Listening to Teacher Lore: The Challenges and Resources of Korean Heritage Language Teachers
This article was published in Teaching and Teacher Education, Vol 27 number 2,
Author(s): Soyong Lee, Yoo-Seon Bang, " Listening to Teacher Lore: The Challenges and Resources of Korean Heritage Language Teachers", Pages 387-394, Copyright Elsevier (February 2011).
This article describes a study which explored the experiences of four Korean heritage language teachers in the United States. Specifically, the study focuses on challenges they face and the resources they draw upon for their teaching.
Heritage language teachers’ challenges include, lack of appropriate materials and professional development opportunities, as well as parents’ ambivalent attitudes.
Their resources come from observations of each other and the children.
The authors situate their work within the conceptual framework of teacher lore (Ayers & Schubert, 1994).
Teacher lore, stories of teachers, by teachers, promotes teacher reflection and helps increase the visibility of minority teachers.
The findings point to the importance of positioning heritage language teachers as bearers of funds of knowledge (Mercado & Moll, 1997) and to the importance of listening to their voice.
References
Teacher Lore: Learning from Our Own Experience, William H. Schubert (Editor) and William C. Ayers (Editor), Educator's International Press, 1999.
Mercado, C., & Moll, L. C. (1997). The study of funds of knowledge: Collaborative
research in Latino homes. Centro, 9(9), 26-42.