Government support for multicultural alternative schools began in 2010. However, there have been less than 10 researches done on alternative schools, and it is rather difficult to find holistic studies that delve into the academic lives of the student...
Government support for multicultural alternative schools began in 2010. However, there have been less than 10 researches done on alternative schools, and it is rather difficult to find holistic studies that delve into the academic lives of the students. In particular, there are no researches done regarding a student’s transition from elementary school to middle school, and how s/he has to construct and transform his or her schoolwork. Through these social and academic issues, I began working as a part-time instructor at an alternative school, and the experiences I gained there enabled the commencement of this research.
The research method used was an in-depth observation of the alternative school students, which included ethnographic qualitative, longitudinal research. The selected research participants were six 6th grade students that had already established a rapport with me, and had various demographic backgrounds, personalities, and attitudes in class. The full-scale study period was from 2012 to 2014(6th grade of elementary school to 2nd year of middle school).
A total of three research topics were chosen: (1) examining the academic lives of the students to identify each student’s specificity and totality; (2) analyzing how each student’s schoolwork was constructing and transforming as they moved onto middle school; and (3) exploring the pedagogical implications of each student’s academic lives. The tentative conclusions reached for each topic follow in the next paragraph.
First, I observed and documented the academic lives of the six students during their times at elementary school and middle school. Although there are obvious limitations in describing each student’s lives through a short piece of writing, their observed characteristics are as follows: Joon-hyung likes to lead by example and even performed as a child actor for a drama. He currently attends Dasom Middle School and a regular middle school and places value on participatory learning. Aaron has no problems communicating in Korean but due to a curricular gap from his previous school, he has difficulties in math, which placed further burden on his coursework that led to him giving up certain sections of his studies. Eun-ah entered elementary school without knowing Korean at all but worked hard to improve her Korean and is diligently studying at a regular middle school. Young-bae also started school without knowing any Korean and is currently preparing to transfer to regular school while attending Dasom Middle School. Dae-sung focused on improving his Korean during elementary school and went on to study for one year at an alternative middle school after graduation. He then transferred to a regular middle school but faced academic adversity and is now concentrating on his already-proficient Chinese. Yuri was originally very motivated in elementary school in improving her Korean and her studies in general, but after an academic gap in middle school, she aspired to become an interpreter and focused on improving her Korean and English. However, her parents abruptly moved to the Philippines and she was forced to leave Korea.
Next, I focused on analyzing how each student’s schoolwork was constructing and transforming as they went onto middle school. The analysis was based on uncovering the specific cultural themes of each student’s academic lives. First, 4 themes were presented regarding the students’ academic lives at Dasom Elementary School. Their previous curriculums were compared to those of regular Korean students, and their coursework was then composed to make up their deficient areas. The students’ preferred educational method was mainly participatory, hands-on learning. The students were very sensitive about each other’s’ differences and diversity. There was evident respect for each other’s autonomy and a tendency to systematically link their academic lives to an “Individual-Family-School-Society” chain.
The students’ academic lives transformed as they entered middle school. The participating students either went on to regular middle schools or multicultural alternative schools(in some cases, going back-and-forth from each school). The students compared themselves, and got compared to regular Korean students by others, and ultimately experienced identity conflicts, and through physical, and cultural changes, their peer culture became fortified. A few of the students became discouraged due to the cumulative effects of a differing educational system and their limitations in the Korean language, and a few of them focused more on participatory learning or on subjects they were already proficient at. Furthermore, the oppressive and closed relationship/environment frustrated the students. The students also faced hardship transitioning from elementary school, where they had various support for their learning, to middle school, where they realized their individual responsibilities had increased.
Through the analytical processes and documentations described above, I concluded that there are three pedagogical implications to be gained by examining the academic lives of the students attending multicultural alternative schools. Firstly, I noted a problem in which the alternative school students felt inferior compared to Korean students as they had a static image of Korean students being “perfect”. I then presented that in their various situations and daily lives, the students’ coursework often showed up as either “survival formation” or “existence formation”. Secondly, I noted that the alternative school students are liminal beings generated and deconstructed the boundaries of space and time, to construct and transform their coursework. Finally, I classified the formation of the caring relationship as either favor-doing, relational, or at times, through sacrifice. I presented that in multicultural alternative education especially, a culture of caring relationships through sacrifice must be formed amongst the students.
，韩语论文题目，韩语论文 |
