Reconstructing Maternal Roles Among China-Born Marriage-Migrant Mothers in Korea: Experiences of a Learning Support Program

This study explores how China-Born Marriage-Migrant Mothers in Korea experience and renegotiate their maternal roles through participation in a learning support program.Drawing on in-depth interviews with eight mothers, this qualitative, process-oriented study traces mothers' pathways into the Multicultural Mom School, their learning experiences during participation, and how these experiences extend into family life.The findings can be summarized in three points.First, mothers' entry into Multicultural Mom School is shaped primarily by everyday educational difficulties and informal social connections rather than formal recruitment channels.Second, during participation, mothers encounter curricular differences, learning challenges, and emotional tensions, which prompt reflection on their maternal roles within the Korean educational context.Third, through shared learning experiences, mothers gradually shift from peripheral supporters to more active participants in their children's learning processes.This role renegotiation is characterized by increased dialogue, mutual learning, and ongoing negotiation within the family, while remaining constrained by existing family dynamics and role expectations.Overall, the study highlights the Multicultural Mom School as a relational learning space where maternal roles are renegotiated rather than simply compensated, underscoring the importance of support initiatives that attend to the relational and structural conditions shaping migrant motherhood.