여성 교사를 대상으로 한 성차별 담화에 대한 사례 연구

Sexual Discrimination Discourses in School Women Teachers’ Cases

최근 미투 운동 등을 통해 사회 각 분야에서 다양한 성차별 사례가 가시화되고 있 다. 교육계 역시 예외는 아니나, 현재까지의 담론은 학생이 입은 피해에 집중된 경향 이 있다. 여성 교사들 역시 학교 안에서 다양한 형태의 성차별을 경험하고 있으나 아 직 이에 대한 논의는 활발하지 않다. 본 연구는 여성 교사들이 학교에서 겪는 성차별 담화 사례, 그 가운데에서도 특히 학생, 학부모로부터 경험한 사례를 탐색하였다. 총 네 명의 여성 초·중등 교사와의 반구조적 면담을 통해 이들이 대면한 성차별 담화와 그것이 교사 본인에게 끼친 영향에 대해 분석하였다. 분석 결과, 참여자들은 학생들 로부터는 직접적 성희롱부터 지시 불이행 등의 형태로, 학부모로부터는 외모 품평부 터 담임 교체 요구 등의 직·간접적 교권침해 형태로 성차별을 경험한 것으로 드러났 다. 학생이나 학부모로부터 성차별을 경험한 교사들은 상황을 회피하거나 공론화를 거부하는 형태로 대응했으며 이러한 경험은 교육자로서의 자아에도 영향을 끼치고 있었다. 본 연구 결과를 바탕으로 여성 교사의 성차별 피해 상황 개선 및 학생과 사회 전반의 올바른 성 인식 함양을 위하여 구체적인 지침을 포함한 제도적인 시스템이 필 요함을 제안하였다.

Several female teachers from South Korea have reported verbal and physical sexual harassment at school and even more cases have been revealed due to the recent #MeToo movement. Sexual harassers in these reported cases include school administrators, colleagues, and students—surprisingly, even early elementary students have participated in sexually harassing their female teachers. However, schools and educational research have yet to actively address female teachers’ struggles with being sexually harassed and objectified, even by their students. No related policy currently exists that could provide a safety net for female teachers. This collective case study focuses on experiences shared by female teachers in South Korean schools, and what should be done to support them by sharing female teachers own voices. In-depth, one-on-one interviews with four female teachers working in an elementary and middle school in South Korea were analyzed to focus on the gender-based violence the participants have experienced and how they perceived, understood, resisted, and accepted the situations. The present paper argues that (a) female teachers have clearly experienced gender biases and sexual violence in schools; (b) gender privilege is even greater than teacherstudent power relationships, so it disrupts power dynamics in the classroom; (c) teachers and school administrators attempt to avoid any (potential) conflicts; (d) female teachers are asked to take responsibility throughout all related processes (which often includes victim-blaming and perception that women who oppose this are “incompetent”); and (e) all stakeholders lack gender sensitivity. The experience of Abstract being sexually harassed in school has arguably changed female teachers’ gender sensitivity; they are also socially forced to remain silent; those experiences have affected their teaching practices, often in negative ways including being passive in teaching and caring for students. By closely analyzing female teachers’ words and their experiences, new light can be shed on the neglected issue of female teachers being sexually harassed in schools.