• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.579-595
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• 2022

This study is a qualitative case study of secondary science teachers who are doing educational activities in YouTube. In particular, this study attempts to interpret this case based on Foucault's concept of 'Heterotopia', which means a space that allows for private freedom or deviance by reflecting various utopias without the norms and constraints from every day or real space. Five secondary science teachers who voluntarily opened a personal channel on the YouTube platform and actively uploaded their own videos related to science education participated in the study. In order to understand the experiences of five secondary science teachers, data were individually collected through semi-structured in-depth interviews, and the collected data were analyzed using qualitative case study method. For valid interpretation of the study, we also referred to the video contents, teacher training materials, and teaching and learning materials produced by the participants. As a result of the study, seven themes were revealed: 'Desire for one's own unique educational activities,' 'Youtube as an extended classroom space,' 'Expanded network of relationships beyond the classroom barrier,' 'Satisfaction of desire for recognition and experience of identity as a YouTuber,' 'Tension between the educational space and the YouTube,' 'Space to be reborn as a craftsman,' and 'Finding one's own direction as a Teacher-YouTuber.' Given those findings, we found that the identity and desire of secondary science teachers, which were limited in the existing secondary schools and classrooms, was expanded in a new space called YouTube. In addition, we suggested that YouTube could be a space where science teachers can realize their own ideals and feel the joy. And simple regulating teacher's behavior in Youtube space only based on norms and standards shared in traditional educational space would rather hinder their healthy construction of identity and growth.