The purpose of this study was to examine the current status and problem of policies for children from multicultural families, and then grope after the plan of support and improvement of education for children from multicultural families, with the aim ...
The purpose of this study was to examine the current status and problem of policies for children from multicultural families, and then grope after the plan of support and improvement of education for children from multicultural families, with the aim of fundamental improvement of educational environment for them.
For this, the author examined such literature as references, preceding studies, interviews and statistical data, according to the aim of the 4th chapter, “Analysis on the Current Status of Education of Students from Multicultural Families”, of the trend , “the Current Status and Support Plan of Secondary Education of School Age Children from Multicultural Families”, published by the Korean Educational Development Institute in 2012. Study findings are as follows:
The educational problems of children from multicultural families are as follows:
First, there were such legal problems as the limitation of scope of multicultural families; questionable effectiveness of the multicultural family support law; inadequate support of multicultural families in general; and limited educational support. Regarding international law, there were such legal problems as strict procedures for the acquisition of nationality; the difficulty of acquisition of nationality for multicultural families of which verification of financial ability was economically difficult; Korean spouse’s personal reference system that hindering conjugal equality at the time of applying to simplified naturalization; and compulsory completion of social integration education which enforcing the acceptance of Korean culture. As for the problem occurred in the course of execution of multicultural policies by central/local governments and public/private organizations based on legal provisions, there were such problems as the insufficiency of support policies and projects for children from multicultural families; poor information and public relations for policies and business; placing higher weight in one-time exhibitive administration; and insufficient budget.
Second, children from multicultural families had such language problems as their mother’s limitation of Koran language ability and insufficient preparation for children’s learning of Korean language; their early childhood growth under the influence of foreign mothers who were poor in Korean language and their retardation of language development and restriction of communication; having not many opportunities to learn Korean language due to higher rate of dual-career couple; problematic communication due to insufficient linguistic ability; dual-language phenomenon; and linguistic ability difference-oriented different learning ability.
Third, children from multicultural families had such environmental problems as economic difficulty; retardation of linguistic development and learning ability which were resulted in emotional disorder due to the working of their mother, namely a main fosterer; and inequality of husband and wife.
Fourth, children from multicultural families had such school life problems as lower school achievement with poor linguistic ability; difficulty in peer relations; cultural difference-oriented prejudice and bullies; peer’s wrong perception and prejudice against multicultural families and their discrimination-oriented difficulty; and appearance difference-based group bullies.
Fifth, children from multicultural families had such psychological problems as social/psychological conflicts due to their appearance difference and retardation of linguistic development; intensification of conflicts in adolescence; increasing rate of school work abandonment at the school age of middle school and high school; social prejudice and contempt against children from multicultural families; lower social adaptation; and the crisis of ego-identity.
The improvement plans of education of children from multicultural families are as follows:
First, from the perspective of laws and systems, it is necessary to relax marriage immigrant women’s age restriction when they apply simplified nationalization; abolish or mitigate Korean spouse’s personal reference system which is applied to the procedure of acquisition of nationality; abolish husband’s economic ability proof system, and simplify the procedure of acquisition of nationality.
Second, regarding educational policies for children from multicultural families, it is necessary to integrate dispersed educational policies in many governmental agencies; clarify/unify the conception of multicultural education; abolish uniformed and formalized multicultural education; develop systematic model of social integration programs for multicultural families; and activate job education in order to solve the economic difficulty of multicultural families.
Third, in order to settle linguistic problems of parents and children of multicultural families, it is necessary to carry out common words-based Korean language education; educate children to learn Korean culture and way of thinking simultaneously; train children to learn curricula contents-related language; provide a variety of opportunities to learn language; work out multicultural children-centered educational contents; work out learning level-oriented education; and develop dual language learning programs for children from multicultural families.
Third, in order to improve the problem of family environment, it is necessary to operate the developmental program of multicultural parent’s job ability; develop after-school programs for children from multicultural families; develop the support program of parent’s child-rearing; upgrade the quality of consultation & support programs for multicultural families and children; extend the subject of multicultural education from individuals to families; present learning level-oriented educational programs; and form a community of multicultural parents.
Fourth, in order to improve the problem of school life of children from multicultural families, it is necessary to prevent their learning loss; provide individualized education by taking their personal ability into account; operate multicultural programs for teachers, thus changing their perception and prohibiting discrimination at school; train specialized teachers for children from multicultural families and operate educational support programs by organizing regional cooperative systems; develop training programs or teaching materials for teachers who are in charge of children from multicultural families in order to strengthen their ability; open after-school programs for children from multicultural families; expand childcare facilities for early childhood education; establish mentoring or sisterhood relationship for children from multicultural families; carry out multicultural education for children from ordinary families; develop educational programs for the motherland of immigrant parents; and establish alternative schools for children from multicultural families whose adaptability to school life is problematic.
Fifth, in order to improve the psychological problem of children from multicultural families, it is necessary to develop programs to improve peer relationship and cope with stress; develop multicultural education programs to form desirable ego-identity; and form a community of multicultural families whose cultural background is homogeneous and prepare an institutional measure to support its healthy development.
The implications of policies worked out in this study are that they must take the practicality of contents into account first of all, reinforce their lifetime connectivity, and consider the dual-direction of effects.
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