The purpose of this study is to investigate the student cultures embedded in a boy` commercial high school, which is referred to as $quot;Heemang commercial High School$quot; in this study. Data on student`s school lives were collected mainly through participant observation and in depth interviews, and were analyzed from an ethnographic perspective. Findings of the study are as follows: 1) Heemang Commercial High School students were mostly `low stream` students during their middle school years, having been labelled as $quot;poor achiever$quot; and having experienced maladaptation to the Korean school culture, which narrowly defines schoolwork as academic achievement. they did not `choose` the commercial high school to attend, but were socially streamed, finally ending up in the school. They extended this negative academic self image into their high school periods. 2) Insufficient learning capacity among students were clearly reflected on their attitudes in class. Most of students participated in the classroom activities only which interested them without requiring any kind of burden of learning. They paid little attention to such activities that required intellectual readiness. Students` frequently cheatings in exams were a contradictory phenomenon to their overall lack of interest in schoolwork. This contradiction reflects the negative aspect of the official Korean school culture, which has enforced the students to internalize its maxim, $quot;score high.$quot; In such a situation, the meaning of examination is inevitably distorted.
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