Teaching English to North Korean Defectors as a Tool for Conflict Transformation

Her father was brave enough to leave his entire family behind in the middle of the Korean War, escaping to South Korea. As Lee’s career took her around the world, including to Germany and Canada, she always looked for ways that she could to support asylum seekers like him.

“My goal is to foster peace education and help students with North Korean refugee backgrounds transform their personal experiences of political conflict,” says Lee, who has been teaching in the Institute’s TESOL/Teaching Foreign Language program since 2009.

TESOL students Carly Tozian and Jessa Zerpoli are now part of that effort, living, teaching, and learning in Seoul, South Korea. For their capstone practicum, they’re working as English instructors at Daum School, a nonprofit alternative school that primarily serves defectors from the north, offering a middle to high school curriculum that preps students for higher education while placing significant emphasis on their mental well-being.

“The teacher-student relationship, specific to Daum School, is very different,” Zerpoli says. “It’s a lot more intimate in the sense that teachers are encouraged to really get to know their students on a personal, human level. It’s really beautiful, but a big change from the U.S.-based teacher-student relationship.”

Lee secured funding to develop the English curriculum at the school through a faculty research grant from Middlebury’s Kathryn Wasserman Davis Collaborative in Conflict Transformation.

“I strongly believe in the transformative power of education,” Lee says. “In particular, English education as an international language can empower North Korean refugee students to become active participants in conflict transformation, serving as instruments of change and healing.”

While teaching constantly, Tozian and Zerpoli have been learning a lot too.

“This is my first experience living and working in a big city, so my free time consists in a lot of exploring of new places around town, trying new restaurants and foods, and taking pictures of the natural areas that I can find around Seoul,” says Tozian, who learned of the Middlebury Institute after attending the intensive summer program in Russian through Middlebury Language Schools. “Since I’ve never lived in a big city, I’ve never had to really navigate public transportation before, so that’s another useful skill that I’ve gotten out of living here.”

Both are studying Korean.

“Language without a doubt influences how we navigate and see the world,” says Zerpoli. “I’ve enrolled in a beginner-level Korean language course and I hope that by the end, the language barrier will start to reduce. I know my experience will be that much more positive and meaningful being able to use language to connect with the culture and people.”