Exploring the impacts of a South Korean alternative school on North Korean refugees’ educational attitudes, satisfaction, and behavior

This exploratory phenomenological study sought to investigate North Korean refugees’ lived experiences in the North Korean education system through the conceptual framework of Bandura’s (1986) triarchic reciprocal determination model to investigate the potential impacts that transitioning to a South Korean alternative school has had on their attitudes toward education, educational satisfaction, and educational behavior. Data were gathered through a survey, followed by semi-structured interviews from 21 secondary school students studying at an alternative school specifically designed for North Korean refugees in the Seoul-metropolitan area to explore their experiences in North Korea and the alternative school, and about their perspectives on how this new educational environment has affected their educational attitudes, satisfaction, and behavior. The students reported that the changes they experienced in educational objectives and focus at the South Korean alternative school positively impacted their educational attitudes, led to feelings of greater satisfaction with their education, and led to increases in their work ethic and focus on study. The results of the study suggest that an educational system that provides North Korean refugees with freedom and support to develop personal skills and knowledge to pursue their aspirations or goals can have positive impacts on the way they view education and the satisfaction they feel from it, which can lead to positive changes in their educational behavior.