중장년 귀농·귀촌인의 정착 경험과 평생학습 과제에 관한 질적 탐구

초록

For middle-aged adults, returning to or settling in rural areas is not merely a relocation; it is a transformative life process and a strategic choice to reconstruct their later lives. However, inadequate living infrastructure and economic challenges have led to a continuing trend of reverse migration from rural areas. In addition, existing educational support for rural resettlement has been largely concentrated on agricultural technology training for farming returnees, insufficiently addressing the diverse learning needs and settlement processes of non-farming rural migrants, whose scales and characteristics differ substantially. This study explores the settlement experiences of middle-aged rural returnees and migrants and identifies the lifelong learning tasks required for their stable resettlement. Employing a basic qualitative research design, in-depth interviews were conducted with twelve participants aged 50 to 65 who had more than two years of experience in returning to or settling in rural areas. The analysis yielded three main categories and nine subcategories, encompassing the background of migration decisions, patterns of settlement experiences, and lifelong learning needs and tasks for stable resettlement. Findings underscore the necessity of developing customized educational support that reflects the characteristics and transition processes of middle-aged rural migrants, and presents practical implications from a lifelong learning perspective.

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