South Korean Schools Research Articles

German Language as L3 in South Korea

All around the world, there is a perception that German proficiency brings better employment capabilities and class mobility. South Korea is no exception to this belief, with German language being used all over the country for white-collar job employment or even promotions. Over the years, the study of the German language has been enhanced by the country’s Ministry of Education by aggressively developing policies to support this course. To make sense of the situation of the German language in South Korea, and extensive information about the education system, German schools in South Korea and the status of German in foreign language learning is given. This article expounds on the past, recent, and future situation of German language learning in South Korea as well as brief history of the German language learning, policies surrounding the language and educational practices in South Korean schools. The article gives a clear perspective on how various factors have led to the promotion of German language and culture in South Korean society.

Perspectives of South Korean School Principals on Job Satisfaction: In Comparison to German and U.S. Principals

ABSTRACT To meet the challenge of recruiting and retaining principals, this study examined school principal’s perspectives of factors that might influence their decisions to remain in their positions as well as barriers that would have discouraged them to become principals. The sample consisted of 119 school principals in South Korea, 117 school principals in Germany and 123 school principals in the United States. Differences between their current and expected job satisfactions uncovered important findings regarding salary, recognition, principal authority, resources, balance between work and life, and school safety. Implications for school district policy and school leadership are discussed.

Refugee-Background Students’ Experience with College English Requirements: The Case of North Korean Students in South Korea

ABSTRACTThere has been an influx of school-aged North Korean refugees defecting to South Korea in recent years. Research examining their integration into South Korean schools has shown that these students consider English to be one of the biggest obstacles to their academic endeavors. However, not much attention has been paid to examining the difficulties that they face in English classes and how one might help them. The current study examines North Korean refugees’ experience with English at a private university in South Korea, focusing on their prior educational experiences and their struggle with mandatory English courses. It further reports on how the foundational English courses implemented for these students have fared to date. Data were collected via surveys and interviews with refugee-background students and their instructors. The results are discussed in light of the students’ pre-university experiences, with reference to Bourdieu’s theoretical framework of capital resources and habitus.

The limits of “multiculturalism without diversity”: multi-ethnic students and the negotiation of “difference” in South Korean schools

ABSTRACTSince 2006, although South Korean “multiculturalism” policies have attempted to grapple with increasing ethnic and cultural diversity within Korean society, a homogenous national imaginary continues to inform these policies. I refer to the government’s approach to multiculturalism as “multiculturalism without diversity” to describe the limits of a multiculturalism anchored within an ethnic nationalistic framing of “difference”. Based on findings from an ethnographic study in South Korean primary schools, this paper examines how tensions between the reality of increasing diversity and a multicultural policy approach that maintains homogenous representations of Korean identity played out among Grade 5/6 children from Korean mono-ethnic and multi-ethnic backgrounds. Although there were limits to the ways children could assert authority, this paper analyses the mundane everyday practices and strategies that multi-ethnic children used to attempt to reassert and reinsert themselves at school and more broadly, within the possibility of a more critical Korean multiculturalism.

Parental Involvement and Educational Achievement of South Korean High School Students

Over the past few decades, South Korea, as a rapidly transforming society, has witnessed a massive drive for educational credentials. Some scholars suggest that South Korea has been gripped by an education fever that is leading to huge investments of economic and social capital to further young people’s educational interests. This article refers to a study of three high-achieving South Korean schools. Through the conducting of a survey among 206 school students, 71 teachers and 254 parents, the study aimed to identify the key factors deemed to be responsible for high educational achievement in the schools. Social capital and its physical, relational, structural, and cognitive dimensions presented the conceptual and analytical tools of the study. The findings suggest, after all dimensions are considered, that familial social capital and the nature of parental involvement are most definitive for students’ success. In this sense there is correspondence with James Coleman’s views on the importance of family background as significant in determining how students ultimately perform. However, there is also an indication that mothers and fathers involve themselves differently – and that boarding school students benefit from retaining some distance away from family. The article concludes by offering a set of general recommendations useful for policy-makers in any society seeking to enhance students’ educational achievements.

Applying the social–ecological framework to explore bully–victim subgroups in South Korean schools.

Objective: The present study sought to identify the structure of South Korean student bully and victim groups based upon longitudinal data and the association of groups with social- ecological based factors at the individual (age, sex, father and mothers' educational status, household income, aggression, depression, smoking, drinking, type of family structure), family (neglect, abuse), friend-peer (peer relationships, number of delinquent friends), and school (school activity, school rules, teacher relationship) levels. Method: Participants were 2,284 2nd-year middle school students (50.5% male; M age = 14.0 years) who completed the Korea Children and Youth Panel Survey annually for 3 years. Results: Latent class analysis identified victims (4.5%), bullies (2.8%), bully victims (1%), and uninvolved students (91.8%) across time. At the individual level, compared to uninvolved group, bully victims and bullies were more likely to smoke and drink alcohol; all subgroups had higher levels of aggression; and bullies and victims were more likely to have depression. At the friend-peer level, victims reported poorer quality peer relationships, and both bully victims and bullies reported having more delinquent friends. At the school level, victims and bullies reported being less likely to engage in school activities, and bullies and bully victims reported being less likely to follow school rules. Conclusion: Certain social- ecological variables are relevant risk factors associated with each group of adolescents in South Korea. Our findings call for a holistic intervention strategy that addresses not only bullying but also problems such as smoking and drinking and depressive symptomatology.

\u2018It\u2019s Not Something I Can Change\u2026\u2019: Children\u2019s perceptions of inequality and their agency in relation to their occupational choices

Despite the increasing recognition of the significance of children’s own perceptions of inequality and critical theorisations of, and much research on, the impact of inequality on human agency, there is a lack of empirical evidence on the impact of inequality on children’s agency. This paper contributes to addressing this gap by exploring how children’s perceptions of inequality impinge upon their perceptions of the efficacy of their agency with regard to their occupational choices. It uses questionnaire data from a sample of 862 South Korean school children aged 10–18 from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds and follow-up semi-structured interviews with 42 selected children. The findings suggest that, while most of the children held meritocratic beliefs about academic and economic inequalities, some subtle but significant relationships existed between the children’s perceptions of inequality, their socioeconomic status and their perceptions of their agency. The older children were significantly more likely both to be aware of their relative academic and economic positions and to have given up a desired occupation in response to their perceptions of the inefficacy of their agency. Across the sample as a whole, in the processes by which the children adjusted their future occupational ambitions, while their socioeconomic status (especially in terms of the father’s occupation) had a significant impact, the children’s awareness of their relative positions, especially their economic position, showed a more pervasive and significant relationship with their likelihood of having given up a desired occupation due to having perceived the inefficacy of their agency.

How motivations for teaching in South Korean primary schools are mediated by the local context

How motivations for teaching in South Korean primary schools are mediated by the local context

Spatial trajectories of North Korean L2 English learners: transformed attitudes towards English across spaces

ABSTRACTAn increasing number of North Koreans have migrated to other countries in the past two decades, with South Korea receiving a significant number of these escapees each year. Research examining young North Koreans’ adjustment to South Korean schools has reported that these students struggle with mandatory English classes and the prevalent use of English in the school system, often positioning themselves as peripheral in their new contexts. Additionally, existing research on North Korean students has mostly depicted this population as a group, often in comparison to South Korean students, rather than treating them as individual learners. The present study targeting four North Korean defectors traces how the participants value and scale English language practices across different spaces and how each individual navigates the English language as an adaptation tool in their new space. The results show that individual learners’ attitudes towards learning English are markedly different, which are complicated by their perceptions of their prior English learning experience in their home country and of the instrumentality of English in neoliberal contexts.

An Examination of Bullying and Physical Health Problems in Adolescence among South Korean Youth

The current study provides a longitudinal examination of the relationship between bullying victimization and adolescent physical health. Relying on data from a large sample of adolescents from South Korean schools (Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey), a series of ordinary least squares regression models were estimated for adverse physical health outcomes. The results suggest that bullying victimization and perpetration is a significant risk factor for various forms of adverse physical health outcomes including asthma, rhinitis, and obesity. Specifically, being the victim of verbal bullying was associated with greater exposure to adverse health problems, including asthma, rhinitis, and obesity. We also found that being bullied physically was associated with a higher prevalence of obesity but those effects dissipated in fully controlled models. Lastly, we did observe that verbal bullying perpetration was associated with more asthma over time. Study limitations and implications for bullying prevention are also discussed.

Shining light into dark shadows of violence and learned helplessness: peace education in South Korean schools

The paper illustrates how a culture of violence is perpetuated and reproduced in South Korea through schooling and argues that peace education could help transform a culture of violence to a culture of peace. Critical ethnographic methods and a framework of peace education were applied to a sample of secondary schools in South Korea to argue that a disturbing culture of violence and learned helplessness were present; this comprises themes of direct and indirect violence through iljin (a group of students who are considered key perpetrators of school violence); a colonized false ideology and resistance to social justice. More positively, findings are also used to generate possibilities for pedagogical change based on peace education – an approach that proves useful both as an analytical frame for examining peace-violence relations in education and society and as an essential pedagogy for progressing towards peace in South Korean schools.

North Korean Adolescents’Experiences during and after High Schools in South Korea

본 연구의 목적은 한국에 거주하는 탈북 학생들의 고등학교 및 대학교에서의 학습경험을 능동적인 학습자의 관점에서 분석하고, 그들의 노력과 그 결과를 드러내는 것이다. 이를 위해 본 연구는 국내에서 고등학교를 졸업하고 대학교를 다닌 경험이 있는 11명의 탈북 학생들로부터 수집된 질적 면담 자료를 활용하고 있다. 연구 결과에 따르면, 탈북 학생들은 학업, 진로, 또래 및 교사와의 관계 형성을 위해 적극적인 노력을 기울이는 반면, 구조적·제도적 한계가 그들의 학업과 적응을 가로막고 있는 것으로 나타났다. 특히, 한국 학생들보다 제한된 교육기회와 여건, 입시에 대한 정보 부족, 탈북자들에 대한 편견 등이 연구에 참여한 탈북 학생들의 교육과 성장에 걸림돌이 되고 있었다. 이와 같은 결과를 토대로 본 연구는 탈북 학생들의 교육을 가로막고 있는 구조적 제약을 완화하기 위하여 일반 학교에서의 교육 문화와 여건의 개선, 대안고등학교의 교사 훈련과 교육과정의 체계화, 대학교에서의 탈북 학생 지원 프로그램 운영 등을 주요 방안으로 제시하고 있다.Based on qualitative interviews of eleven North Koreans, this research examined how school curriculum, post-secondary paths, and teacher and peer relationships affect their experiences in South Korean high schools and universities. Major findings revealed that North Korean students make efforts as active agents to overcome diverse obstacles they encounter in schools, yet structural limitations continued to hinder their academic success. In particular, lack of authentic learning opportunities, insufficient information about post-secondary opportunities, biases about North Koreans appeared to influence their experiences in schools. Based on these findings, this study proposes that making public schools more accessible, improving the quality of education in alternative high schools, assisting North Korean students in higher education institutes more systematically are necessary for their academic and social integration in South Korean schools.

A Contemporary History of Bullying & Violence in South Korean Schools

<p class="1Body">At the end of 2011 a bully-suicide case set off a wave of public and political concern for and increased sensitivity toward bullying-and-violence in South Korean schools. Following yet another high-profile bully-suicide case in 2013 the issue of school violence was designated a ‘social evil,’ with punitive-leaning and security-centric measures quickly implemented to try and ‘eradicate’ bullying-and-violence from South Korean society. During this period a particular discourse emerged - seemingly supported by survey data - claiming violence in schools in recent years has: a) become more pervasive, b) is occurring earlier and, c) like ‘gangsters,’ violent students are becoming more ‘organized.’ This paper critically analyzes this discourse by offering a ‘history of the present’ of school violence in South Korea from the 1950s until the present. Historical, empirical, developmental and international data are used to more accurately situate student-initiated violence, and, at the same time, to call in to question the current perceptions of juvenile delinquency and of juvenile justice.</p>

Misery in dark shadows behind the high achievement scores in South Korean schooling: an ethnographic study

This article explores some of the hidden background behind the highly praised school results in South Korea. An ethnographic case study is used to cast light on how schooling is actually experienced by South Korean students. Two main results are reported from these data. First, evidence is presented of damaging cultural elements such as internalised norms of resistance and conformity, symbolised helplessness, studying without any interest in controversial issues, an internalised culture of “dealing” and widespread playing with mobile phones, sleeping and applying make-up in class. Second, evidence is presented of an institutionalised school violence involving mechanisms of control, abusive and violent everyday language, explicit school violence and delinquent/deviant behaviour. The article concludes that there is something unique and deeply disturbing about institutionalised violence in South Korean schools and that the abysmally low subjective wellbeing levels of pupils are no coincidence.

The emerging landscape of school-based professional learning communities in South Korean schools

Over the last decade, school-based professional learning communities (PLCs) have emerged as a key feature of the education system in South Korea. To understand this relatively new phenomenon in the context of South Korea, we provide a review of research on school-based PLCs in South Korea and an empirical analysis of the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2008 with a focus on school-based PLCs. Based on our findings from the literature review and analysis of the TALIS, we aim to provide a fuller picture of the emerging landscape of school-based PLCs in South Korean schools. In so doing, we focus on what constitutes school-based PLCs in South Korean schools and how they are similar to and/or different from their counterparts in other countries. Implications for policy, practice, and research are discussed.

Critical review and creative suggestions for the native English speaking teacher policy in South Korea

In order to invigorate communicative language teaching, until recently the South Korean government actively promoted the hiring of native English speaking teachers (NESTs) at state schools. However, mainly due to constrained budgets, many local offices of education have now started to rapidly cut the number of NESTs. This paper takes a critical approach to examine possible impacts of the recent variation in NEST policy on the disparity in learning opportunities between financially privileged and underprivileged students. We begin with a brief review of the history of NEST employment in South Korean state schools. Then, we delve into whether there are pedagogical advantages in team teaching over sole Korean English Teacher teaching. Later, the current policy's driving forces, potential beneficiaries and victims, and outcome of the policy will be discussed. On the basis of the analysis of the recent trend in NEST policy, suggestions for future policy reforms are provided.

EFL young learners: their imagined communities and language learning

This study explored how South Korean primary school students approach learning English, using the notion of an ‘imagined community’. Twenty students from two primary schools were selected for semi-structured interviews. The data analysis shows that the construction of South Korean students’ imagined communities seems to be influenced mainly by their learning experiences outside school which involve private lessons, English test systems, and parental attitudes towards English, and an emphasis on grammar teaching and learning. The students’ imagined communities are far from the one presented in the national primary curriculum, which focuses on communicative language teaching (CLT). This gap results in students’ poor engagement in the classroom when taking English lessons at state schools. This indicates that educational reform such as CLT needs to be implemented with recognition of students’ learning outside school and the imagined communities envisioned by students.

Towards Progressive and Dynamic Multicultural Education: Teachers’ Awareness of Multicultural Education in South Korean Schools

While multicultural education was first started in the United States by concerned activists and educators to secure social justice for both presently and historically marginalized groups, educators in other parts of the world are seeing it as a tool to better meet the needs of their own marginalized students. Such is the case in South Korea, which has experienced rapid demographic changes in recent decades. This article explores how South Korean teachers understand the increasing diversity in South Korean society and examines their perspectives on multicultural approaches in schools using a survey of 86 schoolteachers in three different cities. The findings suggest a need for politicalization of multicultural education beyond mere tools to address immediate problems facing the cultural others in Korea.

A Review of Bullying Prevention and Intervention in South Korean Schools: An Application of the Social–Ecological Framework

School bullying is a serious social problem that results in potentially severe and long lasting consequences for youth, parents, teachers, and school officials. Commensurate with the serious nature and outcomes of bullying, there has been a number of bullying prevention and intervention programs and measures in schools. The current review provides a synthesis and evaluation of the existing research on bullying prevention and intervention strategies in South Korean schools, set within Bronfenbrenner's social-ecological contexts, including the micro- (i.e., family, peer, school), meso- (i.e., family-school), and macro- (i.e., religion, policies) systems. We also discuss the strengths and limitations of the research reviewed and provide directions for future research focusing on major empirical gaps in the literature on bullying prevention and intervention strategies in South Korea.

Simple Yet Complicated: U.S. History Represented in South Korean History Textbooks

Framing history/social studies textbooks as a social construction designed to create a public memory of a national history and history of the Other, we investigated how U.S. history is represented in South Korea's social studies textbooks and what images and ideas of the United States are encouraged for South Korean students to take. To answer this question, we conducted a content analysis of the presentation of U.S. history in middle school social studies textbooks used in South Korean schools. Our findings show that (1) South Korea's textbook accounts of U.S. history predominantly portray the United States as a world leader in democracy and peace building; (2) the textbook accounts of U.S. history generally miss the events and figures that have historical significance for U.S. domestic contexts; and (3) the history of controversial U.S.–Korea relations as well as learning opportunities for historical thinking are also missing in the textbook accounts.