title: Understanding outdoor education in South Korea: The perspectives of current leaders

authors: Hwang, Cho Rok

subjects: Outdoor education

abstract: Outdoor education includes the provision of outdoor learning experiences to assist youth’s holistic development in relation to the outdoor environment. The formalised educational practice of outdoor education internationally derived mainly from the Western part of the world, with famous Western scholars and philosophers providing the root of the ideas and theories (Wurdinger, 1997). The practice is now widespread in different parts of the world, including South Korea. However, outdoor education in South Korea has not yet gone through systematic development (Lee, 2018). In-depth exploration to understand outdoor education through the eyes of current outdoor education leaders in South Korea and the key influences and social and cultural context that impacted the delivery of outdoor education is, therefore, timely. This study aims to understand outdoor education in South Korea, focussing on why and how outdoor education in South Korea has shaped as it is today.

This interpretive qualitative study was framed by critical realism and contextualism and used culturally responsive approaches to explore and highlight the perspectives and experiences of current outdoor leaders in Korea. One-on-one semi-structured interviews were conducted online with six current outdoor education leaders in South Korea from different backgrounds. Through thematic analysis, four main themes were identified. The first theme focused on learning outdoor education in South Korea, highlighting the challenges leaders face in learning and developing themselves as an OE leader. The second theme explored policies and regulation that impacts the operation and delivery of outdoor education. The third theme explored the perception of outdoor education from different parts of society, including parents, teachers, schools and organisations. Lastly, the final theme explored these current leaders' ideas and perceptions of the future of OE in South Korea. Given the interconnection of each challenge identified through the analysis of four themes, for OE to flourish in South Korea, there was the need for clarification of outdoor education, investment in the development of Korean-style outdoor education and changes in perception. The research concludes with areas for further study, limitations and a summary of the entire research.

text: Understanding outdoor education in South Korea: The perspectives of current leaders Outdoor education includes the provision of outdoor learning experiences to assist youth’s holistic development in relation to the outdoor environment. The formalised educational practice of outdoor education internationally derived mainly from the Western part of the world, with famous Western scholars and philosophers providing the root of the ideas and theories (Wurdinger, 1997). The practice is now widespread in different parts of the world, including South Korea. However, outdoor education in South Korea has not yet gone through systematic development (Lee, 2018). In-depth exploration to understand outdoor education through the eyes of current outdoor education leaders in South Korea and the key influences and social and cultural context that impacted the delivery of outdoor education is, therefore, timely. This study aims to understand outdoor education in South Korea, focussing on why and how outdoor education in South Korea has shaped as it is today.

This interpretive qualitative study was framed by critical realism and contextualism and used culturally responsive approaches to explore and highlight the perspectives and experiences of current outdoor leaders in Korea. One-on-one semi-structured interviews were conducted online with six current outdoor education leaders in South Korea from different backgrounds. Through thematic analysis, four main themes were identified. The first theme focused on learning outdoor education in South Korea, highlighting the challenges leaders face in learning and developing themselves as an OE leader. The second theme explored policies and regulation that impacts the operation and delivery of outdoor education. The third theme explored the perception of outdoor education from different parts of society, including parents, teachers, schools and organisations. Lastly, the final theme explored these current leaders' ideas and perceptions of the future of OE in South Korea. Given the interconnection of each challenge identified through the analysis of four themes, for OE to flourish in South Korea, there was the need for clarification of outdoor education, investment in the development of Korean-style outdoor education and changes in perception. The research concludes with areas for further study, limitations and a summary of the entire research.

year: 2023

title: Unpredictable, Incurable, Unemployable? A Collection of Constructed Narratives Exploring the Experiences of People with Chronic Conditions in Relation to Finding and Keeping Work

authors: Uerata, Lynley Moana

subjects: Chronic Conditions

abstract: People with chronic conditions have a health problem that is characterised by longevity, permanence, incurability and unpredictability of symptoms. They face significant challenges in gaining and maintaining employment, and are often seen as unemployable. As Chapter One shows, previous research on this topic tends to focus on selected aspects of their experiences. There is little literature which examines the employment issues of people with chronic conditions in a way that pays attention to the everyday life context. The main research questions addressed in this thesis are: What are the subjective experiences of people with chronic conditions in the context of finding and keeping paid employment? What are the meanings they ascribe to those experiences? How do they interact with and operate within the micro- structures of the family, friends, the medical system and government agencies? What is the role of societal norms, values and dominant ideologies? Chapter Two describes how this research draws on a “critical interpretivist” perspective and qualitative methodology to (re)present four people‟s own stories in their own words in order to explore the subjective experiences of people with chronic conditions within the context of work and broader social structures. Two in-depth, semi-structured interviews were undertaken with these four participants, designed to capture their subjective experiences and enable the researcher to retell their stories. Their stories form the heart of the thesis in Chapter Three. In Chapter Four, each narrative is summarised to highlight the employment issues faced by each participant, and answers are provided to the research questions. People with chronic conditions contend with a complex reality. These complexities stem from the fact that they are permanent, incurable and their symptoms unpredictable. And, because there lacks policies or political mechanisms that acknowledge the complex realities they face, they contend with these by themselves and with the people who are willing to assist them. In some circumstances, they are eminently employable.

text: Unpredictable, Incurable, Unemployable? A Collection of Constructed Narratives Exploring the Experiences of People with Chronic Conditions in Relation to Finding and Keeping Work People with chronic conditions have a health problem that is characterised by longevity, permanence, incurability and unpredictability of symptoms. They face significant challenges in gaining and maintaining employment, and are often seen as unemployable. As Chapter One shows, previous research on this topic tends to focus on selected aspects of their experiences. There is little literature which examines the employment issues of people with chronic conditions in a way that pays attention to the everyday life context. The main research questions addressed in this thesis are: What are the subjective experiences of people with chronic conditions in the context of finding and keeping paid employment? What are the meanings they ascribe to those experiences? How do they interact with and operate within the micro- structures of the family, friends, the medical system and government agencies? What is the role of societal norms, values and dominant ideologies? Chapter Two describes how this research draws on a “critical interpretivist” perspective and qualitative methodology to (re)present four people‟s own stories in their own words in order to explore the subjective experiences of people with chronic conditions within the context of work and broader social structures. Two in-depth, semi-structured interviews were undertaken with these four participants, designed to capture their subjective experiences and enable the researcher to retell their stories. Their stories form the heart of the thesis in Chapter Three. In Chapter Four, each narrative is summarised to highlight the employment issues faced by each participant, and answers are provided to the research questions. People with chronic conditions contend with a complex reality. These complexities stem from the fact that they are permanent, incurable and their symptoms unpredictable. And, because there lacks policies or political mechanisms that acknowledge the complex realities they face, they contend with these by themselves and with the people who are willing to assist them. In some circumstances, they are eminently employable.

year: 2011

title: Kia mate rā anō a Tama-nui-te-rā: reversing language shift in Kōhanga reo

authors: Skerrett White, Mere Ngāutauta

abstract: This thesis focuses on reversing language shift (RLS) efforts via the revernacularisation of te reo Māori (the Māori language) in Te Amokura Kōhanga Reo (Māori language nest). J. Fishman’s (2001a) graded intergenerational disruption scale (GIDS), and M. Durie’s (2001, 2003) discussions on Māori educational advancement provide conceptual frameworks for the meaning-making, cultural and symbolic relationships of language to culture and identity (Fishman, 1996). This qualitative case study involves three young children and their families who are committed to the intergenerational transmission of te reo Māori, the threatened indigenous heritage language of Aotearoa/New Zealand. Observational data was analysed illustrating these bilingual, biliterate, bicultural, bicognitive and bilateral children and their use of sophisticated language for increasingly complex purposes. This study identifies how children’s learning dispositions for shared reference with adults (who are active listeners and thoughtful speakers in meaningful activities [Carr, M., 2000, 2001]) are part of the deep structure of a unique cultural context successfully supporting language revernacularisation. In addition the study develops critical insights into how RLS can be viewed as the linguistic arm for furthering Māori aspirations of tino rangatiratanga (Bishop, R., 1997a; Bishop R., & Glynn, T., 1999) and has further implications for language planning, pedagogy and praxis in Kōhanga Reo.

text: Kia mate rā anō a Tama-nui-te-rā: reversing language shift in Kōhanga reo This thesis focuses on reversing language shift (RLS) efforts via the revernacularisation of te reo Māori (the Māori language) in Te Amokura Kōhanga Reo (Māori language nest). J. Fishman’s (2001a) graded intergenerational disruption scale (GIDS), and M. Durie’s (2001, 2003) discussions on Māori educational advancement provide conceptual frameworks for the meaning-making, cultural and symbolic relationships of language to culture and identity (Fishman, 1996). This qualitative case study involves three young children and their families who are committed to the intergenerational transmission of te reo Māori, the threatened indigenous heritage language of Aotearoa/New Zealand. Observational data was analysed illustrating these bilingual, biliterate, bicultural, bicognitive and bilateral children and their use of sophisticated language for increasingly complex purposes. This study identifies how children’s learning dispositions for shared reference with adults (who are active listeners and thoughtful speakers in meaningful activities [Carr, M., 2000, 2001]) are part of the deep structure of a unique cultural context successfully supporting language revernacularisation. In addition the study develops critical insights into how RLS can be viewed as the linguistic arm for furthering Māori aspirations of tino rangatiratanga (Bishop, R., 1997a; Bishop R., & Glynn, T., 1999) and has further implications for language planning, pedagogy and praxis in Kōhanga Reo.

year: 2003