Teacher’s Stories to Live by: Life Stories of a Korean-American NEST Teaching at a University in Korea

This study explored how a Korean-American NEST composes her stories to live by in the context of Korean university in which ‘nativeness’ and ‘whiteness’ of English teachers are valued. The stories of a Korean-American NEST were interpreted and understood with narrative inquiry method (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000). As a result of the study, four implications from the participant’s narrative emerged: Firstly, she constructed valuable meanings about being a teacher. Secondly, she did not feel any type of inequality or discrimination as an ESOL teacher of color in the Korean school context. Thirdly, she shaped very positive meanings in ‘being viewed as Korean’ as living in the Korean university context as a NEST. Lastly, she negotiated her NEST identities with cultural characteristics, not with color of face. The study expects positive resonance in all teachers’ minds, thus leading them to think about ‘who I am,’ and ‘who I am becoming.’