How to Incorporate the “Culture” of Migrant Students: KSL Teaching Practices through Culturally Responsive Pedagogy

This study examines how culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP) can be reimagined through the lived teaching practices in a Korean as a second language (KSL) classroom in a migrant-concentrated public elementary school. Drawing on practitioner inquiry, the study explores the multifaceted cultural assets that migrant-background students bring to the classroom and how these are dynamically reconstructed through teacher-student interactions. Moving beyond essentialist and tokenistic approaches, this research highlights how students’ cultural experiences—including national/ethnic cultures, transnational experiences, and popular culture—are reinterpreted and transformed into educational resources through co-constructed curriculum practices. Findings suggest that CRP should not be reduced to introducing fixed cultural content but must be understood as an evolving pedagogy grounded in trust, emotional safety, and the teacher’s critical reflection on their own positionality and assumptions about culture. The study offers practical insights into developing asset-based, relational, and critically reflexive CRP within Korean educational contexts.