Growing up as a Korean-American, living within two cultures is difficult enough at times. Especially when I spend a majority of my time outside of home trying to become an American and socialize and follow the norms of being one, while at the same time, trying to maintain my Korean identity, valuing the traditions at home with my parents. However, I always faced the conflict of having to understand the ideal Korean values and principles for I was never exposed to them in society except at home. As I grew up, I realized how my being was also a non-being in a sense that I am not truly considered to be a Korean-Korean among my fellow Koreans in Korea, nor am I considered to be an American except for my passport which identifies me as one. The struggle to fit into or even be identified for who I am was a big question for me. Although I was lucky enough to get a view of both worlds, there are many times when I still struggle with trying to categorize myself as one or the other, along with having to take in certain values and principles because that is just who I am.
These curiosities have been an impetus for me to seek what it means to be living within two different cultures. My diverse experiences since high school and college includes volunteering as a Sunday school teacher, working with second-generation Korean-American students to help build and foster a learning community about our roots and in developing our identity within two cultures. Likewise, as students began to create and understand their identity, I took this opportunity to go on mission trips where students were unable to speak or understand the native language to gain another perspective of what it means to live in a global world. Within these experiences, my teaching philosophy rises from the idea of building a classroom community to help develop globally competent youths.
With the support of my educational background, I gained the importance of understanding child development and learning in order to provide an effective differentiated learning that meets the needs of all learners. While at Temple University, my previous experiences in classrooms range from working with kindergarten and first grade students in inner-city public and charter schools in the Philadelphia School District, where I learned to work with students from low-income families who often struggled with emotional support. I also had the opportunity to work in third and fourth grade classrooms that were ELL friendly, where building relationships with students to help them gain confidence was more meaningful. While working with early childhood students, I realized how being an educator is more than being just a teacher. Specifically for kindergarten students, I learned that this is the only opportunity where students grow and learn to practice behavior and social skills along with their academics in a safe environment for the first time before they practice what is expected of them in the upper grades.
As a teacher, I believe in young people and their impacts in the global world. Hence, we must help students discover their passions, and give worthiness to their dreams. Through working with children, I discovered the importance of helping students grow to become a global citizen which is grounded in empathy, understanding, and respect. English may be the dominant language, and many schools may focus on the importance of English, but learning the language itself for the mere purpose of trying to stay on the top of the tier is meaningless nowadays. With that in mind, I think it is important that learning is structured in ways that provides the students the opportunity to actively engage and wonder by focusing on the past, the present, and the future. My generation and moving forward will face unforeseeable and formidable challenges, and to overcome them we must understand not only our collective responsibility but also our collective power together. In order to build and practice these qualities, learning the language, culture, and the history can help us embrace and understand which can promote peace. With that in mind, I hope to secure a teaching position in Korea to work with students to better engage with the diverse and beautiful world. I believe that with my previous experiences working with a diverse body of people, I will be able to be contribute to the team of educators who fosters students the ability to give voice to their dreams through the various experiences they gain. Professionally, I believe that teaching in Korea will provide a great opportunity to practice and refine my teaching philosophies in making a difference with every action in our students’ lives that we impact. Just like the old saying about how it takes a whole village to raise a child, fostering students to build a community in the classroom has allowed me to refine my teaching goals and skills when working with a diverse student body. It is my goal to help create and foster a future where all children have a safe and caring community that they can build, taking advantage of the globalization and building strong cultural ties in developing their identity and dreams.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Respectfully,
Alicia Chong
