Transition to Adulthood: Perspectives of Korean Immigrant Parents of Individuals With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

As the United States grows more racially and ethnically diverse, Koreans have become one of the largest ethnic minority populations. We conducted this qualitative study to explore the perspectives of Korean immigrant parents about their child’s future and the factors that shape those perspectives. We used modified grounded theory methods. Twenty Korean immigrant parents of children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities participated in the study. Four themes emerged: navigating complicated and limited service systems, maintaining safety and relationships through work and higher education, ongoing parental care at home, and the need for culturally relevant adult services. We discuss implications for culturally responsive practice and inclusive research.

Raising Children to Speak Their Heritage Language in the USA: Roles of Korean Parents

Parents play a significant role in fostering Korean-American children’s heritage language learning. This qualitative inquiry investigates Korean immigrant parents’ beliefs and the language practices they engage in to raise their children to speak Korean. Based on questionnaires completed by 40 parents and in-depth, open-ended interviews with 5 parents, this study specifically focuses on Korean parents residing in an area with a low Korean immigrant population and how they perceive, foster, and advocate for their children’s Heritage Language (HL) learning. The findings show that parents play crucial roles as active advocates of their children’s HL learning and positive belief in HL maintenance, making best efforts to help their children see the value of learning. In addition, the findings show that parents serve as HL educators, who create an HL learning environment, instruct HL reading and writing, and incorporate digital tools and popular culture for HL learning.

Korean Immigrant Parents' Involvement in Children's Biliteracy Development in the U.S. Context

Drawing on the experiences of Korean immigrant families in the United States, this chapter highlights the importance of parental involvement in the bilingual literacy development of young English language learners. Findings of two projects on Korean parents' engagement in Korean and English language development at home are presented. These findings yield several insights into Korean immigrant parents' perspectives of and experiences in supporting their children's biliteracy development. This chapter suggests not only the importance of parental role but also the teachers' role in bilingual literacy development among young children. Suggestions for educators to support immigrant families to enhance their children's biliteracy learning are provided.

Challenges and changes in the parenting experiences of Korean immigrants in New Zealand

Immigrant parents are often confronted with the challenging task of reconciling cultural differences with regard to socialization practices. This paper explored the parenting experiences of 21 Korean immigrant parents of young children (ages 6–10), after immigrating to New Zealand. Most parents reported positive parenting changes following their migration to New Zealand, including greater encouragement of their children's autonomy and decreased emphasis on children's academic performance. The findings also highlighted challenges, such as parent-child disagreements and reduced parenting self-efficacy as parents adapted and adjusted to the new cultural context. In addition, the study identified some unique parenting challenges faced by fathers and Korean transnational parents, where mothers and young children immigrate to New Zealand to advance the children's education while fathers remain in Korea to support the family financially.