(Abstract)
This doctoral dissertation examines the educational applicability of Humanitude, a relational care philosophy grounded in human dignity, mutual respect, and embodied interaction, as a pedagogical framework for multicultural education. Despi...
(Abstract)
This doctoral dissertation examines the educational applicability of Humanitude, a relational care philosophy grounded in human dignity, mutual respect, and embodied interaction, as a pedagogical framework for multicultural education. Despite the increasing diversity of Korean society, multicultural education in both schools and community settings has largely remained limited to short-term, experience-oriented activities focused on cultural exposure, offering insufficient mechanisms for the internalization of core values such as respect, empathy, cooperation, and civic responsibility. In response to these limitations, this study reconceptualizes the four core principles of Humanitude—regard, parole, toucher (proxemics), and posture—as structured interactional routines that can translate multicultural values into everyday educational practice.
Drawing on international and theoretical foundations including UNESCO’s Guidelines on Intercultural Education (2006), Banks’ theory of multicultural citizenship, culturally responsive pedagogy, and relational ethics, this study positions multicultural education as a value-centered and relationship-based educational paradigm. Humanitude is proposed as a practical mechanism that operationalizes abstract values through repeated, observable, and embodied interactions. Community child centers were selected as the primary research context, as they function as children’s everyday lifeworld spaces characterized by sustained relationships, emotional exchange, and routine social interaction.
Based on the ADDIE instructional design model, supplemented by PDCA-based adaptive feedback and culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP), a ten-session Humanitude-based multicultural education program, titled Tree of Respect, Forest of the World, was developed and implemented in three community child centers in Yangsan City. Approximately 90 children participated in the program. A convergent mixed-methods design was employed. Quantitative data were collected using the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale (ISS) and the Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (MSLSS), while qualitative data were gathered through participant observation, teacher interviews, student-produced artifacts, and reflective journals.
Quantitative analyses revealed statistically significant improvements across all ISS subscales—respect, openness, empathy, attentiveness, and self-confidence—as well as across all MSLSS domains, including family, peer relations, school experience, self-perception, and perceived environment. Effect sizes ranged from medium to large, with particularly pronounced gains observed among children from multicultural backgrounds, suggesting that the program functioned as a protective and relationally supportive intervention for socially and emotionally vulnerable learners.
Qualitative analyses identified four interrelated developmental themes: (1) the formation of psychological safety through consistent Humanitude interaction routines, (2) the expansion of emotional literacy and empathic communication via reflective and dialogic practices, (3) the internalization of cooperative norms and fair-play behaviors through collaborative activities, and (4) the enhancement of cultural responsiveness, marked by a shift from surface-level curiosity toward respectful and civic-oriented engagement with cultural difference. Triangulated findings demonstrated strong convergence between quantitative outcomes and qualitative behavioral evidence, including increased use of respectful and empathic language, reduced derogatory expressions, improved cooperation, and the emergence of civic values in student artifacts.
The findings suggest that Humanitude functions as a form of relational pedagogy that enables the internalization of multicultural values through embodied interaction, emotional grounding, and the repetition of value-based social routines. By foregrounding interactional quality and relational continuity, the program presents a viable alternative to experience-centered multicultural education models.
This study contributes academically by extending Humanitude beyond the domain of care into educational theory and practice, and by empirically demonstrating a relationship-based mechanism for multicultural value internalization. Practically, it highlights the importance of reorienting multicultural education toward relational and value-centered processes, integrating Humanitude principles into teacher education, and recognizing community child centers as critical lifeworld-based educational spaces. Limitations include the absence of a control group, contextual constraints inherent to community-based settings, and the need for longitudinal follow-up. Future research is recommended to explore application within formal school curricula, digital learning environments, and diverse regional contexts to assess sustainability and scalability.