During the 1990’s the amount of immigrants increased especially in the capital area of Finland. In the Finnish public discussion the society started to be portrayed multicultural, although the term “multiculturality” referred mainly to ethnic differentiation – not to interaction or to ideology of multicultural society. In the public discussion multiculturalism was seen as a new phenomenon compared to the earlier illusion of a homogenous society. The image of a homogenous “Finnish culture” has also influenced to the fact that the Finnish majority culture has been seen separate from multiculturality. The prevailing conceptions of the society concerning Finnishness and multiculturality have presented themselves in school culture as a highlighted and unquestionable position of the majority culture. Multicultural education was not usually seen to be related to pupils of the Finnish majority culture, but it was started to be applied only since there were immigrant students in the class. Also the official position of the old Finnish minorities was established in education policy only in the 1990’s. Changes in society had an impact on national core curriculum, and subsequently also on school curricula which started to emphasize multicultural education, although under various different names. There has traditionally been a concept of international education in the Finnish curricular policy. In the core curriculum 2004, a special attention has been paid to special needs of immigrant pupils. Also acceptance of multiculturalism is stressed, although without any specific clarification of what does it mean in practice. There is no clear definition what multicultural education should include and how and to whom is should be directed to. Therefore the content of multicultural education can differ a lot depending on municipal directions concerning multicultural teaching, pupils background and specialisation of each school. The school culture plays an important role for pupils as a model of the society they are socializing into. On the other hand, schools have an important function in the promotion of a society that reflects multicultural ideology. From this perspective, schools’ interpretations of multicultural education are vital. In my paper I will discuss how multicultural education is understood in the school curricula in two primary school in Helsinki. These schools are located on different residential areas and they have different pupil structure in terms of pupils linquistic background. I will reflect the curricular interpretations to James Banks’ model of multicultural education which states that multicultural education should be included in all contents of teaching and school practices and it should be implemented to all pupils. I will appraise how the different elements of multicultural education are presented in the school curricula. I will also examine how the curricula emphasise different elements of multicultural competence (knowledge, skills, attitudes and action) and the ways of evolving competence in pupils. As an additional material in my analysis I have used the national core curriculum and the curriculum of Helsinki city which form the basis of school curricula. The paper is a part of my Ph.D. research which discusses multicultural education in the curricula and in the everyday practices of two comprehensive schools in residentially differentiated areas of Helsinki.

I research the curricula to find out different possible interpretations of multicultural education inside and between them. I analyse the curricula by using the method of qualitative content analysis. The starting point of my analysis comes from Banks’ model but it will be completed with other scientific discussion concerning the topic.

In the conference I will present the preliminary results of the curricula analysis.