South Korean Students as Nomadic Learners: Elementary Students’ Engagement in Transboundary Learning Culture for Academic Success

Korean elementary students actively engage in transboundary learning across diverse educational spaces. Alongside formal schooling, they participate in various forms of shadow education, shaping a dynamic learning culture referred to as Transboundary Learning Cultures (TLC). This study explores how students connect learning experiences across school and non-school settings, drawing on TLC and nomadic inquiry to challenge fixed notions of educational spaces as confined solely to the boundaries of formal schooling. Through a qualitative case study, we examine how their ways of learning shift depending on learning spaces, revealing learning as fluid and situated. Additionally, from a post-colonial perspective, the study critiques Western-centric views that portray Korean students as passive learners, instead emphasizing their proactive and agentive engagement in learning. By highlighting the hybrid and interconnected nature of their learning practices, it contributes to the transnationally emerging field of TLC and broadens understandings of student agency, learning space, and the cultural complexity of learning practices.