Exploring culturally relevant science teaching practices of teachers of North Korean defector students

Objectives The purpose of this study, drawing upon culturally relevant pedagogy, is to examine the teaching practices of science teachers who teach North Korean defector students. Methods With three teachers who teach science at an alternative school for North Korean defectors as research participants, research data were generated through in-depth interviews and participant observations on their science classes and inductive analysis was performed, employing constant comparative methods. Results The research results discuss the teaching practices of the participating teachers focusing on four characteristics: Participating teachers, having developed deep cultural knowledge and empathy on NKDSs, 1) actively responded to help with the challenges, 2) focused on developing learner identities and attitude for schooling, 3) focused on teaching science in connection with students lived experiences and guiding them to understand science as a cultural asset and 4) lastly, focused on guiding students to develop critical consciousness and citizenship, as they take an expansive approach to help students connect with the wider society beyond the classroom. Conclusions This study shows that the participating teachers defined the role and direction of science classrooms expansively based on their deep cultural understanding and empathy for North Korean defector students and it further suggests the critical importance of cultural perspectives and understanding of students in culturally relevant science teaching practices.