UMD Theses and Dissertations
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Item THE EXPERIENCES OF KOREAN IMMIGRANT PARENTS OF CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS IN THE AMERICAN SPECIAL EDUCATION SYSTEM(2020) Joo, Riah; Beckman, Paula J; Special Education; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)“At the end of the day, the most overwhelming key to a child’s success is the positive involvement of parents.” Jane D. Hull Korean families demonstrate a very strong enthusiasm for education. However, like other parents in the United States Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CLD), Korean immigrant parents face obstacles that make it difficult for them to participate successfully in the U.S. special education system (Park & Turnbull, 2001). Apart from mandating States to ensure free and appropriate public education for all students with disabilities, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Amendments of 1997 and their subsequent reauthorizations also encourage parent involvement in the special education system by mandating institutions to see parents as equally responsible for the development of their children’s Individualized Education Program (IEPs). However, there is a gap between policy and practice: CLD parents have described the IEP process as frustrating and complicated (Lo, 2008; Salas, 2004). Prior research has also revealed specific barriers that marginalize CLD parents and limit them to passive roles in the IEP process (Cho & Gannotti, 2005; Cummings & Hardin, 2017; Garcia et al., 2000; Kummerer et al., 2007; Lo, 2008, 2009; Tellier-Robinson, 2000; Trainor, 2010). These barriers include language, cultural differences, insufficient information, and feelings of disrespect. Given the lack of research on Korean parents’ perceptions of parental participation in the U.S. special education system, the purpose of this study was to explore and understand the experiences of Korean immigrant parents who have children with disabilities in the U.S. special education system. Each individual’s experience of participating in special education processes in the United States was examined to answer the following four research questions: 1) How do Korean parents of children with disabilities describe their experiences with the special education system in the United States? 2) What community supports do Korean parents access to help them navigate the special education system? 3) What factors facilitate the Korean parents’ participation in the U.S. special education system? and 4) What factors serve as barriers to the Korean parents’ participation in the U.S. special education system? The data sources included a questionnaire, open-ended interviews, observations, and relevant documents. All Korean parents in this study agreed that the special education system in the United States was excellent. However, they reported that dealing with "the system" was a struggle for them and they wanted to be more familiar with and knowledgeable about how it worked. The parents reported that trust and partnership with professionals and having a knowledgeable advocate were important factors that facilitated their participation in the school system, while language barriers, cultural differences, a lack of trust with professionals, and a lack of relevant information served as barriers that hindered their participation. They expressed a consistent desire to be more actively engaged in the school system. The study suggests that qualified interpreter services and systemic and sustained state/community-level support are each needed to facilitate Korean parents’ participation in the special education system. It also suggests that teachers and associated professionals need a deeper understanding and acknowledgment of certain cultural differences to build good, working partnerships with these Korean parents. Keywords: Korean immigrant parents, parent participation, parent involvement, children with disabilities, special education systemItem KOREAN IMMIGRANT MOTHERS’ EDUCATIONAL BELIEFS AND PRACTICES: A TRANSNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE(2015) Kim, Ji Hyun; Wiseman, Donna L; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study analyzed the parental involvement experiences of four first-generation Korean immigrant mothers living in a Mid-Atlantic state to expand the research base and knowledge of traditional parental involvement paradigms. The study was guided by two overarching research questions: 1) How do four Korean immigrant mothers understand and perform their roles in the educational experiences of their children?; and 2) How do contexts (i.e. micro, meso, macro, and transnational) influence the mothers’ understandings and performance of their roles in the educational experiences of their children? Multiple concepts and frameworks related to parent involvement and immigrant experiences informed the conceptual framework of this study. They include the parent role construction of Hoover-Dempsey et al. (2005); the minority parent role construction of Auerbach (2007); Cultural Ecological Theory (Ogbu & Simons, 1998); and transnationalism (Itzigsohn & Giorguli-Saucedo, 2005; Portes, 2003). Despite a certain level of variability among the participants’ educational beliefs and practices, they commonly regarded private supplementary education (e.g. hagwon, or Korean style afterschool programs, and private tutoring) as an effective means to give a competitive edge to their children academically, which is largely practiced in Korea. Also, not all mothers placed priority on school-based involvement including school visits and Parent Teacher Association membership. The findings suggest that the mothers’ current perceptions, expectations, and behaviors related to their children’s education are influenced by their upbringing and educational experiences in Korea, continuing transnational interactions with people and culture in Korea, and their racial and ethnic minority status in the U.S. The findings also suggest that a traditional school-centered conceptualization of parent involvement may be limited in capturing immigrant parents’ strong commitment of their children’s education, which may not be congruent with conventional norms of school involvement. As U.S. federal government and local school districts continue to emphasize parents as partners in education, teachers and administrators will benefit from this analysis of one growing population which demonstrates high achievement in the school system. Furthermore, this research challenges and expands a stereotypical and monolithic understanding of Korean immigrants as “model minority” through a detailed case study of one group of mothers.