Exploring the Role of Family and School as Spaces for 1.5 Generation South Korean’s Adjustment and Identity Negotiation in New Zealand: A Qualitative Study

To date, the majority of research on migrant identity negotiation and adjustment has primarily focused on adults. However, identity- and adjustment-related issues linked with global migration are not only related to those who have recently arrived, but are also relevant for their subsequent descendants. Consequently, there is increasing recognition by that as a particular group, the “1.5 generation” who were born in their home country but came to new countries in early childhood and were educated there. This research, therefore, investigates 1.5 generation South Koreans’ adjustment and identity status in New Zealand. More specifically, this study explores two vital social spaces—family and school—which play a pivotal role in modulating 1.5 generation’s identity and adjustment in New Zealand. Drawing upon in-depth interviewing with twenty-five 1.5 generation Korean-New Zealanders, this paper reveals that there are two different experiences at home and school; (1) the family is argued to serve as a key space where the South Korean 1.5 generation confirms and retains their ethnic identity through experiences and embodiments of South Korean traditional values, but (2) school is almost the only space where the South Korean 1.5 generation in New Zealand can acquire the cultural tools of mainstream society through interaction with English speaking local peers and adults. Within this space, the South Korean 1.5 generation experiences the transformation of an ethnic sense of identity which is strongly constructed at home via the family. Overall, the paper discusses that 1.5 generation South Koreans experience a complex and contradictory process in negotiating their identity and adjusting into New Zealand through different involvement at home and school.