Hi, I’m Rée.
Growing up, I felt like the education system wasn’t built for people like me to succeed. As a student with undiagnosed neurodivergence, learning disabilities, and anxiety, I struggled to learn in the ways my peers learned.
In the decades following, I became an educator and taught in various classrooms around the world. I taught in public schools, private universities, large government funded programs, and small academies. I designed curriculum, measured student success, and even assessed teacher efficacy.
Then, while teaching a group of English language learners in South Korea, who like me, hadn’t received adequate attention in school, I realized I was using the same methodologies as the ones that had failed me.
homeroom is my attempt to remedy this on an international scale. To speak with as many people from around the world about their own education systems to rethink what schools can be. What it should be, when we design systems and metrics which are inclusive of more diverse types of learners and thinkers with varying levels of family involvement and access to resources.
In this episode, I speak with Mijin, a designer and entrepreneur who has lived and worked in Korea, Taiwan, France, Shanghai, and the United States—about her hard-earned lessons in parenting. We talk about the childrearing methods she inherited from her family and culture, and the situations that called for her to find her own way. We also discuss the mistakes she’s made along the way, the people who’ve inspired her to be a better parent, and what we should all keep front and center in our minds to raise successful and thriving children. This is a conversation that has made me cry multiple times—as it reminded me of the challenges my own mom faced as a designer and entrepreneur navigating a foreign land to fend for the both of us.
Check out our conversation on Spotify or Apple, and follow us on Instagram.
About Us
Educated in Taiwan and Paris, Mijin is a designer and entrepreneur having operated successful businesses in Shanghai and Korea for 30+ years.
Rée is a visual storyteller and educator exploring the consequences that mass education has on creativity, identity, and interpersonal connection. https://www.instagram.com/theinterdisciplinarian