Investigating Transnational Korean Teachers’ Funds of Identity in the Global Migration Contexts

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 4:15 pm - Gold 1
  In Roundtable Session: Leading, Belonging, and Bearing the Weight of Teaching

Abstract

This secondary qualitative study investigates how eight Korean-speaking multilingual teachers articulate their transnational Funds of Identity (FOI) within the broader context of global migration. Employing a translingual and transcultural analytical framework, we examined participants’ discourse as presented in digital autobiographies and reflection papers produced in a U.S.-based multicultural education course. The findings indicate that participants reinterpret intergenerational experiences as valuable cultural assets and integrate these insights into culturally responsive pedagogical practices. Two distinct forms of FOI emerged: (1) transnational Koreanness, characterized by embodied cultural heritage, and (2) Koreanness in transnational contexts, shaped by social ties, gendered expectations, and collective memory. Participants position themselves as cultural mediators who challenge dominant narratives surrounding Koreanness

Authors

• Sharon Chang, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Younghan Kim, Myong Ji University