Multicultural Education Policies and Practices in South Korea: A Case of North Korean Migrant Students and Science Education

Abstract

Educational equity issues in South Korea have been discussed since the inception of the modern education system in the late 1800s. The focus of the discussion shifted over the twentieth century from equal education opportunities across social class boundaries to socioeconomic status boundaries. At the turn of the twenty-first century, the discussion on domestic educational equity expanded as the student population diversified to include students from foreign migrant worker families, international marriages, and North Korean migrant families. This chapter first establishes some background information about educational inequity issues in South Korea and the notion of epistemic justice for social integration. Then, a case of North Korean migrant students in Korean educational policies and practices is presented in relation to the literature on the education of refugee students while highlighting exemplary policies and science education practices for epistemic justice. It is suggested that inclusive science learning should pay attention to reciprocal transformation and epistemic justice through exemplary programs that treat students with diverse cultural backgrounds as societal resources and help students use their own hermeneutic resources in science learning.