• (The)Korea Educational Review
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.253-281
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• 2012

This qualitative study explores how Mongolian migrant workers, with a marked tendency for family migration, plan and put into practice their child's education and attach meaning to it in relation to the social network they form during their stay in Korea. Specifically, it analyzes in particular ways the social network Mongolian migrant workers form affect their settlement in Korea, the process by which the social network affects their planning of their child's education, and how the education planning and its realization lead to the formation of new social networks. The results show that parents were divided between those who made a deliberate decision in sending their child to the Seoul Mongol School as a part of their plan and those who chose the school due to forced circumstances. While some parents preferred the Seoul Mongol School over regular Korean schools for their child's education and future, others sent their child to the Seoul Mongol School, regardless of their preference, because they did not have access to information about regular Korean schools, were afraid of divulging their illegal status, or were afraid their child would not be able to adjust to the school life in Korean schools. Based on such analysis, this paper stresses the urgency of further research in this area, and suggests direction for future policy measures.