The Nordic Myth in Education: Performing Transnational Whiteness through Other-Making

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Thursday 4:15pm
  In Poster Session: Critical Examination of Race, Ethnicity, Class, and Gender Poster Session

Abstract

This study explores the dynamics of transnational whiteness within the South Korean context through what we name the Nordic myth—the prevalence of celebrating Nordic education. We use narrative inquiry, focusing on how narratives about Nordic European countries’ (NECs) education are shared, interpreted, and received in South Korean monographs. We identified two recurring strategies used to sustain this myth: purification and distinction. Purification necessitates the erasure of internal differences or contradictions that might undermine the Nordic myth. Distinction emphasizes how NECs are set apart from other countries through active comparisons as a value-laden process. We find that the Nordic myth is constructed through a triangulation of whiteness, modernity, and colonialism, positioning NECs as the normative center and ideal in education.

Authors

• Woomok Jeong, University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Dugyum Kim, University of Minnesota

• Younkyung Hong, Ball State University