Social justice teaching beliefs and practices of South Korean novice teachers: complexity theory perspectives

ABSTRACT

This study examined the social justice teaching beliefs and practices of three novice teachers from the perspectives of complexity theory. A qualitative multi-case study methodology was used to collect data that included interviews, classroom observations, and simulated recalls. The findings describe the lived experiences of the participants including various contradictions within their explicit professed beliefs, implicit or inferred beliefs, and actual practices within their specific teaching contexts. The discussion notes that contradictions novice teachers encounter while working in paradoxical in-between circumstances are inherent and important features of social justice teaching. The discussion concludes with some policy implications for the professional development of prospective and novice teachers.

KEYWORDS:

• Teaching for social justice
• Complexity theory
• Novice teachers
• Teacher education
• South Korean educational system

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the MER editors and anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback. We are also indebted to Kenneth Zeichner, Walter Parker, and Yong-chool Ha for their thoughtful comments on earlier drafts of this paper.

Disclosure statement

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Notes on contributors

Hyunhee Cho

Geneva Gay is Professor of Education at the University of Washington, Seattle. Her research focuses on curriculum design, staff development, classroom instruction, and intersections of culture, race, ethnicity, teaching, and learning.

Geneva Gay

Hyunhee Cho is Assistant Professor of Education at Hongik University, Seoul, South Korea. She specialized multicultural education in the doctoral program of curriculum and instruction at the University of Washington, Seattle. Her recent scholarship has focused on curriculum design, teacher preparation, and multicultural education woven in a framework of social justice.