• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.66 no.2
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• pp.127-157
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• 2014

The multicultural family support project provides support services to female marriage immigrants to promote their settlement in Korea and their adaptation to marital life. This study thus investigated whether utilization of such support services is indeed related to positive changes perceived among these female marriage immigrants, and these changes, in turn, contribute to less marital conflict, marital well-being, and hope. Data were drawn from a self-administered questionnaire study in which 558 female marriage immigrants participated through the 36 centers across the nation that provided multicultural family support services based on cultural relativism and a strengths perspective. Results of structural equation modeling analyses revealed that utilization of support services, as predicted, contributed to positive changes, and such changes, in turn, were directly related to less marital conflict, higher marital well-being, and hope. As expected, marital conflict was negatively associated with marital well-being, which, in turn, promoted hope. Thus, through these paths positive changes also contributed positively to both marital well-being and hope. However, when the effects of length of residence in Korea and an ability to command Korean language were controlled for, a positive significant relationship between service utilization and marital conflict was revealed. Therefore this paper discussed the ways in which positive functions of such service utilization can be strengthened while at the same time actively addressing the dysfunctional components of such support services.

• 지역과문화
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.99-126
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• 2020

This study aimed to investigate the effects of multicultural complexes on activating local culture. Prior studies that discuss activating local culture through multicultural complexes focus on literature reviews or quantitative research methods, which do not incorporate the detailed and practical opinions of the users of the location. Therefore, this study collected detailed information through in-depth interviews with users, and investigated the future development methods of multicultural complexes based on the obtained information. It focused on the Asia Culture Center (ACC) in Gwangju, which is considered a prime example of a multicultural complex, and conducted in-depth interviews with citizens who have lived in Gwangju for at least five years as well as visited the ACC to investigate the research question from a detailed perspective. The results revealed that although the citizens of Gwangju have a positive perception of the functions of ACC as a cultural space representing the city that activates the local culture, they perceive it as partially insufficient to be considered a multicultural complex. Major findings included the following: the contents of the ACC do not have a mass appeal, its inflexible hours of operation inconvenience visitors, and the contents available for visitors lack in quantity and quality. Therefore, in order for the ACC to appeal as a successful multicultural complex, it is necessary to cooperate with the members of the community to investigate their needs with respect to the contents and location, and prepare strategic plans to satisfy those needs.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.24-31
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• 2018

This study investigated the effects of critical thinking and empathy on the cultural competence of dental hygienists and students. A total of 529 dental hygiene students were randomly sampled and included as subjects. PASW Statistics for Windows ver. 18.0 was used to obtain the following results. Among the critical thinking sub-domains, cognitive integration was the highest and the lowest. Empathic ability had the highest acceptance factor among the sub-domains. Cultural competence was the highest among the sub-domains, while cultural knowledge was the lowest. According to their general characteristics, subject age, grade, religion, and economic level influenced the cultural capacity. Cultural awareness and sensitivity were high when there were foreign visiting experiences. Cultural awareness, sensitivity, skills, and knowledge were high when subjects had experienced multicultural education (p<0.05). Cultural awareness, sensitivity, skill, experience, and knowledge were correlated with critical thinking and cultural competence, among which cultural sensitivity showed the highest correlation (p<0.001). There was a correlation between cultural awareness and sensitivity, skill, and experience among the empathy and cultural competency sub-domains (p<0.001). The factors influencing cultural awareness included intellectual integration, openness, prudence, and perspective-taking (p<0.001). The factors influencing cultural sensitivity included intellectual integration, openness, and empathic concern (p<0.001). The factors influencing cultural skill included intellectual integration, creativity, and conductivity (p<0.001). The factors influencing cultural experience included prudence, objectivity, perspective-taking, and personal distress (p<0.001). Finally, the factors influencing cultural knowledge included creativity and conductivity (p<0.001). The results indicate that dental hygiene students should be equipped with cultural competence to enhance critical thinking and empathy required by the modern society and optimized dental hygiene courses should be provided for multicultural subjects.

• Human Ecology Research
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.355-369
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• 2014

The in-law relationship traditionally plays a major role in Korean marriages and families because parents-in-law prefer to stay with their son under the same roof. The recent spike in the number of intercultural matches in South Korea may be provoking changes in the traditional family experience. The object of this qualitative study was to explore the contextual factors causing conflicts between mothers-in-law and their daughters-in-law in multicultural families. Six mother and daughter in-law dyads from rural areas of South Korea were recruited and interviewed. We found that the mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law had had different motives for the marriage at first. Five major themes emerged from the analysis of the dyadic interviews: the conflicts of the participants were embedded in the alternative family formation, in financial strains and the power structure, barriers in communication, cultural insensitivity and conflicts between value systems, as well as in role conflicts due to differing role expectations and hegemony. In conclusion, the authors of this study suggest that increasing cultural sensitivity and communication skills in immigrant daughter-in-law an Korean mother-in-law relationships will be crucial for a healthy in-law relationship. The need for the availability of Multicultural Family Centers' services in the community was highlighted. In order for mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law to form positive relationships, it is important to facilitate a variety of easily accessible educational programs in the community focusing on fostering the mother-in-law's understanding of the daughter-in-law's perspective.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.618-629
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• 2023

Although society has become increasingly diverse, on a few studies analyzed elementary science textbooks in terms of race or disability. Therefore, this study analyzed character illustrations presented in elementary science textbooks in terms of multiculturalism and disability. It identified 14 approved elementary science textbooks for the 2015 revised curriculum, which are used during the first and second semesters in the third grade. First, analysis of the race of character illustrations in elementary science textbooks indicated that 8.2% of them are multicultural, which is higher than the actual proportion of foreigners living in Korea. In addition, most of them were white illustrations, whereas Asian foreign illustrations made up the least, which suggests a different distribution in the Korean context. The study observed significant differences in distribution according to publishers. Second, the gender distribution of multicultural character illustrations differed by 59.0% and 41.0% for men and women, respectively, and the gender variation between publishers was relatively large in which a few publishers accounted for 80% of male multicultural figures. The third pertained to the function of illustrations, that is, the distribution of illustrations of Koreans and multicultural figures was similar in terms of the order of illustrations with explanatory functions followed by exemplary, decorative, and supplementary functions. Finally, from the perspective of diversity in disability, the proportion of illustrations with disability was 2.0%, which was less than the actual proportion in Korea. The study discussed the need to consider the situation and diversity of Korea in terms of race and d isability.

• Journal of Family Relations
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.157-177
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• 2018

Objectives: The study aims to develop an understanding of the experience of migrant husbands with their South Korean in-laws, specifically from the perspective of migrant husbands from developing countries who reside in South Korea. Method: In total, 13 semi-structured interviews were carried out. Results: The themes drawn from the interview data were "attempting to be accepted as sons-in-law by the in-laws," "interacting closely with in-laws," and "building a nest of their own." When it comes to "struggling to be recognized as sons-in-law" by their Korean families, the migrant husbands in this study met with a high level of opposition from in-laws and sometimes their own family members, made considerable efforts to be accepted as sons-in-law, and then were finally accepted as sons-in-law (although not every migrant husband achieved this). Regarding "interacting closely with in-laws," migrant husbands tried to be recognized as real family members, became hyoja (filial sons) for the sake of their wives and children, and felt a burden about mismatched expectations regarding family roles and obligations. Regarding the final theme, "building a nest of their own," the men tried to be themselves, to attain an equal position to their in-laws, and to maintain a moderate distance between themselves and their in-laws. Conclusions: The study has significant implications for existing government programs designed for multicultural families and how they can be made more inclusive, as well as how new programs can help to improve the relationships between Korean in-laws and migrant husbands.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.211-237
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• 2015

The purpose of this study was to explore early childhood pre-service teachers' belief in homosexuality. This study applied the Q-method to investigate teachers'subjective awareness of homosexuality. Using an open questionnaire, we asked participants to describe how they think about homosexuality. Forty-five pre-service teachers were Q-sampled. Using the QUANL program, 45 statements were classified into 9 levels. Results revealed that image types of early childhood pre-service teachers can be classified into four distinguished categories: 1) type of respect: to regard gays and lesbians as normal people who love the same sex, 2) type of acknowledgment: to regard them as very unique people who attract people's attention, 3) type of relation-denying: to regard them as someone who were born totally differently, and 4) type of extremely denying-to regard them not being respected and disgusting. Most of the teachers seemed to have a tendency to acknowledge and respect individuals'sexual orientation. However, some pre-service teachers still have a negative attitude toward homosexuality. The significance of this study is to reveal the silenced issue, that is, sexual orientation in the field of early childhood multicultural education. Teachers can have a strong effect on young children's belief about sexual identity and sexual orientation. It would be important to look back on educators'perspective on homosexuality before suggesting the direction of multicultural education of young children related to the issue of sexual orientation.

• Human Ecology Research
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.141-154
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• 2016

This study examined the nature of multi-cultural families' housing problems living in South Korea. A qualitative research was conducted through in-depth interviews with immigrant women from three Southeast Asian countries. The subjects of this study were 15 married immigrants from the Philippine, Cambodia, and Vietnam living in Seoul. The major findings were as follows: firstly, reciprocity for the in-between person and environment: the preferred to blend into Korean society instead of making a community based on national origin. Secondly, intention to housing: all participants were passive about moving and the Vietnamese and Cambodians placed more importance on the family community than the Filipinas. Thirdly, meaning of housing and interaction: for the most important area in the house, the Vietnamese and Cambodians stated that rooms were for a couple and treated family space more importantly than Filipinas who pursuit personal comfort. Fourthly, housing adaptation process: adapting to climate difference between home countries and Korea was the biggest difficulty. Fifthly, residential satisfaction/dissatisfaction: mostly satisfied with housing facilities; however, they were dissatisfied with the number of rooms and house size due to a necessity for personal space. In conclusion, ideas implied from native country of married immigrants in multicultural families did not change significantly in preference of the current environment. The needs for an ethnic community was not great, because they seemed able to assimilate positively by living with a Korean husband and relatives. Gradual assimilation through a cultural acculturation process can be considered desirable.

• Journal of Educational Research in Mathematics
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.113-135
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• 2017

The purpose of the research was to develop an analysis framework for Korean mathematics textbooks from a critical mathematics education perspective. For this, we conducted a comprehensive literature review regarding critical theory, critical education, and critical mathematics education. Based on the literature review, we derived a preliminary framework for textbook analysis. To validate the preliminary framework delphi survey was carried out twice with 21 expert panelists in the field of mathematics education and multicultural education. The first delphi survey was conducted with open-ended questions to investigate diverse opinions regarding educational goals, contents, and teaching methods of critical mathematics education. The second delphi survey was conducted with Likert-type scale and it was analyzed using Mean, Contents Validity Ratio, Degree of Consensus. As the result of the whole research procedures, the final analysis framework was developed consisting of four categories: classical knowledge, community knowledge, communicative knowledge, and political knowledge. A development of the analysis framework from a critical mathematics education perspective could give a significant impact on the mathematics curriculum or mathematic teacher education in the Korea and a meaningful initial step for the effort of practicing critical mathematics education. It is expected that this study could not only incite consideration for the better mathematics education but also expand the prospect of research and practice in mathematics education. This study would provide a new paradigm of future mathematics education with which to teach and guide students to become members of world civil society with mathematical power and critical competency.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.12-24
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• 2017

This paper analyzed the representation of migrants in television with the example of KBS's My Neighbor, Charles. This primetime TV show with consistent popularity has showcased different types of migrants from other Korean television shows in terms of gender and race, and, partly the difference brought popularity to it. This study finds the major reason of the difference from changed migration patterns in Korea. Until recently, the main population of immigrants in Korea was composed of female brides and workers, but it became diversified to include male and the West migrants. This triggered the changes in media representation, but not thoroughly. Though the faces of migrant protagonists have been diversified, the remaining ideology of nation-centric that has been the main frame to regard migrants as someone to be integrated through traditional values persists. This study finds a few conflicts between the traditional and the change. For example, represented realities of migrants are extends to include their activities in public domain, disputes of multicultural society such as social differentiation and bias, and the criticism of Korean traditional culture. In a gender perspective, while all the marriages represented showed different kinds of vulnerability, discourses of traditional familialism were also clearly presented through different tools of representation. This study aims at contributing existing studies of media representations of migrants with a more complicated pictures in the context of social changes and migration population changes.