everyday life in Korea. This cultural aspect affects everything from 106

buildings and how people dress and act to Korean identity and their relationship with foreigners

in the country.

The Pressure to Fit In/Conform

Participants were asked during their interviews if they felt pressure to “fit in” to Korean

society. Those who did not feel the pressure to fit in felt that they were very different, so why

try? Although she did adjust how she dresses for school, Daisy talked about how she liked

being different, so she did not feel that cultural pressure to fit in. Although their fashion choices

have been influenced by Korean silhouettes, they still took pride in being flashy though lipstick

or clothing. She said that she knew she was different so why change that? Anna had a very similar mindset and said, “I am who I am… I’m not going to change that for anybody.” She did not feel pressure to change and was okay being different. She said it helped that she had never

been discriminated against but felt she would think this way no matter what. Davis related to

this sentiment, in the sense that she felt that since she was very obviously not Korean she could

not fit in. Instead of trying to fit in she said, “Yeah. I definitely, um, think that, um, uh, anybody

of color or even anybody who's not Korean or obviously Asian looking. Yeah, I definitely think

before you come here, you really need to, um, like have a deep talk with yourself. Like, can you

handle people looking at you because it can get too much” Daisy, Anna, and Davis did not feel

pressure to fit in or if they did, ignored that pressure since they felt like there was no sense in

trying to fit in.

As they stated in their experiences of being Asian, Rumi and Ginger felt like they could

fit in visually but there was some pressure outside of that. Rumi said that she did not feel much

pressure due to fitting in and that it could be a bad thing, but she was going to take it as a

compliment. Ginger talked about when she was with Americans she looked Korean to Koreans 107

but when she hung out with a group of Koreans it was very obvious that she was not

Korean. However, she did not feel pressure to fit in or change since her friends were either

foreigners who did not care because they were also foreigners or Koreans who have lived abroad

and were used to different cultures. Rumi and Ginger also did not feel the need to fit in, but for

slightly different reasons due to their Asian identity.

B, Meadow, and Marshmallow felt a little differently than the other participants. They

talked about balancing the pressures depending on who they hung out with. Marshmallow said

that it directly depended on with whom she was hanging out. If she was with other EPIK teachers

she did not care that she was a foreigner and stuck out to Koreans. However, when she was with

Koreans be it at school or her church, she felt pressure to try and fit in more and take away some

of her “other-ness”. She summarized:

When I’m with a bunch of foreigners I feel like it’s foreign but when I’m with a bunch of

Koreans I feel very aware that I am not Korean so it feels very strange I don’t care when

I’m with foreigners I feel more free to be my true self but when I am with Koreans I try

to like appease what they’re used to like that kind of thing.

B had similar feelings stating that focusing too much on trying to fit in would only stress her out since she would always be a foreigner. However, she did feel like when she was with

Koreans she tried to fit in and blend in a little bit. Meadow’s experiences were a bit different since she described herself as “in the earliest days I was so conscious of the way I didn't fit it and

I didn't want to make other people so uncomfortable” but later felt a lot less pressure. She talked about trying to fit in in order to make others feel comfortable around her, she would try to look

Korean as much as possible changing her fashion and makeup choices. She felt that since these changes got compliments from Koreans, she would keep working hard to fit in. But now, more 108

comfortable with her place in Korea and the fact that she was a foreigner, she felt more

comfortable doing things that were different or stick out in Korea.

Although my participants all feel that there can be pressures to fit in they all reacted in different ways according to personalities. Some decided to not fit in either due

to liking that they did not fit in or accepting that they would never fit in. Others already partially

fit in and so they did not feel too much pressure. A third group did feel pressure at times, but

were also able to adjust and feel comfortable being different and a foreigner in Korea.

Overall Life Fulfillment and Comfort

The final subtheme in outside of school results that occurred was general positivity of life

and comfort in Korea. All of my participants stated positive outlooks on their lives in Korea and

most of the participants wanted to live in Korea for multiple years. Meadow and Marshmallow

stated that they wanted to live in Korea for the rest of their lives if possible. Meadow had this

plan for a long time and felt like she would not be an EPIK teacher forever but wanted to be

involved in Education or English in Korea. She expressed a love for living in the country and the

sense of adventure it brought her. Marshmallow wanted a career in translation in Korea and

wanted to attend graduate school in Korea after teaching in EPIK for a few more years. She

thought Korea was a great country to live in and loved being in Korea a lot. Rumi said that

although she only planned on staying in Korea for one year she not only came back but made

plans to stay even longer. She said that “I think at this point I don’t have anything negative to

say…I think I genuinely enjoyed living here despite the challenges so you know come..

come!” Daisy agreed with this saying that she never expected to stay this long but she also did

not have plans to leave yet. She said that in spite of challenges she had, she loved living in Korea

and did not want to pick up her roots just yet. 109

Even those that do plan on leaving, expressed liking living in Korea. Anna made plans to go back to teach in America after four years but about living in Korea, said “I really enjoy it I love I love it.”. She enjoyed all the aspects of it and especially the fact that she felt very safe in

Korea while being able to feel adventurous. Mikki and Ginger each stated that they obviously like living in Korea since they had been there for three years. They both discussed enjoying the job and the lifestyles they got to have outside of schools. They felt very safe in Korea and felt connected to the people there. Even Davis who expressed that she was unhappy at her main school and described her first few weeks as hell also described Korea as a good place to live. She ended her interview saying, “I just love the fact that I'm surviving in a country that's not my home country. Like it still amazes me. Like I'm like, you know, everything's going okay. Like

I'm able to do this and that.” She also feels embraced by the community as she believes that they take great pride that foreigners come to Korea and are interested in the culture.

No matter their future plans for living in Korea. All participants discussed enjoying their lives in Korea. Although they were all foreigners, they felt safe and like they had a connection to the country. They felt accepted in general and that they could have adventurous or leisurely lifestyles depending on their personalities.

110

Discussion

The main research question of my study is: what aspects of culture do EPIK

teachers identify as impacting their self-efficacy and acculturation? I will be discussing and

interpreting my results with this question in mind. Collectivism, high Power distance, non-

pluralism, and Confucianism were emerging topics that showed cultural discrepancies based on

the participants’ reports. The discussion not only focuses on Korean culture but also

what participants with Western cultural backgrounds experienced while working in schools and

doing daily tasks. A graphic summary of the results based on the discussion can be found in

Figure 2.

One caveat of the discussion is that as the researcher, I understand that some of the

discussion can sound deterministic, as though culture means there is no choice in the experience.

The discussion is not meant to be so; culture can change depending on the lenses of the person

through which it is interpreted. However, these interpretations of culture reflect how it was

expressed by the participants in the study. The three cultural aspects discussed below are

discussed because they are what the participants discussed and something a majority, if not all,

of them experienced and named on their own. There are many nuances in the idea of interactions

between cultures but these are the aspects that came about through the stories of the participants

and what they pointed out to be important and should be expressed in this study.

Cultural Aspect 1: Community Connection (정)

One of the major themes that came up in my results was the idea of community in the

schools which manifested itself through the relationships with co-teachers, school offices, and

feeling valued as a teacher by feeling like a valued member of the school community. These

themes seem to relate to the cultural ideas of collectivism or group-membership and community 111

(Hofstede, 1980; Ark, 2013). These collectivistic ideas encourage living in a group norm and having close relationships, as well as interdependence on the group and relatedness to each other (Matsumoto et. Al, 2008). My participants spoke in their interviews of feeling the pressure of these ideals. They spoke of the culture of Korea creating a pressure for students and non- students alike to fit in in a certain way, be it how they look or their levels of achievement.

Participants also found pressure to act a certain way within the hierarchy of the schools.

All participants also very much felt like foreigners in Korea and not really part of the community at times. This separation has implications for the acculturation of my participants since feeling like a member of the culture. Bochner (2006) in their chapter on Sojourners’ acculturation states that some of the major factors affect sojourners (which EPIK teachers are) are: the purpose of the visit, the time spent in country, the sojourner’s emotional investment in the host society, how members of the host society culturally react to outsiders, and the culture distance between the two countries. Three of these five factors are all related to community in

Korea as Korea and the countries of my participants have a large cultural distance, aspects of community have to do with Korean’s willingness to accept EPIK teachers, and as far as emotional investment of expats. These factors can be seen in the experiences of my participants where those who felt welcome and accepted by their schools also felt positively about their experiences in those schools. These feelings are supported in research showing that the more emotional connection that someone has with a new culture, the more likely they are to feel accepted by that culture in general (Bochner, 2006).

This relationship of acculturation and building relationships in a new culture connects back to ecological systems theory where relationships are important both with regard to culture and to general wellbeing. This connection occurs because the surroundings of each EPIK teacher 112

113

drastically changed when they move to Korea as all of their support systems and direct

relationships (microsystems) totally change. Not only do the microsystems totally change but

their personal macrosystems are the same while interacting with a new exosystem (the new

country) (Brofenbrenner, 1992). Elliot, Reid, and Baumfield (2016) found in their study of

sojourner students in England that finding a balance between past and new systems is one of the

most important factors to acculturation ability. To find that balance, one must build up a

connection with those they find in their new systems and communities (Elliot, Reid,

& Baumfield, 2016). This need for balance is especially important for EPIK teachers since they do not get to choose anything about their placement beyond that it will be in Korea. They are they are placed into communities randomly. The major cultural aspect of community building and its effect on my participants will be explored in two different ways: through relationship with co-teachers and then through relationships with the rest of the school and/or Korean society.

Co-Teacher Relationships

In the case of my study, one of the most supported results I had was the importance of co- teacher relationships. Not only was this obvious from the interviews and participants speaking about how a good co-teacher could make or break their time in Korea, but the results of the surveys also support this idea. The item of co-teacher self-efficacy, a teacher’s self-perceived ability to act upon and communicate with their co-teachers, had a high positive correlation with all other aspects rated about self-efficacy as well as the Korean cultural items on the acculturation scales. This strong triangulation of data suggests that one of the most important items that informs whether an EPIK teacher will be successful in their job and cultural adjustment is their relationship with their main and other co-teachers. 114

This conclusion is consistent with the results of Froesea, Peltokorpi, and Koa’s

(2012) study of foreign teachers in South Korea. They reported that those Anglo-Saxon workers whose communication attitudes best fit Korea’s style of communication were more likely to have

a high level of job satisfaction. They also found that time spent in Korea had less effect on

cultural adjustment than communication between Korean and non-Korean workers (Froesea,

Peltokorpi, & Koa, 2012). This study supports my results since my participants did not speak

about language ability or their time spent in the country, but rather their connection with their co-

teachers as most important. Although my participants did not talk about communication styles good communication with their co-teacher implies the potential for a better co-teacher relationship. The data from the surveys also support this showing that there is an extreme value to connections with co-teachers. A high level of comfort with communicating with co-teachers was an indicator of a high level of comfort in all other aspects of school life (self-efficacy) and in the ability to relate to and understand Korean culture (acculturation). However, what these studies lack is a question about how well teachers feel their co-teachers communicate with them and how willing their co-teachers seem to be to communicate in general, valuing not just ability to communicate but willingness to communicate.

There is also something to be said for the culture of Korea and the idea of collectivism and community being important. EPIK teachers are essentially experiencing a similar phenomenon together of being in the “out-group” because they are often the only foreigners in their schools. This identity only helps to increase the importance of the co-teacher and native

teacher relationship because not only does this research show that it is important for native

teachers, but other research studies also show its importance inside the classroom (Moodie &

Nam, 2016, Jeon, 2010) and also for the “face” of both the Korean teacher and the EPIK teacher 115

(Jeon, 2009, Jeon, 2010). The co-teacher can also be the gateway for EPIK teachers into the main

community of the school and even, according to this study, Korean culture at large (Bochner,

2006).

School/Korean Culture

South Korean office culture is different from Western office culture in the sense that your office is an extension of you; it’s a small community of which you are a member of and in which you are expected to participate. This participation can range from making sure that to follow the actions and expectations of fellow office mates to drinking more than intended to keep up appearances or obtain social advancement during company parties called hwei-shick (Kim &

Jeon, 2012). This attitude is very different in the sense that none of my participants had experienced this kind of office culture before coming to Korea.

However, the reaction to this culture, when experienced, was positive overall. The participants who were placed into offices and who experienced this culture daily actually enjoyed it and found it as a way to feel connected to the school. Office customs give EPIK teachers an emotional connection with their schools and helps with their acculturation by relieving the stressor of trying to feel accepted by teachers they did not always work with (Berry,

2006, Bochner, 2006). Teachers were invited to join the group in snacks or going to lunch simply by being present in the office, as Korean culture would dictate that they are invite to eat together.

Conversely, those who were not in the offices either felt very isolated and alone in their school or felt like they had no emotional connection to their school. These conclusions were also supported by the qualitative data: those who had high self-efficacy in general school life had higher acculturation in terms of socializing with Koreans (p=.913**). Those who felt confident about their place in the school were more likely to socialize with Koreans inside and outside of 116

the school. This correlation seems to imply that all EPIK teachers should, if possible, be placed

in a homeroom teachers office as well as near to an English-speaking teacher. This placement would provide a full support system from which to build a connection to the culture through elements such as a cultural guide in the form of a co-teacher, feeling accepted by the community and valued as a teacher in the school, and a connection with the rest of the school in a culturally relevant way. By making these connections, teachers can then have the confidence to reach out to the community at large as well. This idea is supported by other foreigner experiences in East

Asia where it was found that language ability had less to do with making relationships than being an accepted member of a group was (Froese, 2010). Related to the idea of community is the idea of your position in the community or your stance. In Korea, there is the concept of a hierarchy of

interactions due to its high power-distance which will be discussed next.

Cultural Aspect 2: High Power Distance (장유유서)

Lim Choi (1996) discusses the three major cultural aspects of Korean interactions of

Jung, Nun-Chi, and what is important here, che-myon. Che-myon can be loosely described as the

concept of “face.” However, there are much deeper implications. The one most relevant to the

study is normative che-myon or “the social worth of a person not as an individual but as

an occupant of a social position” (Lim & Choi, 1996, p. 126). This concept relates to one’s status

and how people treat you a certain way based on that status and social position. This concept

combines Korea’s cultural aspect of hierarchy and Hofstede’s idea of power distance. This

cultural aspect was felt by my participants as many of them spoke of their experiences feeling

their place in the culture either as the “forgotten foreigner” or as an actual low rung of the

hierarchy. My participants also had an understanding of the power-distances associated with this 117

(Hofstede, 1980) when they spoke of not being able to speak to anyone but their co-teachers or having to figure out if a problem is worth going to the coordinator.

These experiences indicate a strong instance of a cultural clash that comes from the

process of acculturation. EPIK teachers whom all come from western, more individualistic

countries tend to have an empowerment that comes from a low-power distance where they can

go to superiors to talk about problems directly and help move for change (Hofstede, 1980).

However, this practice clashes directly with the concept of accepting che-myon and out-group

status that gives EPIK teachers a very low level on the hierarchy which limits who they can talk to about problems. Previous research shows that this hierarchy causes these feelings of limitations in communication even amongst Koreans (Hyun, 2001). Due to this clash, EPIK teachers must choose if they are going to accept this aspect of the culture or reject it in some way

(Berry, 2006). Very few of my participants seem to have assimilated with this concept because it

made them uncomfortable. “It is not easy to change behavior that is firmly adhered to and

strengthened gradually over many years of socialization and enculturation.” (Cuellar, 2000, p.

52) This explanation helps us to understand why although they are aware of the cultural differences and the EPIK teacher’s placement as lowest in the hierarchy (Jeon, 2010) most of my participants either said that it was important to advocate for oneself or that their placement on the hierarchy made them feel defeated since their power that they would have in Western culture

(in the form of individualism and the culture of all members of a work environment being valued the same) has been stripped from them in this culture, creating the aforementioned cultural clash and acculturation stressor (Berry, 2006, Cuellar, 2000).

Within this clash is also a connection with collectivism, “collectivistic cultures foster a greater degree of conformity within their in-groups, and sanctions exist for nonconformity” 118

(Matsumoto et. Al, 2008, p.60). This fact could help explain that those that shared their stories of trying to keep their individualistic identities and fight for what they thought was right faced the fear of punishment and in one case were experiencing ‘sanctions’ currently since they refused to conform or accept. Research also backs this up with those Western teachers offending others by not following those power distance rules (Carless, 2006), and these offenses causing removal from schools (Luo, 2007). However, EPIK teachers may not understand what subtle rules of communication and problem solving there are due to misunderstanding the nun-chi of the situation (Lim & Choi, 1996). An example of this would be the situation described of a school being upset that one of my interviewees went to the office of education for a problem they had because she did not communicate or handle a problem the way they wanted her to; she didn’t understand the nun-chi of the situation. This lack of understanding has been found to cause problems in many teacher and co-teacher relationships (Kim, 2003).

Under the concept of self-efficacy, participant interaction with the hierarchy also influenced their self-efficacy since participants mentioned ideas of “powerlessness”. This influence can be theorized because studies have shown there is a strong effect of self-perceived barriers related to acculturation affect job self-efficacy of sojourners (Kim & Omizo, 2006,

Rivera et. al., 2007). Many of my participants expressed this barrier through the statements of powerlessness. This powerlessness means that EPIK teachers felt the effect of the hierarchy as taking away their power or ability to seek help have a perceived barrier of the hierarchy. This barrier may have kept them from feeling like they had the ability to do their job to the fullest or from feeling like they had the ability to participate fully in the community of their school (Kim

& Omizo, 2006, Lui & Rollock, 2011). From these results, it seems that more training needs to be done to help EPIK teachers better understand how to navigate these hierarchies and to provide 119

pathways for these teachers to have self-advocacy within these systems. Also, there should be

announcements and trainings for co-teachers and school leaders so they can better understand the

steps and choices their EPIK teachers actually have and to help build empathy for foreign teachers trying to navigate this new cultural aspect (Luo, 2007).

Cultural Aspect 3: Non-Pluralistic (한민족: Han Nation)

One of the largest aspects of daily life that came up in my results was the idea that my

participants very much felt that they were outsiders, not just by being foreigners, but that they in

general, did not fit in; they were not “Korean.” Within acculturation studies, the society you are

placed in and their aversion/acceptance of pluralism is one of the major stressors for sojourners

(Berry, 2006). Korean cultural aspects of monism, and the out-in perspective are part of the reason that foreigners may feel this (Kelly, 2004, Stepaniants, 2002). Where groups are asked to think of themselves as a whole. Also, Korea is a very mono-national, monistic country both in its 5000 year history of not having separate states, and through its history of colonization/ imperialization, creating a deep-seated need to protect itself as well as focus on nationalism to help with re-building after WWII (Seth, 2002, Koh, 2003, Chang, 2009). All of these factors combined as well as Korea’s 99% ethnically Korean population (World Population Review,

2020) can create a feeling of lack of pluralistic acceptance (Berry, 2006), As stated in my results above, all of my participants felt this in some way, shape, or form; either through stating that they saw this in the culture or by feeling pressures to fit in or observing others feeling that pressure. Research in other East Asian, mono-ethnic countries matches this feeling of pressure to fit in or feeling like a non-member of the community due to not fitting in (Myslinska, 2014).

Reactions to this aspect of Korean culture can be seen in terms of acculturation and this is one of the few times within this we can label and “see” their style of acculturation outside of 120 the acculturation scales used and based on Berry’s model. Berry’s major acculturation theory is that of the four major styles of acculturation: assimilation, integration, separation, and marginalization. However, these four styles are not specifically binary and are on a sliding position of acceptance and rejection of home culture and the same to host culture (Berry,

2006). One group are those who accepted the idea that they would never be able to fit in and chose to just live their lives not trying to fit into the Korean mold either due to size, home country, or skin tone: Daisy, Anna, Mikki, and Davis. They could be seen on the scale of being fully accepting of their own culture (“I am different”) and accepting Korean culture (“Koreans may not accept or like different”) leading to a reaction of integration acculturation (Shim &

Schwartz, 2007). There is a second group that fit into integration but for different reasons; the

Asian participants (Ginger, Rumi) who, due to their Asian descent, felt they naturally fit in and felt their culture background blending in with Korea’s again leading to acceptance and integration. The third group, Marshmallow, B, and Meadow, are those who tried to fit in depending on the group with which they were interacting. The group, feeling the desire to fit in based on who they were with, are the ones who are more on a sliding scale as they reject their own culture and accept Korean when with Koreans (assimilation) but reject Korean culture while embracing their own when with westerners (separation) (Berry, 2006). This choice was shown by Marshmallow when she discussed feeling free to be a foreigner with other foreigners but feeling the need to change to fit in when she was around Koreans. This comment seems to show that no matter the acculturation style chosen, it was still mostly positive and even when feeling different or a pressure to change, associating with westerners could help alleviate the problem.

Mismatch in Expectations

The next sections of my discussion are how the backgrounds of the participants and their 121

expectations for what they will experience impacted their acculturation and self-efficacy. This section mostly focuses on past experiences and how they related to adjustment to their new culture. These were instances where Korean culture was not necessarily vastly different but their backgrounds affected their ability to adjust.

Lack of EPIK Training

One of the largest misses in expectations was the idea that EPIK would train its new recruits appropriately. All participants discussed how the training they felt like they should have received did not happen. This feeling is common amongst EPIK teachers as other research has shown that EPIK teachers do not feel that training has prepared them nor does EPIK training cover topics that EPIK teachers feel would have been useful or important (Kim, 2010, Kim 2003,

Carless, 2006). However, beyond expressing that training did not help them as much as expected, participants did not offer many thoughts on what could have helped. Many said that you cannot really have a good training since different schools would have different requirements. However, one suggestion that was talked about was having training cover daily life tasks and how to do them to help with adjustment.

Understanding of Lifestyle

One of the items mentioned by many of my participants was learning how to be “human” again when adjusting to life in Korea: that participants had to relearn how to go shopping, go to the bank or even pay the bills. This factor is related to western culture in the sense that all EPIK teachers have to step back and realize that something they learned to do so naturally in their home countries (like take out the trash or paying a bill online) has to be learned all over again and in a new language (if you have no one to show you) on top of that. When it comes to acculturation, little things like this can be a large stressor in dealing with all the adjustments that 122

come with living in a new country (Berry, 2006). However, I have not found studies that specifically look at how the need to learn to re-adjust to daily tasks affects new sojourners after

arrival in their host countries. This lack of information may indicate an item that is taken for

granted, not only by the sojourners themselves, but also by researchers looking into sojourner cultural adjustment. Despite the lack of research, this topic was important for my participants, even with Meadow who is practically fluent in Korean. Even she said that she could never really go on auto-pilot with tasks because she still wanted to naturally do things in English but had to think about them in Korean (Meadow, 05/23/19).

Classroom Discipline

When it comes to discipline in the classrooms, there is an expectational dissonance

occurring in Korean classrooms that is affecting the Korean teachers as well as the EPIK

teachers. As my results show, for teaching, discipline was something that all nine of my

participants were concerned with and did not really know how to handle. This lack of knowledge

was also supported by the self-efficacy scale where the mean score for discipline for all

participants was lower than instructional or co-teacher self-efficacy (m = 70, SD= 15.5). Korea allowed corporal punishment in schools until as late as 2011 (with it being banned in 2010 but

late in the school year). However, there seems to now be an uncertainty about which direction punishment in Korean schools should now take; neither Korean teachers nor Western teachers know what to do with this uncertainty. Since Korean teachers still think corporal punishment should be used in classrooms (Lee & Lineman, 2013) and there has not been anything new created in the Korean educational system to fill that gap beyond the normal lines of contacting

parents, pulling students into the teachers office to yell at them, or by yelling at students in

class), effective punishment is difficult (Shin & Koh, 210). As Meadow stated, peers are also 123

used to help with classroom control (Shin & Koh, 2010). Research regarding Western teachers in

Korean classrooms in the past had teachers thinking there was a lack of respect and Korean students just did not care about their classes and Korean Teachers did not care if students were acting bad (Jeon, 2010). However, my participants realized that was is a mix of their own desire to control classes in western formats while recognizing that Korean teachers were not sure what to do either. This situation is a case in which the expectations for what should happen in the classroom fails to align with what actually happens, and although not cultural, participants viewed it as what could be a cultural difference.

This difference has an effect on the self-efficacy of EPIK teachers because the biggest part of teacher self-efficacy, especially according to Bandura’s scales, is classroom control or discipline. For Bandura, self-efficacy depends upon as one’s self-ability to perform a certain task, but my participants were mostly confused by discipline in Korean school and what was and

was not appropriate. As such they are likely not to be able to be fully confident in their ability in

the classroom. This lack of efficacy is especially apparent as they stated their co-teachers do not

discipline in the ways they were expecting if at all so they were not sure how to re-frame their

discipline for the Korean classroom nor would they be sure they could be effective (Emmer &

Hickman, 1991).

Teacher Efficacy: experience does not equal value

When asked about feeling valued as a teacher, my participants spoke of not being valued

or utilized for their knowledge or experience. These disconnections between experiences ranged

from having a teaching degree in middle school, but being placed in elementary to being hired to

be a teacher, but upon arrival being told that they were just an assistant in the classroom. This

problem is not uncommon and in fact is a well cited dichotomy of the native speaker as most 124 knowledgeable but not a “real” teacher and therefore lacking in respect from others (Jeon, 2010,

Barratt & Kontra, 2000). This lack of respect could be due to the fact that in the past many EPIK teachers were, in fact, teachers without experience or a teaching degree and schools have not adjusted (Barratt & Kontra, 2000). This devaluation of EPIK teachers also comes in the form of students not seeing their subject as important as compared to other subjects or students seeing

EPIK teachers as the “fun” teachers if all they do are play games in class (Carless, 2006). This devaluation was another aspect of misaligned expectations (believing they will be fully valued as a teacher) that impacts EPIK teachers and that my participants thought was linked to culture but in actuality was not.

The belief impacts EPIK teacher’s self-efficacy as well. When it comes to ideas of self- efficacy, “a belief that teachers have little impact on student achievement would reduce attempts to try new teaching techniques” (Emmer & Hickman, 1991, p. 756). Since my participants felt devalued they were more likely to think that they should not even try to teach well, maybe even to the degree that they could not help students and so should not try to advance the teaching skills that they did have. This lack of efficiency would not only affect EPIK teachers on a personal level but could also affect future EPIK teachers by perpetuating the idea that EPIK teachers are not “real” teachers as they have been labeled by Korean teachers and students in study after study (Jeon, 2010, Moodie & Nam, 2016). This aspect of value as a teacher also has the potential to directly affect acculturation as well. Since Bochner (2006) argues that the purpose of a visit is one of the biggest effects on sojourner acculturation. Since the purpose of

EPIK teachers moving to Korea is to teach, if they are not teaching in the ways they expect or are not valued as teachers they may not be able to adjust well to teaching in Korea from a cultural aspect either. 125

Chapter Summary

This chapter began with a short discussion of the questionnaires before giving the results of the interviews. The questionnaires were compared and showed that within my sample the differences in demographics or time in Korea did not affect self-efficacy or acculturation scores

meaning interview results may apply across my sample. Also, there was a correlation between having a high co-teacher self-efficacy and all other aspects of school life as well as acculturation

to Korean culture.

The results of my interviews show that despite my participants being from different backgrounds, countries, Korean language abilities, school placements, time in country, and co-

teacher assignment styles, there is a set of themes and experiences that EPIK teachers share. In

school data shows that community is a large aspect of the EPIK teacher experience and that

having a good co-teacher can help make or break your time in the schools. School communities

are also built through office culture and can lead to EPIK teacher’s self-perceived value as a

teacher through that community. Academically, EPIK teachers lose their value as a teacher since

their position or subject matter does not seem to be valued academically by teachers or by the

students. When it comes to students, Korean students seem to operate under the cultural

expectation of being good but not too good. This expectation can apply to English ability or to

general life. All of my participants talked about the difficulty of classroom discipline stating that

they got confused by the culture of it and were unsure what to do, especially because their co-

teachers seemed to feel the same way. The last section of in school culture was the idea of the

hierarchy. Most of my participants felt their position on the hierarchy as the lowest one and

shared stories about how their position took away power they would have had in their own

cultures, which made it hard to change things that were going wrong around them. 126

Out of school culture included everyday life activities. My participants talked about how

one must learn to be a ‘person’ again and things as simple as taking out the trash or buying food

take on a whole new difficulty. The out of school culture section had a major overarching theme

of being a “foreigner” in Korea. My participants shared sentiments of feeling the lack of

pluralism in Korea and the culture of having to fit in. Participants all had different reactions to

this culture some choosing to try to fit in and some embracing their difference. Racism and

discrimination were also discussed with participants all stating they had experienced incidents of

it, but never anything that truly bothered them or made them feel unsafe. Overall life adjustment

seemed to actually be positive for all participants no matter their in school experiences, with all

participants stating some sort of positive relationship with Korea and life in Korea ranging from being excited to living and surviving in new country to deciding to live in Korea and make a life there.

The discussion covered the aspects of culture that related to the results of my study and how they may impact the acculturation and self-efficacy of EPIK teachers, especially the ones from my interview group. The results and discussion of my study show that biggest aspect affecting my participants was community, with co-teacher relationships being the number one source of positive acculturation and strong sentiments of EPIK teacher self-efficacy. The second was the idea of the importance of being a member of office culture giving EPIK teachers a chance to build community. From there, the idea of hierarchy and it taking away power from

EPIK teachers, lowered their self-efficacy and possibly affected their acculturation. Fitting-in

was the one aspect of acculturation that that was immediately apparent to participants. They

knew how the culture reacts to them and they also were aware of their own reactions of either

trying to fit in or not. The largest effect on pure self-efficacy was the concept of discipline in the 127 classroom, in which EPIK teachers find the most confusion because students do not act how they expect and there are no rules in place to help with a classroom management structure. A lack of respect in terms of teachers and students not valuing EPIK teachers was the last aspect affecting teacher’s self-efficacy. A perceived lack of extrinsic value lowers self-efficacy and could in turn affect acculturation as teaching is the reason EPIK teachers come to Korea in the first place.

Finally, the most expected result (albeit currently unsupported by research) is the idea that EPIK teachers had no support in learning to do every-day actions outside of school resulting in the feelings of “learning to be human again” (Ginger, 05/23/19).

128

CHAPTER 5: SUMMARY AND IMPLICATIONS

Summary of Study

The main goal of my research was to explore how EPIK teachers perceived Korean culture affecting them while teaching English in Korea and also how lack of training about culture provided by EPIK program affected their acculturation and self-efficacy in teaching and socializing. After analyzing the interviews, results show cultural impact in and out of school. In school themes were communication, academics and school hierarchy. Out of school themes were lack of EPIK training, fitting in, discrimination, and daily life needs. Analyzing the results showed that there were several areas that impact EPIK teachers in Korea in terms of culture.

The biggest aspect affecting my participants’ self-efficacy and acculturation was community. Co-teacher relationships showed to be the biggest indicator of acculturation and positive self-efficacy due to the community they can build with EPIK teachers as an initial resource (Bochner, 2006). The other was being able to participate in the school community in school that provide EPIK teachers a chance to build community (Matsumoto et. Al, 2008).

Hierarchy was found to take away power from EPIK teachers, lowering their self-efficacy and

affecting their acculturation (Berry, 2006, Cuellar, 2000). One aspect of acculturation that that

was immediately apparent to participants themselves was fitting in. All had already found their

adjustment style: deciding not to fit in and being positive about it, or, trying to fit in based on the

cultural group they were with (Berry, 2006). The largest effect on pure self-efficacy was the

student and classroom culture where discipline and a lack of school-wide acceptance as a real

teacher has EPIK teachers confused about how to manage their classrooms and seeking extrinsic

values to their positions in the schools (Shin & Koh, 2010, Emmer & Hickman, 1991, Bochner,

2006). 129

Implications

Theoretical Implications

The results of my study are supported by previous research showing that building connections with communities helps with acculturation and self-efficacy (Berry, 2005, Kim &

Omizo, 2006). However, my participants’ focus on gaining that community through the help of others implies that there should be more studies done on how natives can help with the acculturation processes of sojourners. Most studies focus on how the sojourner adjusts through their own efforts and perspectives (Shim & Schwartz, 2007, Berry, 1997) but my study shows that these participants benefited more from the support of others than from solely their own efforts. Although having a spirit of independence and seeking out support helped some (Rumi,

Meadow, and Anna) there was far more successful advancement and adjustment when community was involved be, whether through co-teacher interactions or the school community in general. This conclusion is supported through the idea that more pluralistic societies allow for better life adjustment for those new to that society (Bocher, 2006). There is a lack of studies conducted in non-pluralistic societies like Korea (Berry, 1999, Rivera et. Al., 2007). Direct and interactive support from members of the community could be the key to acculturation in non- pluralistic societies.

Practical Implications

After finishing my research, I agree with the premise of the EPIK program; you can come to Korea without having a cultural or language background and be successful. Even the training, although seemingly pointless to those who attend it, is fine. The biggest problem with the program is neither trainings nor orientations, not even the notion that a lack of cultural understanding is acceptable. The true issue is the lack of support systems to promote EPIK 130 teacher self-efficacy and acculturation. Keeping this in mind, I propose the following implications for EPIK teachers, the program itself, and Sojourner experiences across cultures.

Implications for EPIK teachers

EPIK policy has not changed since the early 2000s (EPIK, 2013) and the most pertinent implications are for EPIK teachers themselves. The following are suggestions based on the experiences of those interviewed for this study. My participants talked a lot about self-advocacy and reaching out, so there are small steps that do not conflict with Korean culture that teachers could use to empower themselves. NETs should research the culture themselves and try to have a small linguistic grasp of Korean before coming. My research shows that EPIK does not train teachers enough in either language or culture, so it is important to fill this gap. The focus of this pre-arrival research should be on how to communicate with co-teachers and how to ask about life tasks such as trash or asking for a bag at the grocery. Having these skills will help alleviate knowledge gaps if participants do not get placed with a good co-teacher who is willing to help with daily tasks or with building community in the schools. Also, instead of trusting that EPIK will provide all needed support, participants should anticipate feeling uncomfortable and confused, and understand that those feelings don’t last forever, particularly after participants adjust to their specific situation (Bochner, 2006). Finally, EPIK teachers are encouraged to reach out, even if they have a bad main co-teacher, to try to build community by seeking out other teachers to communicate with or, if they are not in the main office, by asking an office if they can go to lunch. Reaching out to build emotional connections in the school will help with all other parts of the adaptation process (Berry, 2006).

131

Implications for the EPIK program and its Policies.

A small but important implication for EPIK would be for the program to be more communicative with its’ teachers about the resources available to them. Booklets should be made in conjunction with sessions during training to discuss daily tasks like trash, bills, and travel.

Alternatively, each city could create a welcome packet for new teachers with such procedures especially with bills and trash, which new teachers are responsible for from their first day in

Korea. By giving teachers this simple, but important information, arrival stress could be reduced.

Co-teachers are important to the self-efficacy and cultural adjustment of EPIK teachers as they are the first line of contact and help. In fact, it was the number one factor found in this study’s surveys that could predict cultural adjustment and self- efficacy. Therefore, part of the program that has schools choose co-teachers needs to be re-evaluated. Since EPIK teachers are coming from low power distance communication cultures, many may find that they have trouble acculturating to high distance cultures (Berry, 2006, Froese, Peltokorpi, & Ko, 2011). However, since the EPIK program cannot guarantee that all its teachers will have similar communication styles to Korea, creating better co-teaching selection processes, training, and job requirements, could offer the greatest potential help to foreign teachers within the program.

Not only is community important in many cultures, it is especially important in Korean office culture, (Kim & Jeon, 2012) EPIK teachers should be placed in an office so they can be a part of the community naturally and in a culturally relevant way that does not require language skills. Also it may be helpful that each time a new EPIK teacher is placed in the school that the teachers and leadership teams are sent a document reminding them: that the new teacher may not understand the culture of communication, to be kind and help guide them when possible and that because EPIK teachers only have two connections to voice concerns (their co teacher then the 132

office of Ed), they are never trying to go over anyone’s head, they are simply using the resources

they have. Offices of education should also communicate more with schools if an EPIK teacher

brings up an issue to say that they are in communication and to be aware that these communication may result in questions that the EPIK teacher may not have the cultural or language ability to appropriately ask.

Implications for school personnel

There is also an implication from these results for all cross-cultural interactions, especially for sojourners to any country: connection with others is one of the greatest factors to

help with acculturation and job self-efficacy (Froese, Peltokorpi, & Ko, 2011, Bochner, 2006).

Rather than assuming that having an appropriate level of language skill or job ability will allow a

sojourner to adjust well, programs should always have support systems in place in the form of

people willing to be guides to these cultural travelers. These people can help guide sojourners

though the process of adjustment as well as allowing them to start to build connections with the

community around them allowing for more successful sojourner experiences. This

recommendation is especially relevant to groups that hire sojourners since a larger comfort with

the culture leads to positive acculturation, which make for positive self-efficacy, which leads to a

better and more efficient work environment for all involved (Berry, 2006, Bandura 2001).

Limitations of Study

Limitations of the design of my study are the small sample size (n=9) and the small

variance in demographics. Although data shows this lack of variance was likely not a negative

factor, results may have been affected by the lack of numbers or lack of even distribution of

participant backgrounds. 133

Although with phenomenological research and, any research, it can be difficult for the

researcher to remain separate from their study (Christensen & Johnson, 2016) my connection

runs much deeper. As mentioned in Chapter 1, I was an EPIK teacher myself for four years. My

own experiences were what piqued my interest in this topic and what guided my passion for this

project. It impacted the focus I wanted my study to take as well as what area of Korea in which I

conducted my study. Although I kept a diary and made sure to note when I felt personally about

something, I cannot guarantee that the principal researcher remained totally separate from the

study. This uncertainty is because in addition to the positive benefits of participating in EPIK, I

experienced many of the cultural clashes and confusions discussed in my research.

Suggestions for Further Research

My study was a relatively small one with nine participants. Although this is a sufficient

number for a study beginning to explore these concepts, the fact that my results seemed to apply

to each participant in some way means that there may be larger implications for the EPIK community. Expansion of these kinds of studies could help bring about change in the policies of

the EPIK program. An expansion of these studies should also include male EPIK teachers

especially since there are much fewer male EPIK teachers than female ones. Another suggestion

is for this study to be repeated, throughout different areas of Korea. As mentioned in my

methodology, the site for this study was a rather new area and the observed cultural impacts of a

newly built area versus an older more traditional areal of Korea may be different. In addition,

since co-teacher relationships, acculturation, and self-efficacy are so closely related, there should

be future studies in how these affect the Korean teachers as well in terms of their acculturation to

EPIK teachers and their own perceived ability to interact with these Western teachers.

134

REFERENCES

Ark, A. K. (2013). Culture, Confucianism, and Communication: How Culture Affects

International Students from China and Taiwan Who Come to the US to Study

Education (Masters Thesis, Bowling Green State University).

Álvarez Valencia, J. A., & Bonilla Medina, X. (2009). Addressing culture in the EFL classroom:

A dialogic proposal. Profile Issues in TeachersProfessional Development, 11(2), 151-

170.

Árva, V., & Medgyes, P. (2000). Native and non-native teachers in the classroom. System, 28(3),

355-372.

Babe, A (April 4, 2017). Han & Jeong: Korea’s sadness and love. Anthony Bourdian Parts

Unknown. Retrieved from https://explorepartsunknown.com/korea/han-jeong/.

Bandura, A. (2006). Guide for constructing self-efficacy scales. Self-efficacy beliefs of

adolescents, 5(1), 307-337.

Bang, H. (2019, April). Lessons from T’oegye Lee Hwang: Practical wisdom and implications to

educators. Paper presented at The 63rd Annual Meeting of the Comparative and

International Education Society, San Francisco.

Barratt, L., & Kontra, E. H. (2000). Native-English-Speaking Teachers in Cultures Other Than

Their Own. TESOL journal, 9(3), 19-23.

Beck, C. T. (1994). Reliability and validity issues in phenomenological research. Western

Journal of Nursing Research, 16(3), 254-262. 135

Berry, J.W. (1992). Acculturation and adaptation in a new society. International Migration 30,

69-85.

Berry, J.W. (1997). Immigration, acculturation, and adaptation. Applied psychology, 46(1), 5-34.

Berry, J. W. (2006). Stress perspectives on acculturation, In J.W. Berry & D.L. Sam (Eds.), The

Cambridge handbook of acculturation psychology (pp. 43-57). Cambridge University

Press.

Bergen, D. (2008). Human development: Traditional and contemporary theories. Upper Saddle

River, NJ:Pearson.

Block, D., & Cameron, D. (Eds.). (2002). Globalization and language teaching. New York, NY:

Routledge.

Bochner, S. (2006). Sojourners, In J.W. Berry & D.L. Sam (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of

acculturation psychology (pp. 181-197). Cambridge University Press

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1992). Ecological systems theory. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Bui, Thuy Thi Ngoc, and Hoa Thi Mai Nguyen. "Standardizing english for educational and

socio-economic betterment-a critical analysis of english language policy reforms in

Vietnam." In English language in Asia, pp. 363-388. Springer, Cham,

2016.

Butler, Y. G. (2015). English language education among young learners in East Asia: A review

of current research (2004–2014). Language Teaching, 48(3), 303-342.

Byean, H. (2015). English, tracking, and neoliberalization of education in South Korea. TESOL

Quarterly, 49(4), 867-882. 136

Carless, D. R. (2006). Good practices in team teaching in Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong.

System, 34(3), 341-351.

Chang, B. M. (2009). Korea's English Education Policy Innovations to Lead the Nation into the

Globalized World. Journal of Pan-Pacific Association of Applied Linguistics, 13(1), 83-

97.

Chang, B. M. (2018). Korea's Language Policy Responses to Globalization. Journal of Pan-

Pacific Association of Applied Linguistics, 22(2).

Chen, C. W. Y., & Cheng, Y. S. (2010). A case study on foreign English teachers’ challenges in

Taiwanese elementary schools. System, 38(1), 41-49.

Cho, B. E. (2004). Issues concerning Korean learners of English: English education in Korea and

some common difficulties of Korean students. The East Asian Learner, 1(2), 31-36.

Cho, J. (2017). English language ideologies in Korea: Interpreting the past and present (Vol. 23).

Springer.

Choi, T. H., & Chung, J. (2015). English education policy in Korea: Planned and enacted. (draft

of chapter)

Choi, S. (2007). Schooling in South Korea. In G. A. Postiglione, & J. Tan (Eds.), Going to

school inEast Asia (pp. 320-343). Westport, CT: GreenWood Press.

Chow, B. W. Y., Chiu, H. T., & Wong, S. W. (2018). Anxiety in reading and listening English as

a foreign language in Chinese undergraduate students. Language Teaching

Research, 22(6), 719-738. 137

Christensen, L., & Johnson, R. B. (2016). : Quantitative, qualitative, and

mixed approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Chung, C-S. (1995). Confucian tradition and nationalist ideology in Korea. In Wells, K. M.

(Ed.). South Korea’s movement. Hawaii: University of Hawaii press.

Crozet, C., & Liddicoat, A. J. (1999). The challenge of intercultural language teaching: Engaging

with culture in the classroom in Striving for the third place: Intercultural competence

through language education, Bianco Joseph, Liddicoat Antohony J, Chantal Corzet Eds.

113-125.

Cuellar, I. (2000). Acculturation and mental health: Ecological transactional relations of

adjustment. In Handbook of multicultural mental health (pp. 45-62). Academic Press.

Dake, M. (June, 12, 1997). EPIK contract dispute creates dissent. Korea Herald.

Demes, K. A., & Geeraert, N. (2014). Measures matter: Scales for adaptation, cultural distance,

and acculturation orientation revisited. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 45(1), 91-

109.

Dewaele, J. M., & MacIntyre, P. D. (2014). The two faces of Janus? Anxiety and enjoyment in

the foreign language classroom. Studies in second language learning and teaching, 4(2).

Eckert, C. J. & Lee, K-B. & Young, I-L. & Robinson, M. & Wagner, E. W. (1990). Korea Old

and New a History. Seoul Korea: Ilchokak publishers

EF, English First (2017). English, Economics, and Trade. Retrieved from

https://www.ef.edu/epi/insights/english-economics-and-trade/. 138

Elliot, D. L., Reid, K., & Baumfield, V. (2016). Beyond the amusement, puzzlement and

challenges: An enquiry into international students’ academic acculturation. Studies in

Higher Education, 41(12), 2198-2217.

Emmer, E. T., & Hickman, J. (1991). Teacher efficacy in classroom management and

discipline. Educational and psychological measurement, 51(3), 755-765.

EPIK. (2013) retrieved from: https://www.epik.go.kr:

Estok, S. C. (2013). Re-defining South Korean Scholarship and Education within the Context of

Globalization. CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture, 15(2), 4.

Fok, P. K., Kennedy, K. J., & Chan, J. K. S. (2010). Teachers, Policymakers and Project

Learning: The Questionable Use of" Hard" and" Soft" Policy Instruments to Influence the

Implementation of Curriculum Reform in Hong Kong. International Journal of

Education Policy and Leadership, 5(6), 1-14.

Froese, F. J. (2010). Acculturation experiences in Korea and Japan. Culture & Psychology,

16(3), 333-348.

Froese, F. J., Peltokorpi, V., & Ko, K. A. (2012). The influence of intercultural communication

on cross-cultural adjustment and work attitudes: Foreign workers in South Korea.

International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 36(3), 331-342.

Ghazarian, P. G., & Youhne, M. S. (2015). Exploring intercultural pedagogy: evidence from

international faculty in south Korean . Journal of Studies in International

Education, 19(5), 476-490. 139

Gudykunst, W. B., Ting-Toomey, S., & Nishida, T. (Eds.). (1996). Communication in personal

relationships across cultures. Sage.

Groenewald, T. (2004). A Phenomenological Research Design Illustrated. International Journal

of Qualitative Methods, 42–55.

Hall, E. T. (1976). Beyond culture. Garden City, NY: Anchor Press/Doubleday.

Heller, M. (2003). Globalization, the new economy, and the commodification of language and

identity. Journal of sociolinguistics, 7(4), 473-492.

Heller, M. (2010). The commodification of language. Annual review of Anthropology, 39, 101-

114.

Herbert, P., & Wu, C. H. (2009). Cultural diversity in the classroom: Shortcomings and

successes of English co-teaching programs in East Asia. ZIF Journal, 14(1), 1-11.

Hofstede, G. (1980). Motivation, leadership, and organization: do American theories apply

abroad?. Organizational dynamics, 9(1), 42-63.

Hofstede, G (2009). Dimensionalizing Cultures: The Hofstede Model in Context. Online

Readings in Psychology and Culture, Unit 2. Retrieved from

http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/orpc/vol2/iss1/8

Holborow, M. (2018). Language, commodification and labour: the relevance of Marx. Language

Sciences, 70, 58-67.

Hong, S-M. (1983). The Republic of Korea (South Korea). In Thomas, R. M. & Postlethwaite, T.

N. (Eds.), Schooling in East Asia forces of change: Formal and non formal education in

Japan, the Republic of China, the Peoples Republic of China, South Korea, , 140

Hong Kong, and Macau. (pp. 204-235). NewYork: Pergamon Press.

Husserl, E. (1999). The essential Husserl: Basic writings in transcendental phenomenology.

Indiana University Press.

Huang, G. H. C., & Gove, M. (2015). Confucianism, Chinese families, and academic

achievement: exploring how confucianism and Asian descendant parenting practices

influence children’s academic achievement. In in East Asia (pp. 41-

66).

Hultberg, P., Calonge, D. S., & Kim, S. H. (2017). Education policy in South Korea: A

contemporary model of human capital accumulation?. Cogent Economics & Finance,

5(1).

Hyun, K. J. (2001). Sociocultural change and traditional values: Confucian values among

Koreans and Korean Americans. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 25(2),

203-229.

Im, C-M. (2012). The Korean national defense student defense corps and the manufacturaing of

warrior-type students in its incipient days. International Journal of Korean History,

17(1), 141-169.

Jahng, K. E. (2011). English education for young children in South Korea: not just a collective

neurosis of English fever!. Perspectives in Education, 29(2), 61-69.

Jeon, I. J. (2010). Exploring the Co-teaching Practice of Native and Non-native English Teachers

in Korea. English Teaching, 65(3). 141

Jeon, M. (2009). Globalization and native English speakers in English Programme in Korea

(EPIK). Language, Culture and Curriculum, 22(3), 231-243.

Jeon, M. (2010). Korea’s EPIK (English Program in Korea). Globalization of language and

culture in Asia: The impact of globalization processes on language, 161-179.

Knaack, P. (1984). Phenomenological research. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 6(1), 107-

114.

Kelly, E. (2004). The basics of Western philosophy. Greenwood Publishing Group.

Kenny, A. (2006). An Illustrated Brief History of Western Philosophy. Wiley-Blackwell.

Kim, B. S., & Omizo, M. M. (2006). Behavioral acculturation and enculturation and psychological

functioning among Asian American college students. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic

Minority Psychology, 12(2), 245.

Kim, J., Lim, T. S., Dindia, K., & Burrell, N. (2010). Reframing the cultural differences between

the East and the West. Communication Studies, 61(5), 543-566.

Kim, J. S., & Bang, H. (2017). Education fever: Korean parents’ aspirations for their children’s

schooling and future career. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 25(2), 207-224.

Kim, M.H. (2010). A narrative inquiry of a Korean English teacher's first journey through co-

teaching. English Teaching, 65(4), 179-207

Kim, O., & Jeon, H. O. (2012). Relations of drinking motives and alcohol consumption in

Korean male office workers. Psychological Reports, 111(3), 963-970.

Kim, S. H. (2003). Korean cultural codes and communication. International Area Review, 6(1),

93-114. 142

KMOE, Korea Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology KMOE. (2015). The national

curriculum for the primary and secondary schools. (MOE Publication Framework

Document. #2015-74).

KMOE, Korea Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology. (2008). The school curriculum of

the republic of Korea. (MOE Publication No. #2008-160).

Koh, Y. J. (2003). Neo-Confucianism as the dominant ideology in Joseon. Korea Journal, 43(4),

59-86.

Kopperud, D. (2015). An Investigation into the impact of native English speakers on Korean

English Teachers.

Kubota, R. (2002). The impact of globalization on language teaching in Japan. In Globalization

and language teaching (pp. 23-38). Routledge.

Kwon, S., Kristjánsson, K., & Walker, D. I. (2017). Misery in dark shadows behind the high

achievement scores in South Korean schooling: an ethnographic study. Educational

Review, 69(2), 201-217.

Laverty, S. M. (2003). Hermeneutic phenomenology and phenomenology: A comparison of

historical and methodological considerations. International journal of qualitative

methods, 2(3), 21-35.

Leaman, O. (2002). Key concepts in Eastern philosophy. Routledge.

Lee, H.S. (2016). Neo-Confucianism of Joseon dynasty––its theoretical foundation and main

issues. Asian Studies, 4(1), 165-194. 143

Lee, C. H. (2017). The Way to Modernization: Language Ideologies and the Peace Corps English

Education in Korea. Education and Society, 35(1), 63-80.

Lee, C. J., Kim, Y., & Byun, S. (2012). The rise of Korean education from the ashes of the

Korean war. Prospects, 42(3), 303-318.

Lee, H., & Lee, K. (2016). An analysis of the failure (s) of south Korea’s national English ability

test. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 25(5-6), 827-834.

Lee, K. (2014). The politics of teaching English in South Korean schools: Language ideologies

and language policy. Disertation: Univeristy of Pennsylvania

Lee, J. K. (2006). Educational Fever and South Korean Higher Education. Online

Submission, 8(1).

Lee, J-K. (2006). Korean Higher Education under the United States Military Government, 1945-

1948. Radical Pedagogy, 8(1).

Lee, M.K. (N.D.) The PISA results and the education system in Korea. Korea Institute of

Curriculum and Evaluation.

Lee, S. C., & Lineman, M. (2013). A Study of Changes in Direction, Focusing on Discipline

Methods and Classroom Management in Korean Schools. Journal of Fisheries and

Marine Sciences Education, 25(6), 1245-1262

Levent, F., & Gokkaya, Z. (2014). Education policies underlying South Korea's economic

success. Journal Plus Education, 10(1), 275-291. 144

Lim, T. S., & Choi, S. H. (1996). Interpersonal relationships in Korea. In: Communication in

personal relationships across cultures, Ting-Toomey, W. B. G. S., & Nishida, T.Eds.

122-136.

Lui, P. P., & Rollock, D. (2012). Acculturation and psychosocial adjustment among Southeast

Asian and Chinese immigrants: The effects of domain-specific goals. Asian American

Journal of Psychology, 3(2), 79.

Luo, W. H. (2007). A study of native English-speaking teacher programs in elementary schools

in Taiwan. Asia Pacific Education Review, 8(2), 311-320.

Matsumoto, D., Yoo, S. H., Fontaine, J., Anguas-Wong, A. M., Arriola, M., Ataca, B., Bond, M.

H., Boratav, H. B., Breugelmans, S. M., Cabecinhas, R., Chae, J., Chin, W. H.,

Comunian, A. L., Degere, D. N., Djunaidi, A., Fok, H. K., Friedlmeier, W., Ghosh, A.,

Glamcevski, M., … Grossi, E. (2008). Mapping expressive differences around the world:

The relationship between emotional display rules and individualism versus

collectivism. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 39(1), 55–74. https://doi-

org.ezproxy.bgsu.edu/10.1177/0022022107311854

McConnell, D. (2000). Importing diversity: Inside Japan's jet program. Berkeley: University of

California Press.

Miranda, A. O., & Umhoefer, D. L. (1998). Acculturation, language use, and demographic

variables as predictors of the career self‐efficacy of Latino career counseling clients.

Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 26(1), 39-51. 145

Mitchell, R., & Lee, J. H. W. (2003). Sameness and difference in classroom learning cultures:

Interpretations of communicative pedagogy in the UK and Korea. Language Teaching

Research, 7(1), 35-63.

Moodie, I., & Nam, H. J. (2016). English language teaching research in South Korea: A review

of recent studies (2009–2014). Language Teaching, 49(1), 63-98.

Myslinska, D. R. (2014). Racist Racism: Complicating Whiteness through the Privilege and

Discrimination of Westerners in Japan. UMKC L. Rev., 83, 1.

NIIED (2016). 2016 원어민 영어보조교사 초청/활용 이렇게 하세요. (2016 Guide on

Invitation and utilization of Guest English Teachers).

Nishino, T., & Watanabe, M. (2008). Communication‐oriented policies versus classroom

realities in Japan. TESOL Quarterly, 42(1), 133-138.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/40264432

Pak, S. Y., & Hwang, K. (2011). Assimilation and segregation of imperial subjects:“educating”

the colonised during the 1910–1945 Japanese colonial rule of Korea. Paedagogica

Historica, 47(3), 377-397.

Park, J. E. (2014). English co-teaching and teacher collaboration: A micro-interactional

perspective. System, 44, 34-44.

Park, J. K. (2009). ‘English fever’in South Korea: its history and symptoms. English

Today, 25(1), 50-57.

Park, S. J., & Abelmann, N. (2004). Class and cosmopolitan striving: Mothers' management of

English education in South Korea. Anthropological quarterly, 645-672 146

Pedersen, E. R., Neighbors, C., Larimer, M. E., & Lee, C. M. (2011). Measuring sojourner

adjustment among American students studying abroad. International Journal of

Intercultural Relations, 35(6), 881-889.

Ruecker, T., & Ives, L. (2015). White native English speakers needed: The rhetorical

construction of privilege in online teacher recruitment spaces. TESOL quarterly, 49(4),

733-756.

Rivera, L. M., Chen, E. C., Flores, L. Y., Blumberg, F., & Ponterotto, J. G. (2007). The effects of

perceived barriers, role models, and acculturation on the career self‐efficacy and career

consideration of Hispanic women. The Career Development Quarterly, 56(1), 47-61.

Sam, D. L., & Berry, J. W. (2010). Acculturation: When individuals and groups of different

cultural backgrounds meet. Perspectives on psychological science, 5(4), 472-481.

Seth, M. J., (2002). Education fever: Society, politics, and the pursuit of schooling in South

Korea. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press and Center for Korean Studies, University

of Hawaiʻi.

Shim, Y. R., & Schwartz, R. C. (2007). The relationship between degree of acculturation and

adjustment difficulties among Korean immigrants living in a Western society. British

Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 35(4), 409-426.

Shin, D-C. (1999) Mass Politics and Culture in Democratizing Korea. Cambridge university

press, UK.

Shin, H., & Jeon, M. (2018). Intercultural Competence and Critical English Language Teacher

Education. English Teaching, 73(4). 147

Shin, J. E., & Kellogg, D. (2007). The novice, the native, and the nature of language teacher

expertise. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 17(2), 159-177.

Shin, S., & Koh, M. S. (2005). Korean education in cultural context. Essays in education, 14, 1-

10.

Simpson, S. T. (2008). Western EFL Teachers and East-West Classroom-Culture Conflicts. RELC

Journal, 39(3), 381–394.

Śleziak, T. (2013). The role of Confucianism in contemporary South Korean society. Rocznik

orientalistyczny, (1). Sciences, 70, 58-67.

Smith, D. W. (2006). Phenomenology. Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science.

Starks, H., & Brown Trinidad, S. (2007). Choose your method: A comparison of

phenomenology, discourse analysis, and grounded theory. Qualitative health

research, 17(10), 1372-1380.

Stepaniants, M. (2002). Introduction to Eastern thought. AltaMira Press.

Sung‐Yul Park, J., & Lo, A. (2012). Transnational South Korea as a site for a sociolinguistics of

globalization: Markets, timescales, neoliberalism 1. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 16(2),

147-164.

Tam, J. (2016). Filial piety and academic motivation: High-achieving students in an international

school in South Korea. International Journal of Multicultural Education, 18(3).

Wang, Y. (2016). Native English speakers' authority in English: Do Chinese speakers of English

care about native English speakers' judgments?. English Today, 32(1), 35-40.

Williams, C. H. (2017). Teaching English in East Asia: A teacher’s guide to Chinese, Japanese,

and Korean learners. Springer. 148

World Population Review. (2020). South Korea Population 2020. retrieved from:

http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/south-korea-population/

Yim, S. Y., & Hwang, K. (2018). Expatriate ELT teachers in Korea: participation and sense of

belonging. ELT Journal, 73(1), 72-81.

Yoon, K. (2014). The Change and Structure of Korean Education Policy in History. Italian

Journal of , 6(2), 173-200. Retrieved from http://www.ijse.eu/wp-

content/uploads/2014/06/2014_2_8.pdf .

Zhao, Z. (2007). Schooling in China. In G. A. Postiglione, & J. Tan (Eds.), Going to school inEast

Asia (pp. 61-85). Westport, CT: GreenWood Press.

149

APPENDIX A: ACCULTURATION SCALE 150

APPENDIX B: SELF-EFFICACY SCALE 151

152

APPENDIX C: INTERVIEW PROTOCOLS

Individual Interview Questions Here is the list of possible interview questions I will be using during the individual interviews. Since the interviews are in the participants first language and in a comfortable environment chosen by individual participants I expect the interviews to be semi‐formal where I will pose questions but our conversations may take a different direction via follow‐up questions. I hope to gain insights when it comes to culture, their home education, their views on American education, and communication. Culture Questions  How would you describe your home culture?  What would you say your home culture values?  How would you describe the culture in Korea?  What would you say Korean culture values?

EPIK Questions  Why did you decided to become an EPIK teacher?  What were you most looking forward to?  What were you most afraid of?  Did you feel adequately prepared before arriving?  Did you feel prepared after orientation?  Did you do anything else before you came to Korea to prepare?  How well acquainted were you with Korea or Korean Culture before you came?

Korean Education Questions

 How do you like teaching in Korea?  What is the best part of teaching in Korea?  What is the hardest part of teaching in Korea?  What aspects of teaching are different than what you expected?  How do you think culture plays a role in education in general?  Where do you feel the effects of culture in the school or classroom in Korea?  Has the cultural aspect been difficult to adjust to?  Do you feel valued as a teacher in your school?  Do you feel valued as a teacher in Korea?

Korean Life Questions

 Do you enjoy your life outside of school?  How would you describe your lifestyle?  Has your daily life changed since coming to Korea?  What do you typically do after school?  Are you learning Korean?  Do you have Korean Friends outside of school?  Are you involved in any interest groups?  Have you ever been discriminated against in Korea?  What is the best part of living in Korea?  What are some challenges of living in Korea (other than language differences)? 153

APPENDIX D: DEMOGRAPHIC SURVEY

EPIK Teacher Culture Study: Demographic Questionnaire

1) Please choose your pseudonym now so all documents only have your pseudonym on them. Pseudonym: ______2a) Sex Assigned at Birth: M or F 2b) Gender: ______2c) Preferred Pronouns? ______3) Ethnicity: ______4) Home Country: ______5) Country you were born in (if not Home Country): ______6) Year you entered the EPIK Program: ______Were you late intake? ______7) Do you teach Elementary, Middle, or High School? ______7b) How many years have you been an EPIK teacher? ______7c) How many years of teaching experience (both in and outside of Korea) do you have? ______8) What college(s) did you attend? ______9) What degree(s) did you achieve? ______10) Did you speak any other languages besides English at home growing up? If so, which one? ______11) What is your EPIK pay scale number? 1+, 1, 2+, 2, 3+, 3 12) How many after school classes do you teach and for how many hours? ______13) How many classes per week do you teach? _____ 14) How many schools are you assigned to? _ 154

APPENDIX E: DATA QUOTE SORTS 155

APPENDIX F: MEAN SCORES FOR PARTICIPANTS

Mikki Daisy Acculturation Self-Efficacy Acculturation Self-Efficacy 1 5.5 Instruct 77 1 2.8 Instruct 73 2 6 Discipi 70 2 6.5 Discipi 77 3 4.5 Co-Te 66 3 4.8 Co-Te 67 4 4.3 Sch Life 59 4 3.8 Sch Life 51 5 6 5 7 6 5 6 n/a 7 5.8 7 n/a

Meadow Rumi Acculturation Self-Efficacy Acculturation Self-Efficacy 1 7 Instruct 91 1 5 Instruct 87 2 7 Discipi 95 2 7 Discipi 82 3 7 Co-Te 95 3 6.3 Co-Te 87 4 5.3 Sch Life 100 4 4.8 Sch Life 71 5 5 5 6.5 6 6.5 6 6.3 7 6.5 7 5.7

Ginger Anna Acculturation Self-Efficacy Acculturation Self-Efficacy 1 4.8 Instruct 90 1 4.5 Instruct 78 2 5.8 Discipi 78 2 7 Discipi 70 3 4 Co-Te 78 3 5.5 Co-Te 94 4 2.8 Sch Life 55 4 4.3 Sch Life 71 5 6 5 7 6 4 6 5.5 7 4.8 7 4.7

B Davis Acculturation Self-Efficacy Acculturation Self-Efficacy 1 5.3 Instruct 71 1 1.5 Instruct 54 2 5.8 Discipi 57 2 5.3 Discipi 38 3 4.3 Co-Te 74 3 3.8 Co-Te 20 4 3.5 Sch Life 66 4 2.3 Sch Life 12 5 5.5 5 6.3 6 5.3 6 5.3 7 4.8 7 4.5 156

Marshmallow Acculturation Number Keys Acculturation Self-Efficacy 1 Social interaction with Koreans 1 2.5 Instruct 64 2 Cultural understanding 2 6.5 Discipi 68 3 Korean Language 3 6.6 Co-Te 66 4 Identity With Host Culture 4 4.3 Sch Life 30 5 Social interaction Westerns 5 6.5 6 Homesickness 6 5 7 Life Practicalities 7 5

157

APPENDIX G: IRB APPROVAL 158

APPENDIX H: CONSENT FORM