"No Longer Have a Sense of Mission:” Teacher Victimization and Identity Reconstruction in South Korea

• In Event: Roles of School Climate, Identity, and Support in Response to Teacher-Targeted Violence: A Global Perspective

Abstract

Objectives: Violence toward teachers has escalated markedly within South Korean K-12 educational contexts (Mackenzie, 2023; Rashid, 2023), yet the profession's interpretive processes surrounding these experiences remain insufficiently examined. This study addresses two research questions: (1) How do teachers cognitively and affectively process incidents of violence directed toward them? (2) How do these interpretations become integrated into the evolving narratives that constitute their professional identity construction? Through investigating the narrative work that enables educators to persist despite recurring threats to their safety and professional dignity, this research illuminates the meaning-making processes that either sustain or undermine teacher resilience.
Frameworks: This study integrates two complementary theoretical frameworks. Cognitive Appraisal Theory (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984) provides insight into how teachers initially evaluate victimization incidents through primary appraisal (threat assessment) and secondary appraisal (coping resource evaluation). Narrative Identity Theory (McAdams & McLean, 2013) illuminates how teachers weave these interpretations into coherent professional life stories, either assimilating experiences into existing narratives or accommodating them through identity reconstruction.
Methods: Eighteen elementary and secondary teachers participated in semi-structured interviews lasting 60 minutes, exploring their experiences of victimization. Data collection occurred in fall 2024. Data analysis followed Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA; Smith et al., 2009) through six sequential phases: reading and rereading, initial noting, developing emergent themes, searching for connections across themes, moving to the next case, and looking for patterns across cases. MAXQDA 2024 facilitated data analysis and management. Multiple strategies enhanced analytical rigor, including ongoing reflexive memoing and systematic examination of deviant cases. The researcher's positionality as a former South Korean elementary teacher informed the interpretive process.
Results: Four superordinate themes emerged from the analysis. Occupational Normalization captured participants' initial appraisal strategies, wherein incidents were cognitively reframed as inherent professional hazards, serving as a protective mechanism to maintain pedagogical self-efficacy while minimizing perceived threat. Moral Self-Interrogation encompassed the secondary appraisal processes through which teachers engaged in intensive self-evaluation, questioning their professional competence and ethical standing, frequently resulting in internalized attributions of responsibility. Institutional Betrayal and Delegitimization reflected the participants' experiences of inadequate administrative responses, procedural opacity, and social amplification of incidents, which compounded the original victimization through secondary institutional trauma. Protective Identity Recalibration demonstrated how teachers engaged in defensive narrative work, reconstructing their professional identities through emotional distancing, reduced expectations, and strategic disengagement to protect against future victimization while maintaining basic professional functioning.
Significance: This phenomenological investigation extends existing quantitative victimization research by illuminating the interpretive processes through which teachers integrate traumatic experiences into coherent professional identity narratives. The findings reveal critical intervention points beyond traditional deterrence-focused approaches, highlighting the necessity for institutional mechanisms that support adaptive narrative reconstruction. Effective violence prevention requires complementary attention to meaning-making processes through transparent disciplinary procedures, trauma-informed professional development, and structured peer dialogue opportunities. These findings contribute to the theoretical understanding of teacher resilience while offering evidence-based directions for policy and practice interventions that address both external safety concerns and internal cognitive-emotional processing mechanisms essential for sustained professional engagement.

Author

• Danbi Choe, Louisiana State University