Indischool and Teacher Resistance After the Seoi incident in South Korea

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 4:15 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Critical Educational Research in the Asian Context

Abstract

In July 2023, the suicide of a first-grade teacher at Seoi Elementary School ignited national outrage and catalyzed a series of grassroots teacher movements in South Korea. At the heart of this movement was Indischool—the country’s largest online community for elementary teachers—which became a vital space for expressing collective grief and organizing protests. Drawing on digital ethnography, autoethnographic reflection, and Durkheim’s typology of suicide, this study explored the role of Indischool in supporting teachers’ efforts to mobilize collective resistance at both micro- and macro-systemic levels. This research contributes to the growing scholarship on teacher agency, teachers’ digital activism, and the shifting roles of online teacher communities, offering a transnational and comparative perspective.

Authors

• Gayoung Choi, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

• SungEun Min, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania