Portfolio I Section 4 Knowledge Discussion Essay, Hyejin Yoon 1

During the last two semesters, I embarked on a new journey to be a researcher, continuously

reflecting myself. One philosophical foundational course EDUC 800, and two research

methodology courses EDRS 810 and 812 led me to pondering with respects to my positionality

and epistemology commitment as a novice researcher. Further, two Teaching and Teacher

Education specialization courses EDUC 850, 853 let me find that one of the qualifications of

good teacher could be intercultural competence (IC) and one International Education course

EDUC 878 had given me new knowledge regarding IC.

While taking EDUC 800 Ways of Knowing, I have been able to explore various perspectives

positivism, post-positivism, constructivism, narrative inquiry, and critical inquiry and I could

identify that my epistemology was similar to the positivists one. To be specific, prior to coming

to the US for my studies, I imagined myself in the future doing research with numerical analysis.

I assumed that only data generated through quantitative methods were sufficiently objective and

concrete that we could make generalized findings. Also, the fact that people had questions about

the credibility of qualitative approaches led me to prefer a quantitate approach over a qualitative

one, since I was concerned about the inequity in funding between them (Morse, 2006).

However, EDUC 810 Problem and Methods in Education Research, introduced qualitative

methodologies as an effective approach to study educational problems. Quantitative data gives us

a large general surface picture, but qualitative narrative provides one that is more in depth and

may be richer in meaning. As Lather (2006) said The traditional criteria of evidence,

interpretation and theorizing that are brought to bear in assessing credible empirical work are

made more accountable to the demand for complexity (McCall, 2005, p. 1786) via exploration

of the ambiguity, fragmentation, undecidabilities, fluidities, hyperrealities and incoherencies of a

world in process (p. 789), I realized that it is not enough to understand the complexities of the
Portfolio I Section 4 Knowledge Discussion Essay, Hyejin Yoon 2

status quo only by approaching it in a quantitative manner. As EDRS 812 Qualitative Methods

in Educational Research provided new ways of knowing for me, I began to have interests in

lifting up the voice of people that have not been heard rather than advancing knowledge or

testing theories. Through contextual evidence (Morse, 2006, p. 398), I expect that I would be

able to hear the tone of peoples voices and feel the emotion of their experience that I would

never get in all the rich details from using only quantitative research.

EDUC 853 World Perspective of Teacher Education, led me to recognize that

globalization poses challenging demands on teacher education. As global citizens, teachers who

face the complexity of the contemporary world should be well equipped with international

mindedness (IM), and impart IM to students through presenting not only knowledge but also

modeling IM. Therefore, education institutions should train language teachers to develop

global competence consisting of not only language proficiency but also cultural proficiency

(Zhao, 2010). In Sercus article (2006), he used the term intercultural competence (IC) instead

of global competence in his article. While I read the article on IC which was the theme that

stood out to me, I was curious about Korean teachers beliefs on IC. When I was in school as a

language teacher, I did not integrate cultural dimensions into my classes. I wonder if I am

typical of most Korean teachers so that I ended up selecting English language teachers IC as my

concentration. Before researching Korean teachers conceptions on IC, I searched for in depth

academic knowledge regarding IC. Hence, I decided to take EDUC 878 Intercultural

Competence: Theory and Research Application to International Education. When I came across

Halls (1989) book, Beyond Culture, I came to know how subtle culture was so that people were

governed by its tremendous control without feeling they were constrained by it. Moreover, I

realized how culture played such a prominent part in every aspect of our lives and how easily we
Portfolio I Section 4 Knowledge Discussion Essay, Hyejin Yoon 3

were hoodwinked into believing that our convictions were true and universal. Through the

course, I could also learn about the concept of IC and encountered important scholars and their

theories in the IC area such as Paiges (2005) Dimension of Cultural Learning and Bennetts

(1993) Process and Developmental Model of IC.

EDUC 850 The Study of Teaching, helped me to reflect on what quality teaching is.

Fenstermacher and Richardson (2005) analyzed the concept of quality teaching. The analysis

proposed any determination of quality in teaching must account for both worthiness of the

activity (good teaching) as well as the realization of intended outcomes (successful teaching) (p.

186). To make good teaching connected to successful teaching, I believe that teachers,

especially language teachers who will be my future participants of my research, should develop

and practice their IC. It is because teachers who have open-minded perspectives toward

diverse cultures are prone to be open to change (Dooley et al., 2006). In other words, they are

willing to be flexible thinkers in adjusting and modifying their teaching curriculum and methods,

because they are respectful of individuals from other cultures.

Portfolio I Section 4 Knowledge Discussion Essay, Hyejin Yoon 4

Reference

Bennett, M. J. (1993). Towards ethnorelativism: A developmental model of intercultural

sensitivity. In R. M. Piage (Ed.), Education for the intercultural experience (pp. 21-71).

Yarmouth, ME: Intercultural Press.

Dooly, M. & Villanueva, M. (2006). Internationalisation as a key dimension to teacher education,

European Journal of Teacher Education, 29(2), 223-240.

Fenstermacher, G. D., & Richardson, V. (2005). On making determinations of quality in

teaching. Teachers College Record, 107(1), 186-213.

Lather, P. (2006). Foucauldian scientificity: rethinking the nexus of qualitative research and

educational policy analysis. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education,

19(6), 783-791.

McCall, L. (2005). The complexity of intersectionality, signs, 30(3), 1771-1800.

Morse, J. M. (2006). The Politics of Evidence. Qualitative Health Research, 16(3), 395-404.

Paige, R. M. (2005). Culture learning dimensions. In J. Bennett & R. M. Paige (Eds.), Workshop

manual: Training design for international and multicultural programs. Portland, OR:

Intercultural Communication Institute.

Sercu, L. (2006). The foreign language and intercultural competence teacher: the acquisition of a

new professional identity. Intercultural Education, 17, 55-72.

Zhao, Y. (2010). Preparing Globally Competent Teachers: A New Imperative for Teacher

Education. Journal of Teacher Education, 61(5), 422-431