A narrative inquiry on the school life experience of the immigrated youth of the Koryosaram

The purpose of this study is to explore the school life of immigrated youths from Russia and Central Asia along with their Koryosaram parents who are working in Korea. Three immigrated students who had experienced Korean school life at least for one year were chosen as participants. The researchers inquired about their experiences using narrative inquiry method and analyzed their experiences that were divided into three themes: peer relations, relationships with teachers and academic achievement. The results were as follows. First, the communication problem due to the limitation of Korean language appeared throughout their school life. Second, lack of Korean language ability and cultural differences in relationship with peers made it difficult to form intimacy with each other. Participants experienced bullying after listening to swearing, which in turn, had led them to school maladjustment. Third, they felt kindness in the relationship with the teacher, but as time passed by, the feeling had been changed into indifference and ignorance especially when they were excluded from school activities. Fourth, in terms of academic achievement, the gap between excellent school records obtained in their home country and their low grade in Korea also caused difficulties for them. More specifically, the different curriculum and progress level made it difficult for them to adapt themselves to a new academic context.