The purpose of this study was to examine school educational conditions in an attempt to step up the settlement of teenaged North Korean defectors, since there has been an increase in the number of youth who defected from the North. Teenaged North Kore...
The purpose of this study was to examine school educational conditions in an attempt to step up the settlement of teenaged North Korean defectors, since there has been an increase in the number of youth who defected from the North. Teenaged North Korean defectors face more difficulties in school adjustment as they become senior students, and many go to specialty high schools or alternative schools when they go to high school. Although many teenaged North Korean defectors want to study in regular high school, they find it hard to fit in regular high school, and it's necessary to pay attention to their troubles and to help step up their school adjustment. If they are disregarded for a long time, they will be reduced to the lower class because of their poor academic background in South Korean society that emphasizes educational level, and that will lead to another great social problems.
Earlier studies were analyzed to look into the characteristics, family environments and school lives of teenaged North Korean defectors and existing school educational policies geared toward them. And a survey was conducted on teenaged North Korean defectors and their guardians (parents) in Seoul, Busan and Incheon to find out their educational needs. After the answer sheets from 163 respondents were gathered, the answer sheets from 155 respondents were analyzed. The questionnaire used in this study consisted of 46 items about school instruction, school life, peer relationship, relationship with teachers and suggestions for education and of additional items on basic information to figure out the state of their education and their educational needs. The collected data were analyzed by the statistical package SPSS WIN 19.0 to find out their satisfaction with school and school life and their educational needs.
The major findings of the study were as follows:
First, like the findings of earlier studies, the teenaged North Korean defectors and their parents were found to be highly satisfied with school life. It indicated that they were contented with school education in South Korea in general, and is linked to the fact that there was a lot of decrease in the rate of school dropout among teenaged North Korean defectors as of 2007.
Second, three-month education provided by Hanawon wasn't of great use to the teenaged North Korean defectors, and this view of the students run counter to that of their parents. The parents considered that education to be helpful, but the students themselves didn't think that the education provided by Hanawon was good enough to ensure their adjustment to regular school. Therefore how to improve the curriculum of Hanawon to facilitate the school adjustment of defector students should carefully be considered.
Third, the teenaged North Korean defectors and their parents were under heavy pressure due to educational expenses, and they wanted the government to formulate educational policies to expedite their school adjustment. Basically, North Korea provided 11-year compulsory education, though the economic hardship of the North made it difficult to offer free education all the time, and the defector students and their parents faced pressure due to private education spending since the North assumed the responsibility for education in the past. To remedy the situation, one-on-one mentoring should be provided, which is very effective yet isn't yet well known.
Fourth, the defector adolescents had a lot of emotional troubles as well while they took a long time to defect from the North, and how to offer emotional assistance for them should be devised.
The findings of the study had the following educational implications:
First, teenaged North Korean defectors who had lived in social, cultural and political systems that are totally different from those of the South are sent to regular school after they receive three-month education in South Korea, and they face lots of difficulties in school adjustment. Specifically, more careful consideration should be given to them in terms of emotion. The three-month short-term and formal adjustment education provided by Hanawon should be replaced with more long-term and authentic education.
Second, the teenaged North Korean defectors investigated in this study were eager to get ahead in society, but their learning stages weren't high enough to get their dream job when they become senior students. Therefore it's required to shed light on career education geared toward defector students. As their parents also were eager to participate in educational programs for the sake of their children, the educational network for defectors should be more backed up from diverse angles.
Third, the teenaged North Korean defectors wanted to be helped in their studies. So the government should offer more financial assistance so that they could benefit from inclusive support that involves academic, emotional and physical backing.
Since just a survey was conducted in this study to find out the educational needs of defector students to step up their school adjustment, the findings might not be generalizable. The students and parents gave different replies when they were asked whether education provided by Hanawon was conducive to school adjustment or not, but it's not possible in this study to pinpoint the reason. In the future, what made the parents and students reacted differently and what measures should be taken about that should be considered.
On the other hand, there was much room for improvement in emotional education provided by Hanawon, and teenaged North Korean defectors who get hurt while they tried to defect from the North for a long time are forced to adapt themselves to competitive South Korean society without being healed at all. So research efforts should be channeled in the future into their emotional healing and the development of effective programs for Hanawon.