Recently, the number of multicultural families in Korea is rapidly on the rise. Multicultural families face many social and economic difficulties. In particular, immigrant youths are having a lot of difficulty adjusting to school. Therefore, this stud...
Recently, the number of multicultural families in Korea is rapidly on the rise. Multicultural families face many social and economic difficulties. In particular, immigrant youths are having a lot of difficulty adjusting to school. Therefore, this study analyzed the process of school adaptation of immigrant youths from multicultural families and factors influencing it. Through this, the study is intended to provide practical policy implications for support of immigrant youths adjusting to school in terms of home, school, and social and cultural aspects. The research problems are as follows:
Firstly, what is the main causes of school maladjustment for immigrant youths?
Secondly, What are experiences that help immigrant youth adjust to school?
Thirdly, what is the process of school adaptation of immigrant youths like?
In order to solve the above research problems, I shall proceed in the following way: first, I will devise a theoretical analysis frame for the relationship between the experiences of immigrant youths and the school adaptation process; second, I will review related prior studies; and third, I will conduct a qualitative study based on the grounded theory.
This study conducted individual in-depth interviews with 22 immigrant youths from March 2019 to September 2019, and analyzed with the grounded theory approach (Strauss & Corbin, 1998), one of the qualitative research methods. As a result of the study, 135 concepts were formed, and 45 subcategories and 17 upper categories were derived in the process of abstracting these concepts, A model was constructed according to the paradigm of grounded theory.
As a result of the category analysis by the paradigm, the causal condition is the cause of the central phenomenon in the process of adapting to school of migrant youths. The causal conditions were economic difficulties, instability of status of sojourn, and indifference. The central phenomenon was "a longing for change in life through improvement of Korean proficiency and adaptation to the culture". The situational conditions corresponding to the central phenomenon are contextual conditions. Contextual conditions are the environment of distinction due to cultural capital, the environment lacking intercultural education, and the difficulty of adapting to school life. The conditions that mediate the action/interaction strategy are the experience of the support system, the formation of a network, and the creation of an environment where one can express difficulty. The action/interaction on the central phenomenon is the past recollection, interest in intercultural education, and experience of achievement. The results of the action/interaction are the turning point of life, recognition of each other's culture, improvement of Korean language proficiency and cultural adaptation. The process of adaptation to school of migrant youths changes the action/interaction over time. Migrant youths adapt to school in the midst of various conditions or contexts. It goes through stages of passive adaptation, active adaptation, initial change, change continuation, and stable adaptation.
Personal and family factors cannot be excluded in the school maladjustment of immigrant youths. However, immigrant teenagers can learn, master and demonstrate their abilities as well as anyone else. The formation of a support system of teachers, friends, and people around them is helpful in the process of adjusting to school. It is important to provide the experience of the support system and the environment in which difficulty can be expressed. These intervening conditions allow them to accept their environment and overcome difficulties through action/interaction. It leads them from the passive adaptation stage to the stable adaptation stage. Therefore, it is necessary to intervene professionally in each stage of the process of adapting to school for immigrant youths. In addition, it is necessary to spread a sense of community that respects diversity based on consideration for others and selflessness.