Classrooms in Korea try building connections through snacks, dance

The Ministry of Education on Wednesday launched a six-month national campaign aimed at reshaping school culture. Today, more than 210,000 students enrolled in primary and secondary schools come from multicultural or immigrant backgrounds — a figure that continues to hit record highs year after year.

Running through February 2027, the initiative, launched with the National Institute for Lifelong Education, pivots from passive lectures about abstract cultural awareness toward structured, shared experiences between immigrant and nonimmigrant youth.

Findings from the 2024 National Multicultural Acceptance Survey, published by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, revealed a stark generational divide: Younger Koreans who regularly interact with peers from varied backgrounds demonstrate significantly higher levels of cultural openness (69.77 points) compared to older adults (53.38 points).

To foster these essential daily interactions, the new campaign introduces monthly interactive programming designed to bring students together inside the classroom.

In October, schools will host Small Happiness World Cups, where classmates share personal hobbies, favorite foods and life experiences to find common ground. November brings an upbeat choreography challenge titled 2026 Because We're Together, organized in collaboration with the popular youth YouTube channel Heungding School. To keep energy high, teachers who register their classes for the monthly activities on the campaign portal are entered into regular drawings to win snack boxes, effectively turning inclusive exercises into festive classroom party breaks, according to the ministry.

Teachers are receiving boosted support as well. The initiative includes a digital crowdsourcing platform where educators can share field-tested strategies and practical advice for navigating increasingly diverse classrooms, creating a nationwide repository of peer-reviewed teaching methods.

"Multicultural education in schools must unfold naturally through shared activities where every student learns to respect differences in their day-to-day lives," said Noh Jin-young, director general of the Student Support Bureau at the Ministry of Education. "We hope this campaign serves as a meaningful turning point."

The initiative builds directly upon the country’s expanded digital infrastructure, including the national Multicultural Education Portal. The platform offers multilingual guides for parents in up to 15 languages — covering everything from school registration and credit systems to bullying prevention — alongside diagnostic tools to assess nonnative students' Korean language proficiency.

As Korea grapples with steep demographic headwinds and an increasingly global workforce, educational officials said they hope that building friendships over dance moves and shared snacks today will lay the foundation for a far more cohesive, inclusive society tomorrow.

This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.