Educational aspirations on the move: parenting, social class, and children’s mobilities in South Korea

This paper explores how South Korean parents’ aspirations for their children’s education shape children’s spatial mobilities across social classes. Drawing on in-depth interviews with parents of children aged 4–13, this study examines how social class influences parents’ strategies for arranging both occasional and daily mobility practices for their children, including family trips, language camps, excursions, and daily commutes. The analysis highlights class-based similarities and differences in these mobility practices and their spatial implications, emphasizing the interplay between social class, space, and access to educational opportunities. By examining these dynamics within the context of ongoing educational reforms, this study offers nuanced insights into the ways social class (re)shapes children’s mobility, while illuminating the persistent reproduction of unequal childhood experiences in contemporary South Korea.