Dialogicity in Korean Early Childhood Teachers' Suda Network-Professional Learning Communities (Suda N-PLC)
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Abstract
This study examines suda (수다), a culturally specific form of open-ended conversational exchange, as practiced among early childhood educators in Oju, South Korea. While informal teacher dialogues have been explored in other cultural contexts, few studies have investigated suda as a dialogic practice with distinctive cultural features and professional learning potential. Drawing on interviews, ethnographic field notes, and selected excerpts from suda session transcripts, the research adopts an emic perspective to analyze how Oju participants perceived the nature and value of suda. Using a grounded research approach informed by Glaser and Strauss (1967), the analysis identified six interrelated dimensions of suda: dialogicity, emergence, spontaneity, non-hierarchy, openness, and emotional support and empathy. Findings show that suda provided a space for teachers to reflect on and reimagine their practice, often leading to tangible professional transformations such as restructuring classroom schedules, enhancing documentation practices, and fostering greater openness to peer collaboration. By situating suda in relation to other culturally rooted dialogic traditions, this study contributes to dialogic pedagogy scholarship by illuminating how culturally situated informal conversations can cultivate professional growth, strengthen collegial bonds, and nurture democratic participation within early childhood education communities.
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