This ethnographic research examines the sociocultural and educational experiences of migrant youth living in liminality in urban Yangon. Their liminality exemplifies the interplay between poverty, social-choice of dropping out of school and the militant culture of schooling. The research argues that narratives provide comprehensive understandings of the complex and multidimensional aspects inherent to dropping out of school in Myanmar: poverty; poor learning environments; an inherently militant culture of schooling; and ultimately, the foreseeable failures of these young people. By better understanding the context of being 'out-of-school' and the process of becoming 'dropouts' from their viewpoint, the author argues that more educational research needs to reconceptualize the meaning of schooling in the ever-changing lives and learning of youth in rapidly transforming societies in Asia and beyond.
ARTICLE HISTORY
This paper examines critical aspects of the birth of the new generation of Myanmar's emerging elite groups and their roles in the society based on in-depth qualitative research conducted in two universities in Yangon. It particularly pays close attention to the critical roles of the two universities -as political, social and knowledge institutions -in the formation of the new elite groups in Myanmar. The interplay between the students' individual agency and the two elite higher education institutes implies three sets of processes: the societal context in a transitional democratic country, the institutional habitus of higher education, and the young elites' agency. Findings from observations, interviews, and field research indicate that students attending the two universities exhibit a common sense of pride in being members of academically and historically prestigious institutions. At the same time, students in each university developed distinctive understandings of their roles as elites in the transitional society of Myanmar, reflecting the disciplinary difference of each institution. More importantly, this study found that the symbolic habitus of the two universities provided the new elites with a strong desire to contribute to the nation's development, although their actual practice and outcome remains uncertain. This study thus urges careful consideration of the role of higher education, beyond merely instilling symbolic prestige, to nurture the emerging elites to thrive in the rapidly changing society.
This study examines South Korea's international scholarship program based on responses to the Global Korea Scholarship (GKS) alumni survey to find how the participants perceive the host country's dimensions of justice and diversity. We employ the concept of justice in terms of redistribution, recognition, and representation. Analysis of GKS alumni perceptions of Korean society revealed that international mobility programs may provide positive and negative experiences for the participants depending on their positionality in terms of gender, ethnicity, and Korean language proficiency. Some had the exclusive opportunity to access global knowledge, skills, and networks. Others were exposed to unexpected misrepresentation and misframing while living and learning in the new society. We suggest the need for multidimensional policy discussions to consider both positive and negative outcomes of international scholarship programs and their potential to play a transformative role in global higher education.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.