Critical discourse analysis of multicultural education policies and their local implementation in Korea

Because of marriage-immigrants and migrant-workers, demographic diversity has rapidly increased in South Korea since the late 1990s. Discourses of multicultural education have arisen in the field of early childhood education; they have focused on having children with diverse linguistic backgrounds adapt to Korean language and customs. What are the national goals of multicultural education policies for young children in Korea? This study investigated multicultural education policies for young children. Critical Discourse Analysis was used to examine values and hidden ideologies in policy texts. Findings demonstrate that, by borrowing and selecting favorite words from Western multicultural education models or theories, policymakers reframed early childhood multicultural education to assimilate ethnic minorities in Korea. National educational institutions functioned as the dominant form of producing and controlling the notion of multicultural family and education. It is recommended that policymakers in Korea consider experiences of teachers and voices of parents and children from culturally diverse backgrounds in developing multicultural education programs