<Abstract>

In this study, we examined the cultural characteristics of the children in the multicultural families in the rural areas, compared to those of the non-multicultural ones. Also, analyses were made on the educational environment, self-esteem, and the adaptation ability to the school life for the characteristics of these traits and the differences they had with other children. After that, the interrelations between these traits were further examined. Key findings of this study are as follows;
Firstly, as for the cultural characteristics thereof between the children from multicultural families and non-multicultural families were examined. The result showed that the religious tendencies of the non-multicultural families were highly Christianity-oriented, while the multicultural families turned out to have no-religions or to be Tongil-Church believers. In terms of the future education plans, the children of multicultural families appeared to have more solid, detailed plans of education than the children from non-multicultural families. However, the children from the multicultural families turned out to have lower school grades than those of the children from non-multicultural families.
Multicultural families were thinking that they had no problems with speaking, writing, reading, and understanding Korean language. For more than half of the multicultural samples, the mothers in the families who were from multicultural background appeared to be comfortable with Korean language, too. The frequency of visiting the mother’s home countries and the visits from the family members of the mother were both low. In some cases, there were confusions on the identity due to the different nationalities of the father and the mother.
Secondly, the investigations on the educational environment, self-esteem, and the adaption ability to the school life and the difference thereof were made. The result revealed that in case of the multicultural families, the family atmosphere was relatively more negative than that of the non-multicultural families. The parents of the multicultural families were not either more democratic or affectionate. They were also more authoritarian and the domestic violence problem occurred more with the multicultural families, too. The educational environment was poorer, and the samples viewed the financial hardships and the poor educational environment the most inconvenient.
As for the school life, the children from the multicultural families tend to show lower comprehension of the classes and the attitude within the class. The samples also marked higher for being victims of the school violence and discriminations and also being the perpetrators for such misconducts, too. According to their answers, they wanted assistance with the studies at school and the improvement of the facilities and environment of the school.
As for the community environment, the children from multicultural families appeared to hold more negative perceptions on the local community and have experienced violence and discrimination in such contexts. Also, the multicultural samples answered that there existed physical inconveniences due to the poor infrastructure in the rural area and the negative aspects with the relationships with other residents in the communities.
The multicultural children also appeared to hold lower self-esteem compared to children from the non-multicultural families. As for the sub-items under the school life, that is, the satisfaction levels with the human relationship, satisfaction level with the living environment, and the satisfaction level with the academic achievements, they all marked relatively lower in these aspects, as well.
Thirdly, we examined the correlations between the factors such as the educational environment, self-esteem, and the adaption ability to the school life. Within the context of the correlation between the educational environment and the self-esteem, the self-esteem of the children from both groups showed a positive correlation with the democratic/affectionate attitudes of the parents, the atmosphere in the family, the economic status, the educational environment within the families, the comprehension of the classes, the satisfaction level with the teachers, the satisfaction level with the extra-curricular activities, the perception on the local community, the educational programs in the local communities. Especially, the self-esteem tended to have significant correlations with all of the sub-scales under the educational environment.
As for the correlation between the educational environment and the adaption toward the school life, the children from both groups showed a positive correlation with the democratic/affectionate attitudes of the parents, the atmosphere in the family, the economic status, the educational environment within the families, the comprehension of the classes, the attitude in class, the satisfaction level with the teachers, the satisfaction level with the extra-curricular activities, the perception on the local community, the educational programs in the local communities. As for the satisfaction level with the human relationships, the children from the multicultural families showed positive correlation with all of the variables except the authoritarian behavior from the mother. These children also showed positive correlations for all of the variables when it comes to the satisfaction level with living environment and the academic achievements.
In case of the correlation between the self-esteem and the adaption toward the school life, both groups revealed a positive correlation between higher self-esteem and the satisfaction levels with the human relationship, living environment, and the academic achievements.
When an examination was made with the educational environment as the independent variable and the self-esteem as the dependent variable, it was revealed that the self-esteem of the children from the multicultural families influenced the factors of the family atmosphere, the satisfaction level with the teachers, being a perpetrator of the school violence and the discriminations, class attitudes, family economic status, the educational program in the local community.
In an analysis with the educational environment and the self-esteem as the independent variables and the adaption toward the school life as the dependent variable for the influences by the variables, the satisfaction level with the human relationship within the children from the multicultural families appeared to be correlated, by the order of the intensity of the influence, with the self-esteem, the satisfaction level with the teachers, being the victims of the school violence and discrimination, the perception on the local community, the satisfaction level with the education program of the local community, and being the perpetrator of the school violence and discrimination. As for the satisfaction level with the living environment, the influences were by the order of the self-esteem, the satisfaction level with the teachers, the family atmosphere, the democratic and affectionate attitudes of the mother, and being the victims of the violence and discrimination in the local community. Lastly, the satisfaction level with the academic achievement appeared to affect, by the order of the intensity of the influence, the satisfaction level with the teachers, the perception on the local community, domestic violence by the father, and the satisfaction level with the educational program in the community.

<국문초록>

본 연구는 농촌지역 다문화가정 아동과 일반가정 아동의 문화적 특성을 살펴보고, 교육환경, 자아존중감, 학교생활적응의 특성과 차이를 분석하여, 이들 변인간의 관계를 파악하고자 하였다. 본 연구의 주요결과는 다음과 같다.
첫째, 다문화가정 아동과 일반가정 아동간의 문화적 특성을 살펴본 결과 종교분포에 있어서 일반가정 아동은 기독교가 많은 반면, 다문화가정 아동은 종교 없음과 통일교 순으로 나타났다. 장래학업 계획의 경우 다문화가정 아동이 일반가정 아동에 비해 더 구체적이고 확고한 것으로 조사되었으며, 학교성적의 경우 다문화가정 아동이 일반가정 아동에 비해 낮은 것으로 나타났다.
다문화가정 아동들은 한국어를 말하고, 듣고, 쓰기에 불편함이 없다고 생각하였으며, 어머니의 한국어 구사능력은 조사대상의 절반 이상이 잘하는 것으로 나타났다. 어머니 나라에 자주 방문하는 경우와 외갓집 친척들이 한국을 방문하는 횟수는 낮게 조사되었고, 아버지, 어머니 나라가 각각 다름으로 인한 정체성의 혼돈을 보이는 사례도 있었다.
둘째, 교육환경, 자아존중감, 학교생활적응의 특성과 차이를 살펴본 결과 가정환경의 경우 다문화가정은 일반가정에 비하여 가정 분위기가 부정적이었고, 부모가 민주·애정적이지 않았으며, 또한 권위주의적이며, 가정폭력 수준이 높았다. 학습여건도 열악하였으며, 가정생활의 어려움으로 인한 경제적 형편과 학습환경을 가장 불편하게 인식하고 있었다.
학교환경의 경우 다문화가정 아동은 일반가정 아동에 비해 수업이해도, 수업태도 점수가 낮았고, 학교폭력·차별경험의 피해와 가해 수준은 높게 나타났다. 더불어 학교공부 도와주기와 학교 시설·환경 개선을 원하였다.
지역사회환경의 경우 다문화가정 아동은 일반가정 아동에 비해 지역사회 인식이 부정적이었으며, 지역사회에서 폭력 및 차별을 더 경험한 것으로 나타났다. 그리고 농촌지역의 열악한 물리적 환경에 대한 불편함과 지역민과의 관계에 부정적 인식하는 등의 문제양상을 보였다.
자아존중감과 학교생활적응의 차이에 대한 비교에서는 다문화가정 아동들은 일반가정 아동들에 비하여 자아존중감이 상대적으로 낮고, 학교생활적응의 하위요소인 인간관계만족도, 생활만족도, 학업만족도도 모두 낮게 나타났다.
셋째, 교육환경, 자아존중감, 학교생활적응간의 관계를 살펴본 결과, 교육환경과 자아존중감의 관계에 있어서 일반가정 아동과 다문화가정 아동의 자아존중감은 부모의 민주·애정적인 태도, 가정 분위기, 가정 경제수준, 가정 학습여건, 수업이해도, 수업태도, 교사만족, 방과 후 학교프로그램 만족, 지역사회 인식, 지역사회 교육프로그램 만족과는 정적상관을 보였고, 특히 다문화가정 아동의 자아존중감은 모든 교육환경의 하위척도와 유의한 상관을 보였다.
교육환경과 학교생활적응과의 관계에 있어서 일반가정 아동과 다문화가정 아동은 부모의 민주·애정적인 태도, 가정 분위기, 가정 경제수준, 가정 학습여건, 수업이해도, 수업태도, 교사만족, 방과 후 학교프로그램 만족, 지역사회 인식, 지역교육 프로그램 만족과는 정적상관을 보였다. 인간관계만족도는 다문화가정 아동들은 어머니의 권위주의를 뺀 모든 변인과 유의한 상관관계가 있으며, 생활만족도와 학업만족도에서는 다문화가정 아동들은 모든 변인과 유의한 상관관계가 나타났다.
자아존중감과 학교생활적응과의 관계에 있어서는 두 집단 모두에서 자아존중감이 높을수록 인간관계만족도, 생활만족도, 학업만족도가 높아지는 것으로 나타났다.
교육환경을 독립변인으로, 자아존중감을 종속변인으로 하여 탐색한 결과 다문화가정 아동의 자아존중감은 가정 분위기, 교사만족, 학교폭력·차별경험(가해), 수업태도, 가정 경제수준, 지역사회 교육프로그램 만족 순으로 영향력을 미치는 변인으로 나타났다.
교육환경과 자아존중감을 독립변인으로, 학교생활적응을 종속변인으로 하여 변인의 영향력을 탐색한 결과, 다문화가정 아동의 인간관계만족도는 자아존중감, 교사만족, 학교폭력·차별경험(피해), 지역사회인식, 지역사회 교육프로그램 만족, 학교폭력·차별경험(가해) 순이었고, 생활 만족도는 자아존중감, 교사만족, 가정 분위기, 어머니의 민주적·애정적인 태도, 지역사회 폭력·차별경험(피해) 순이었으며, 학업만족도는 교사만족, 지역사회 인식, 아버지의 가정폭력, 지역사회 교육프로그램 만족 순으로 영향력을 미치는 변인으로 나타났다.