The Retreat From Formal Schooling: "Educational Manager Mothers" in the Private After -School Market of South Korea

Abstract

Although private after-school education today is ubiquitous in South Korea, my thesis focuses on the private after-school market particularly for elementary students. Since this market for elementary students is the fastest growing education industry, its heavy burdens on young children have been widely criticized. More importantly, however, the elementary after-school market is much more fraught with the tension between "old" and "new" educational, values (e.g., "uniformity" vs. "creativity") and pedagogy (e.g., "rote-memorization" vs. "the promotion of creativity") than the secondary school market. As such, this market has produced heightened bewilderment among mothers. Although all mothers are anxious about their children's education and futures, differences of economic, cultural, and social capital make for distinctions in their educational strategies. While examining the class inflections of women, I consider mothers' commitments to their children's education as an intergenerational and gendered project. My thesis thus offers an anthropological perspective on the complex articulation of class and gender amidst the privatization and globalization of education.