다문화 중도입국 청소년의 눈을 통해 본이주 후 초기 적응 경험: 포토보이스 방법의 적용

Abstract

Korea, historically a mono-ethnic country, has recently experienced asurging immigration. Due to the lack of policies as well as awarenesstoward immigrants, and especially immigrant children, they sufferchallenges in settling down in the new country. This study aims toexplore the lived experiences of adolescent immigrants in Korea inwords and visual images using Photovoice. Six sessions were conductedover two months in 2011 with six participants in Korea. Theparticipants chose the following six themes to talk and take photosabout: Friends, my daily life, culture, love, myself, and stress and energysources. Select narratives and photo images are presented and discussed. Adolescent immigrants might be ostracized and pushed aside to theperiphery in school. Lack of school policies and cultural shock resultingfrom fierce competition and intense curriculum in the Korean schoolsystems seem to worsen their adjustment in school. Adolescent immigrants seem to be resilient despite all the challenges. Suchstrengths need to be considered in developing programs for them. Language training for this population and diversity training for teachersand administrators as well as students are urgently needed. Programs toprepare adolescent immigrants for their new host culture would be alsoessential.