Queer Native English-Speaking Teachers in South Korea: A Narrative Inquiry of Visibility, Pedagogy, and Professional Legitimacy

Abstract

This narrative inquiry explores how three queer Native English-speaking Teachers (NETs) navigate identity, pedagogy, and professional legitimacy across South Korean educational contexts. Drawing on interviews with educators working in a hagwon, international school, and university, the study examines how queerness is negotiated within differing institutional contexts. Grounded in queer theory, intersectionality, and post-structural views of identity, findings highlight how visibility is contextually calibrated, queerness informs inclusive pedagogy, and systemic gender, racial, and linguistic norms constrain teacher legitimacy. Participants engaged in negotiations by mobilising ambiguity, resisting normative expectations, and reconfiguring professional roles to foster inclusive learning. These embodied practices constitute quiet acts of resistance within heteronormative, racialised ELT systems. The study contributes to under-researched intersections of queer identity and language teacher professionalism in non-Western contexts, calling for greater support in teacher education, policy, and institutional culture. It affirms both the pedagogical value and the vulnerability of queer presence in global English classrooms.