본 연구의 목적은 한국에서 원어민 영어교사로 근무하고 있는 외국인들의 교사로서의 삶을 질적연구를 통해 드러내는 데 있다. 과거 10여 년 동안 우리나라 원어민 교사의 수는 급격하게 증가하였고, 그들과 관련한 여러 가지 연구들이 수행되었다. 연구들 대부분은 원어민 교사에 대한 한국인 교사나 학생들의 인식조사, 혹은 원어민 교사 활용의 효과, 문제점 등에 집중되었다. 하지만 그들의 가르침과 교사로서의 삶에 대한 심층적인 이해 없이, 그들과 관련한 교육의 효과성에 대한 검증은 현상의 표면만을 읽을 뿐이다. 이에 연구자는 우리나라 영어교육에 상당한 영향을 미치고 있는 원어민 교사들의 삶에 대한 이해를 통해 그들과 관련한 교육정책 혹은 다른 교육 주체들과의 관계 개선에 시사점을 제공하고자 한다.

Over the last a decade, the number of native English teachers has increased significantly. Recently a lot of studies about native teachers have been conducted but almost all of the studies focused on what Korean teachers or students think of native teachers or the effectiveness of their teaching. That is to say, all the studies were based on Korean perspectives. I do believe that this approach didn't see the real situations that native teachers experience or how they think. The reason why native teachers' perspective is important is that the secret of teaching is hidden in the depth of the teachers' normal life. To see the real world we have to try to listen to their voice. With this purpose, I chose the Bricolage method combined with autoethnography, and narrative with three participants of mine. I collected the data from group and personal in-depth interviews, personal essays, and observation.
During this process, I found unpredictable and surprising results about certain themes in their lives. First of all, the native teachers think that the Korean educational system is irrational and rigid and they gave many reasons why. Secondly, they are struggling with their lives in Korean schools. They have a lack of guidance, cooperation, consideration from their co-workers and the school, and face language barriers and the closed culture of Korea. Thirdly, they work as real teachers but they are not considered and respected as such in their schools.

• 정정훈(아림초등학교) | Jung-hoon Jung