재외동포 영유아 양육 가치관 및 실태 연구: 베트남과 우즈베키스탄을 중심으로

Abstract

In 2010, the Korean government permitted the establishment of kindergartens attached to Korean schools operating overseas, and granted voting rights to Korean nationals living overseas as well as limited dual citizenship. Recognizing the importance of these changes, this study aims to support the right to education for children of ethnic Koreans living overseas and to promote their human resource investment for the future. In addition, by examining the childrearing values and practices among Korean families living overseas, childrearing within multicultural families in Korea can be better understood and supported where necessary.

There is a dearth of studies on the subject of the young children of ethnic Koreans living overseas, and of those which do exist, most have focused on the childrearing values of Korean parents living overseas or alternatively, on the different forms of identity education for young people. This study is the first to examine childrearing among Korean Uzbekistanis. A survey was conducted among 1,200 overseas Korean parents and local parents in Vietnam and Uzbekistan. The researchers visited 19 different Korean kindergartens, Korean education institutes, Korean schools and local kindergartens to gather information about the current status of teaching and needs. Local information related to early childhood and education was collected by interviewing professors from early childhood education faculties in Hanoi University (Vietnam) and Tashkent State Pedagogical University (Uzbekistan).

The study has resulted in a broad range findings, among which were that Korean-Vietnamese parents, Korean-Uzbekistani parents, Goryeo parents (Korean Diaspora in Uzbekistan) were likely to make considerable sacrifices for their own children and give them the right to be heard. However, Korean parents were likely to position themselves above their children and expect them to respect their elders, monopolize the decision making process and give less importance to their children’s opinions. The findings also indicated that Korean parents were more likely to desire their children to pursue individual goals. They also diverged in their opinion in terms of the role of the mother as the main caregiver and a contributor in many family settings. The involvement of the father in association with host society’s cultural values and parenting values was high; overseas Korean fathers tended to spend more time with their children compared to their counterparts in Korea. The involvement of the father was particularly significant among Korean-Vietnamese and Korean-Uzbekistanis fathers as they tended to spend the most time with their children.

The study also revealed that almost all children of ethnic Koreans living overseas spoke Korean; however, older children were less likely to be exposed to Korean. Korean-Vietnamese and Korean-Uzbekistanis parents, for instance, shared different opinions about their children’s identity. Native mothers placed a high priority on their children having either their native identity or dual identities. However, Korean fathers valued children having a Korean identity more. On the other hand, Goryeo parents had a high expectation for their children to acquire Uzbekistani identity, with only 23% of them preferring their children to retain a Korean identity. 87.8% of Goryeo parents were proud of their Korean identity in comparison with 47.2% of Korean-Vietnamese parents and 52.4% of Korean-Uzbekistanis parents.

The findings indicated significant gaps in terms of pre-school education. While parents of higher-socio-economic status are likely to send their children to international schools and Korean kindergartens, parents of lower socio-economic status are likely to send their children to local kindergartens or were not able to send them to any pre-school institutions at all. Young children from Goryeo families were mainly raised by their grandparents in rural areas, thus they lacked support with regards to emotional development and academic learning.

This study illuminated the differences in the needs between different family types. Korean-Vietnamese, Korean-Uzbekistanis and Korean residents all agreed that they wanted the establishment of more kindergartens attached to Korean schools, bigger classes, parental education, education aimed at eliminating prejudices against multicultural families, and support for Korean lessons. However, Korean residents particularly were in favor of more support for school fees, access to libraries and wanted to see the establishment of cultural facilities. On the other hand, Goryeo parents (Korean Diaspora in Uzbekistan) wanted more Korean expatriate teachers and more Korean lessons and cultural activities to be made available.