Integration, belonging, language skills and friends

Teaching staff’s worries concerning learning and possibilities of students with immigration backgrounds

Authors

• Jenni Alisaari Turun yliopisto
• Mervi Kaukko Tampereen yliopisto https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8233-1302
• Leena Maria Heikkola Åbo Akademi https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1795-7656

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33350/ka.103434

Keywords:

language skills, learning, integration, educational opportunties, students with an immigration background

Abstract

In this article, we examine the concerns of teachers and other teaching staff (N = 596) regarding the learning and integration of students with immigration backgrounds. The responses to our questionnaire indicated concerns about the adequacy of Finnish or Swedish language skills, the challenges of learning and integration, and the inflexibility of structures. The dominant language was seen as the means of communication and interaction, and the challenges in the respective language skills were considered problematic for social inclusion and cultural integration. Language skills were perceived as a pathway to educational opportunities and a necessary tool for progressing in life and integrating into Finnish society. The respondents were concerned about both the individual integration of students and about how structures enable educational transitions. Respondents’ views on students’ motivation and interactional integration differed from how previous research has shown young people to experience these aspects themselves. The results point to the need for structural changes and policy-making that would support equal educational opportunities regardless of the students’ backgrounds.