Korean Educational Development Institute(KEDI)

An Analysis of the Growing Process of Middle School Students: Focusing on schools, families, and communities (Ⅳ)

This is a four year long qualitative longitudinal study conducted for the purpose of analyzing “the growing process of middle school students: focusing on schools, families, and communities” from 2016 to 2019. This study began at a time when middle school students were the topic of discussion by the media, politicians, and academics due to the increase in incidents of school violence, excessive study hours, and violation of teacher’s authority around 2015. During this time, there were discussions concerning issues such as “8th Grade Syndrome”. However, those engaged in these discussions tended to regard the middle school stage from external points of view and there was shared understanding that the middle school stage had neither been as clearly identified nor as widely discussed as the primary and high school stage.

This study tracks the “lifestyle, development, and emotional growth” of the same students for four years, focussing on the common core themes of relationships, identity, and career path. As this is the final year of a four-year longitudinal study, the study will be divided into two parts: part 1 will present the findings concerning the life, career path, and development of third-year middle school students, and part 2 will comprehensively analyse the growth of the students who have participated in the study during the past four years, and present the implications of the findings for further research as well as policy suggestions for the healthy development of the middle school students of Korea.