"If They Were History Teachers ...": Korean History Teachers' Sense of Curricular Agency, Identity, and Purpose

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session Ten
  In Roundtable Session: Pedagogy and Practice in the Humanities Classroom (Table 4)

Abstract

This study examines how history teachers’ national and professional identities can mediate their sense of agency to make curricular decisions. The teachers in this study were willing to challenge their highly controlled curricular space and nationalistic historical narratives as Koreans and history teachers. They demonstrated strong beliefs in their agency—both their ability to make curricular decisions individually and collectively, as a group of history teachers. Furthermore, they cared about “our” nation’s history, but from critical rather than nationalistic perspectives. Lastly, the teachers, who were trained through teacher education programs centering on the academic discipline of history, emphasized disciplinary historical studies but with strong civic intentions. The findings suggest curricular implications of teachers’ collective identity for critical history education.

Author

• Hana Jun, Indiana University
  Presenting Author