USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center
Abstract
The purpose of this research was to explore how bi-ethnic children in South Korea understand their identity using a participatory action research (PAR) method. The number of bi-ethnic/multicultural families and children is increasing in South Korea, matched with a rising xenophobia towards these groups. Thus, the need for research that captured the inner thoughts and feelings of children, through their own voices, seems of paramount importance for a more secure and authentic identity development. The findings from this research provided evidence through their own storybooks that bi-ethnic Korean children had individual identity experiences in different contexts through diverse development processes. The PAR methodology enabled children to make their voices heard in the academic field through reflections and dialogue, producing a new genuine knowledge connected to their own lives. There is a hope that this study will empower the underrepresented bi-ethnic Korean children to develop their consciousness, make their own voices heard, and change their status