Transnational mothers as community builders and agentive teachers
Establishing and sustaining a Korean community-based heritage language school
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 24238344 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Eunae Kim (0009-0006-6823-8367, University of Miami), Jungmin Kwon (0000-0002-2151-5690, Michigan State University) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 1-20 |
| Publication date | 2026-10-19 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Race Ethnicity and Education (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1361-3324 • E-ISSN: 1470-109X |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/13613324.2026.2743200 |
| OpenAlex | W7223055512 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 20 |
This case study examines transnational mothers of Korean heritage who founded a Korean community-based heritage language (CBHL) school in a Southeastern U.S. state. Drawing on community cultural wealth and a transnational perspective, the study explores how these transnational established and sustained the school, and what knowledge, experiences, and skills they utilized. Findings revealed their aspirations for Korean American children (whom they referred to as ‘Woori children’), particularly in sustaining their heritage language and culture and building a sense of identity in predominantly white contexts, which served as driving forces for the school. The mothers’ nuanced understanding of children’s diverse linguistic, cultural, ethnic, and migratory experiences enabled them to address students’ varied needs and strengths. This study demonstrated their collective agency as they mobilized transnational assets to navigate challenges. The results call for attention to CBHL schools as transnational counterspaces through which mothers enact collective agency to sustain children’s language, culture, and identiti.
collective agency · community cultural wealth · Cultural identity · heritage language maintenance · Korean American children · Korean diaspora · Motherhood · Diaspora, migration, transnational identity · Education and experiences of immigrants and refugees · Multilingual Education and Policy
Immigrant mothers’ beliefs and transnational strategies for their children's heritage language maintenance
Community Forces, Social Capital, and Educational Achievement
The Voices of Transnational MotherScholars of Emergent Bilinguals
Asian American youth co-designing heritage language workshops for immigrant families
Bilingualism as activism
East Asian Heritage Language Education for a Plurilingual Reality in the United States
Sanctioning a space for literacy practices to promote transnational students’ identity development in a HL classroom
Bilingual youth identities contested through the use of K-12 language arts textbooks in a Korean heritage language classroom
Whose culture has capital? A critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth
Expanding Capacity, Opportunity, and Desire to Learn Korean as a Heritage Language
Teaching While Becoming
Building a Transnational Network of Capitals
Community cultural wealth and immigrant Latino parents
Community-based heritage language schools as transnational counterspaces for immigrant families
Representation of monoculturalism in Chinese and Korean heritage language textbooks for immigrant children
Transnationalism and identity
| Highly cited | No |
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