The Developmental Process of the Youth's Global Citizenship : The case of Intergovernmental Youth Exchange in Korea

Abstract

This study aims to look into the experiences of the youth participating in the International Youth Exchange program in Korea and to analyze how it contributes to their Global Citizenship improvement. To be specific, it first examines what the youth experience in the International Youth Exchange program, looks into what procedures these experiences take in order to formulate their Global Citizenship, and finds out how each of their specific experiences matches with the conceptual elements of Global Citizenship and what this correlation implies. Data were collected from 189 report papers written by the youth participants of Intergovernmental Youth Exchange program performed by The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family in the Republic of Korea from the year of 2008 to 2016, including the contents of daily journals, testimonials, and personal reports, etc. Based on their experience in the context of the youths' participation, it is possible to present a new perspective different from the one of existing researches and reports which has viewed only from the aspects of policy itself or the viewpoint of the planners and operators of the International Youth Exchange programs. In addition, it is possible to present a different insight from existing researches that quantitatively have looked into the effects of the youth's Global Citizenship improvement by participation in International Exchange activities

this study uses qualitative research methodology not only to demonstrate the effects of the youth's Global Citizenship improvement but also to explain in depth how the developmental process of their Global Citizenship formation turns out. As a result of the analysis, there has been a pattern of the youths Global Citizenship development which consists of 6 phases: 1) The youth have a world-friendly attitude of expectation and excitement during preparation for their dispatch to a foreign country. 2) They encounter the fundamental and important facts about the host country so that they are able to build an understanding of its history, culture, and the life of the native people during the early phase of their visit. 3) They realize their national and transnational identities and self-reflect on those. 4) They find the local youth important as their peers. 5) They experience the local peoples life and are engaged in their civil activities. 6) They reflect on themselves and try to take action as global citizens in the latter period of this program. In the experience of approaching foreigners in a strange land, the youth reflect upon their identity, find their new self through the process of 'otherization' and objectification, and design their own dreams and futures more specifically as global citizens. Most of these future plans include their commitment to take concrete action to improve themselves to communicate more effectively with people in the world, to understand them more deeply, and to contribute to the global civil society as global citizens.