Becoming Both: Stories of Korean Early Childhood Teachers  Who Experienced Parenthood 

Becoming Both: Stories of Korean Early Childhood Teachers Who Experienced Parenthood | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Becoming Both: Stories of Korean Early Childhood Teachers Who Experienced Parenthood Jieun Lee, Younchul Choi This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6987271/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 6 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This qualitative study explores how public kindergarten teachers in South Korea construct their identities through the intersecting processes of becoming a parent and becoming a teacher. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, policy documents, and parent–teacher mobile app communications and analyzed using thematic coding from both emic and etic perspectives. Three main categories and six subcategories were identified. First, becoming a parent as an early childhood teacher involved ambivalent experiences of (a) experiencing “Ignorance is bliss” and (b) experiencing “Knowledge is power,” as prior professional knowledge shaped parental decision-making while also inhibiting emotional expression. Second, becoming a teacher as a parent entailed (a) reconsidering past judgment of oneself and (b) extending empathy and consideration beyond professional duty, which reflects a shift toward relational sensitivity. Third, interwoven becoming across parent and teacher identities was marked by (a) experiencing conflicting gazes and (b) choosing to let go, as participants negotiated their dual roles through moments of vulnerability and release. The findings suggest that teacher identity is not static but emergent, shaped by personal transitions and relational practices, and call for a rethinking of professional expertise as a dynamic, responsive process. Social science/Education Biological sciences/Psychology Social science/Psychology Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviewers agreed at journal 18 Aug, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 07 Aug, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 07 Aug, 2025 Editor invited by journal 07 Aug, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 02 Aug, 2025 First submitted to journal 02 Aug, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6987271","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":497103937,"identity":"fd1144cc-d25a-4aab-9513-819f859086fe","order_by":0,"name":"Jieun Lee","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA00lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDACZgaGAwwMNnb8IE5CAfFa0pIlG0BaDIi36zDjhgMgmhgt/OzsDw98+HOY2fj86sQPDwwY5PnFDuDXItnMkHBwBk86n9mNt5slgA4znDk7Ab8Wg8MMBw7zSFgzm904uwGkJcHgNkEtjA2HeQyYGTfPOLv5B5FamBkO8yQ4M27g791GnC2SzWwMB2ccSEuWuMG7zSLBQIKwX/j5jz/+8OEPMCr7z26++aPCRp5fmoAWBJAAq5QgVjnYvgOkqB4Fo2AUjIKRBADyx0OXFdjswwAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Korea National University of Education","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jieun","middleName":"","lastName":"Lee","suffix":""},{"id":497103940,"identity":"ebccc7af-82b2-4a10-9a2f-a1391ec2f420","order_by":1,"name":"Younchul Choi","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Korea National University of Education","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Younchul","middleName":"","lastName":"Choi","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-06-27 02:38:19","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6987271/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6987271/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":88921713,"identity":"2b7efaa7-caa8-4613-af06-4c895f1bd1a5","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-08-12 17:28:52","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":655888,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"MainTextRevisedManuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6987271/v1_covered_f034c983-0937-4f8d-83cd-16e630c997f4.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Becoming Both: Stories of Korean Early Childhood Teachers Who Experienced Parenthood ","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"humanities-and-social-sciences-communications","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"palcomms","sideBox":"Learn more about [Humanities \u0026 Social Sciences Communications](http://www.nature.com/palcomms/)","snPcode":"41599","submissionUrl":"https://submission.springernature.com/new-submission/41599/3","title":"Humanities and Social Sciences Communications","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Nature AJ","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6987271/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6987271/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThis qualitative study explores how public kindergarten teachers in South Korea construct their identities through the intersecting processes of becoming a parent and becoming a teacher. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, policy documents, and parent\u0026ndash;teacher mobile app communications and analyzed using thematic coding from both emic and etic perspectives. Three main categories and six subcategories were identified. First, becoming a parent as an early childhood teacher involved ambivalent experiences of (a) experiencing \u0026ldquo;Ignorance is bliss\u0026rdquo; and (b) experiencing \u0026ldquo;Knowledge is power,\u0026rdquo; as prior professional knowledge shaped parental decision-making while also inhibiting emotional expression. Second, becoming a teacher as a parent entailed (a) reconsidering past judgment of oneself and (b) extending empathy and consideration beyond professional duty, which reflects a shift toward relational sensitivity. Third, interwoven becoming across parent and teacher identities was marked by (a) experiencing conflicting gazes and (b) choosing to let go, as participants negotiated their dual roles through moments of vulnerability and release. The findings suggest that teacher identity is not static but emergent, shaped by personal transitions and relational practices, and call for a rethinking of professional expertise as a dynamic, responsive process.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Becoming Both: Stories of Korean Early Childhood Teachers Who Experienced Parenthood ","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-08-12 17:12:47","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6987271/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"175078317974748834364262850573731339744","date":"2025-08-18T05:58:18+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-08-07T10:32:25+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-08-07T10:30:16+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2025-08-07T06:34:55+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-08-02T07:13:34+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Humanities and Social Sciences Communications","date":"2025-08-02T07:10:13+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"humanities-and-social-sciences-communications","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"palcomms","sideBox":"Learn more about [Humanities \u0026 Social Sciences Communications](http://www.nature.com/palcomms/)","snPcode":"41599","submissionUrl":"https://submission.springernature.com/new-submission/41599/3","title":"Humanities and Social Sciences Communications","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Nature AJ","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"c7f05619-2264-4a6e-84ba-a42f5cabe777","owner":[],"postedDate":"August 12th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[{"id":52806945,"name":"Social science/Education"},{"id":52806946,"name":"Biological sciences/Psychology"},{"id":52806947,"name":"Social science/Psychology"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-08-12T17:12:47+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-08-12 17:12:47","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-6987271","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-6987271","identity":"rs-6987271","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}