노인여성학습자의 문해교육 참여에 관한 연구

Abstract

This study explored the women with 65 years and older who are attending literacy education about how their life events affected their participation. Through the study, the researcher investigated: what negative things they experienced; what confrontation strategy was and how the strategic factors interacted. Why the illiterate aged women participation on literacy education was investigated based on the study of grounded theories as a qualitative method. The data of the study was collected through observation and interview by researcher’s participation in the literacy educational classes as an instructor. An unstructured and in-depth interview was developed and conducted based on 10 suitable subjects for each interviewee and 10 group interviews by one or two times. The data was constructed through open coding following the axial steps putting forward in the grounded theory developed by Corbin and Strauss (1990). The findings were categorized into 66 concepts, 9 sub-categories and 3 categories, based on which the grounded theory model was composed to explain the participation process in literacy education by older illiterate women. This study yielded the following findings: First, the deprivation of literate educational opportunity acted as the cause of negative experiences of illiterate aged women. Due to social events, such as Japanese colonization and Korean War, the aged women’s schooling period was in an economically poor condition. On the other hand, caused by social discrimination and negative prejudice towards female, most females were excluded from school education. After getting married, they had to meet social-expected roles to support their family, participate in economic activities and fall into a supportive being. As a result they lost the opportunity of literacy education. Secondly, despite the ascription from a social structural level, not an individual level, they tended to feel shame and try to conceal their illiteracy. They regarded themselves as inferior to their educated peers by the deprivation of their youth age ‘exploring their selves’. As a result, they went through loneliness, alienation, frustration, sense of damage, restlessness, depression, self disrespect, and diffidence to the family and the world every time they face with many events. Their desire for literacy education was deemed to be due to these experiences. Thirdly, the illiteracy deprivation strategy was formed as a response to the negative experiences by illiteracy. This strategy was impacted by catalytic factors like a desire to be free oneself from illiteracy, life stability, others' recommendation and family support. The aged women who lost the chance of learning during their schooling period showed their inborn learning desire, so-called satisfaction of curiosity and desire for their knowledge. The desire to learn and economic stability acted together as factors to stimulate and facilitate the participation in literacy education. Lastly, the research participants mastered Hangeul for themselves, asked for help from their family, and participated in literacy educational institutions (such as church, private institutes, welfare facilities and red-cross facilities) as an illiteracy deprivation strategy. They met various limitations to master Hangeul or get rid of illiteracy with their family assistance, so they participated in literacy educational institutions.