Beyond OK: Pictures of Korean international student wellbeing

Abstract

New Zealand's international education system began during the neo-liberal reform in the 1980s to early 1990s, which moved New Zealand education into the realm of the free market (Lewis, 2005). What was previously offered to students from underdeveloped countries at a low price as part of an international aid effort now came with substantially higher fees (Lewis, 2005; Tarling, 2004). Following this shift, the main demographic of the international students changed from South East Asian to North East Asian countries such as China, Korea and Japan. Students from these countries came with the main purpose of learning English; a prized asset in East Asia where the markets were becoming more internationalized (Malcolm, Ling, & Sherry, 2004). Currently there are a considerable number of international students enrolled in New Zealand primary schools, with 2321 students in 2015, a 17.3% increase from 2014 (Ministry of Education, 2015). The majority of these young international students are from South Korea (Ministry of Education, 2015) due to the importance of English language in the entrance to prestigious colleges and occupations in South Korea, combined with the belief that younger children learn languages more easily than older students (Park, 2009; Park & Kim, 2010).