Culture Shock Experiences of Foreign Teachers Working in A Selected Private School in Chonburi province, Thailand

Abstract

         The overarching purposes of this study were to explore the core essence of culture shock experienced by foreign teachers who work in a selected private school in Thailand. Also, the researcher found out the meanings by the perception of the culture shock of foreign teachers. A selected private school was allowed to collect data in Chonburi province, Thailand. Then, there are selected 14 participants from the school with at least 1 year of work experience. A phenomenological research methodology was employed in this qualitative research. Data were considered from 14 foreign teachers through in-depth interviews. The Modification of the Stevick-Colaizzi-Keen Method of Analysis of Phenomenological Data was utilized for analysis of the data collected analyze to identify meaning units and themes. The findings suggested that the core essence of culture shock was experienced by foreign teachers who work in a private school in Chonburi province, Thailand. It has been determined that include six themes: 1) hierarchy culture at school; 2) behaviors of people at school; 3) jealous caused gossip at the workplace; 4) school management differences; 5) language barriers; 6) school environment differences. The influences of cultural shocks have been determined that include three themes: 1) cultural shocks affect self-emotions; 2) culture shock affects attitudes; 3) overcome culture shock techniques. Also, the meanings by the perception of the culture shock of foreign teachers have been determined that include two parts: 1) a learning experiences; 2) an adaptation process.