Between Foes and Friends: North Korean Defector Students' Making of Self in South Korean Classroom

• In Event: 25.085 - Sheraton Roundtable One - Osgoode Ballroom
  In Roundtable Session: 25.085-3 - Mapping Self-Other Relations in Curricular Spaces

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to unravel the experience of ‘making of self’ of North Korean defector students through their schooling in South Korea. By focusing on the muted stories of the students from North Korea, this study critically examines the clash between curricular knowledge and its power of ‘making kinds of people’ on the body of students. For this purpose, the authors used semi-structured interview data with 20 students and their teachers and parents. Based on three findings about students’ surviving strategies, the authors ask to rethink about the culture of normalization and surveillance of schooling, and struggles of students who are considered as abnormal, threat, and dangerous in today’s schools.

Authors

• Ji-Hye Kim, Korean Educational Development Institute

• Jisoo Kim, Korean Educational Development Institute