Thesis (M.A.)--Denver Seminary, 2006. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 39-48).

Please read the abstract (Summary) in the section, 00front of this document / Thesis (PhD (Practical Theology))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Practical Theology / PhD / unrestricted

The purpose of this qualitative study is to understand the beliefs and experiences of Korean immigrant parents who chose to send their children to a Korean dual language bilingual education (DLBE) program in the United States. Utilizing cultural historical activity theory and bilingualism as theoretical and conceptual frameworks, the author explored (a) how these parents’ prior experiences, transnational/transcultural knowledge, ethnic and cultural identities, and language ideologies have contributed to their educational decision and (b) how the parents are mobilizing their children’s heritage language education through a DLBE program. To honor and value the participants’ emic view, this study employed in-depth individual interviews, activity-based focused group interviews, home visits, and participant observations. Furthermore, for participants to experience and explore dynamic ways to share their stories and lived experiences, the author facilitated opportunities for multiple multimodal research activities such as a shared community walk, a word association activity, and a map drawing activity. The findings revealed that the most important motivation for choosing a Korean DLBE program over English-only programs came from their strong Korean ethnic pride and identity, which they all felt obliged to pass on to their children. Additionally, the participants became social, cultural, and educational resources for each other to compensate and overcome various challenges in supporting their children’s bilingual education due to the short bilingual teacher retention, isolated program configuration, and discontinuity of the program after elementary school. All the participants embodied the importance of maintaining heritage language and culture, actively supporting their children’s in and out of school experience and advocating for their children’s bilingual education. This study offers implications and suggestions for teaching and research as well as for ethnically, culturally, and linguistically marginalized immigrant bilingual communities. The author hopes to contribute to research and pedagogical practices in bilingual/bicultural education, heritage language learning, and community-based research, focusing on finding ways to better serve minoritized immigrant communities in the United States.

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Thesis (D. Min.)--Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2002. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 107-111).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2002. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 107-111).

Based on data concerning Korean Americans affected by mental health problems, it is apparent that current methods of providing mental health services are not adequate. The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of various mental disorders and barriers keeping Korean Americans from utilizing mental health services.

This is one of the first qualitative studies to investigate experiences of Korean-American Christians living in New York City at the time of 9/11. This study sought to gain an understanding of how a group of Second Generation Korean-American Christians living in New York City at the time of the 9/11 attacks experienced that event and the event's impact on their religious beliefs. The study also investigated the communication context at the time of the ten year anniversary of the event, September 11th, 2011. The guiding research questions were: RQ1) What were their life experiences of 9/11? RQ2) Was their religious status affected by the event? RQ3) What is being communicated about 9/11 after 10 years? The research design was a phenomenological study that included eight individual interviews with second generation Korean-Americans who were 14-18 years of age at the time of the 9/11 attacks. Four initial macro level thematic patterns emerged: I: The day of the attack. II: Immediate Post 9/11. III: Religious Impact. IV: 9/11 Ten years later. Some key findings in the study included narratives of various emotional responses to the event, such as panic, disbelief, and fear. Age was significant, as participants recognized how their age during and after the event, impacted their lived experiences and understanding of 9/11. Location impacted participants and their loved ones. Each participant was in high school during 9/11 which affected ways of gathering information, the impact of seeing smoke coming from the World Trade Towers, and having poor cell phone reception. The study also revealed that two participants became more religious and active in the Christian church directly because of 9/11, while the attitudes, beliefs, and practices of the other six participants were found to be unaffected by 9/11. At the ten year anniversary of 9/11 safety in New York City and in U.S. post 9/11, 'feeling vulnerable' to attacks, and 9/11 being `just another day' were among the issues addressed by participants.

<p>Children of post-1965 Asian immigrants experience a different mode of social incorporation than other people of color. They achieve marked socioeconomic advancement but racism and discrimination continue to haunt them. Sociologists suggest that the group falls between whites and African Americans in the American racial stratification system. However, scholars know little about how this intermediate position shapes the group's modes of social incorporation and identities. I seek to answer this question by examining the lived experiences of grown children of Korean immigrants. For this research, I draw upon 69 in-depth interviews with upwardly mobile, 1.5- and 2nd-generation Korean Americans. I focus my analysis on four distinctive but related aspects of their lives: parental socialization, neighborhood contexts, occupational standing, and racial identity. Utilizing the grounded theory and the critical discourse analyses, I found that the group experiences neither full inclusion into nor exclusion from the white mainstream, but undergoes divergent adaptational experiences due to multiple factors. First, in their upbringing, Asian ethnic advantages and racial marginality did not shape parental expectations for children's success in a uniform way; their influences differ by the parents' class backgrounds. Second, the community contexts where my informants grew up diversify their perception of race relations, leading them to have divergent ideas of social incorporation. The ethnic communities function to refract the influence of the larger society's racial categorization on the informants, rather than insulating them. Third, the Korean informants' upward mobility in the mainstream labor market does not guarantee full assimilation; their occupations partially determine the extent of incorporation. Korean informants in Asian-clustered occupations are more likely than those in Asian-underrepresented occupations to experience social inclusion while accepting the racialized image of Asians. Finally, my Korean informants do not have homogeneous racial identities; they are diversified by gender and occupational standings. Male respondents and those in Asian-clustered occupations tend to have white-like identities. Also, the majority of my informants have an ambivalent racial identity that denies that they are an "oppressed" minority while endorsing the idea that they are non-white, which reflects their intermediate racial position. By identifying multiple factors in the construction of Asian Americans as racialized subjects, the findings illustrate the distinctive racialization pattern of Asian Americans, a pattern that is qualitatively different from other racial and ethnic groups. Additionally the research confirms the ongoing significance of race in the life chances of Korean Americans.</p> / Dissertation

This study explores three Korean American social studies teachers' experiences of teaching social studies, focusing on their curricular and pedagogical perceptions and practices. Framed by sociocultural theory, this study aims to shed light on the heterogeneous stories and socially and culturally contextualized teaching experiences of Korean American social studies teachers, which have been largely undocumented in the social studies scholarship. The major research question for this study is: How do three Korean American social studies teachers perceive social studies curriculum and implement pedagogy in the realities of their classrooms? Subsidiary questions are: (a) What are these Korean American social studies teachers' perceptions and experiences of teaching profession in American public schools?; (b) How do these Korean American social studies teachers perceive social studies curriculum and implement pedagogy in the realities of classrooms?; and (c) How do sociocultural experiences of these teachers influence their curricular and pedagogical practices? This qualitative multicase study investigates three Korean American teachers who taught global history in urban public high schools in the Northeast. Data sources include a semester-long classroom observation, interviews, and artifacts. Findings indicate these three Korean American teachers exhibited diverse, complex, and contextualized experiences of teaching profession, and particularly teaching social studies. The racial minority teachers' experiences of racism and academic struggles during K-12 schooling, cross-cultural/international experiences, and familial immigration backgrounds served as a springboard for them to have better understandings of their culturally and linguistically diverse students and to teach for global/multicultural perspectives. Powerful teacher education infused with social justice perspectives and supportive, autonomous, and cooperative school atmosphere aided them to implement student-centered, inquiry-based pedagogies which improved academic engagement of their students. Meanwhile, misguided curricular beliefs and philosophical stance, rigid school culture, bureaucratic school personnel, pressure from high-stakes tests, test-driven contexts, and racism pervasive in school culture became barriers for the teachers to practice culturally relevant and meaningful pedagogy in their classrooms.