Reframing Identity Through Hallyu: A Collaborative Autoethnography of Korean Teacher Educators

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 7:45 am - Gold 1
  In Roundtable Session: Tracing Trajectories: Teachers Reframing Transational Identities and Practice

Abstract

This collaborative autoethnography explores how two Korean transnational teacher educators in the United States engaged with the Korean Wave (Hallyu) to reframe our cultural identities and transform our teaching practices. Drawing on postcolonial theory and Yosso’s Community Cultural Wealth framework, the study examines how Hallyu challenges internalized Orientalism, fosters asset-based identity shifts, and affirms hybrid, multilingual subjectivities. Through shared reflection, the authors demonstrate how Korean cultural products become pedagogical tools that resist Eurocentric epistemologies and promote culturally sustaining teacher education. These tools serve as a source of epistemic legitimacy and critical resistance in predominantly white institutions, offering new pathways for empowering transnational educators and advancing inclusive, globally responsive teacher preparation.

Authors

• SungEun Min, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania

• Gayoung Choi, University of Nebraska - Lincoln