Session Information
05 SES 10 A, Children and Youth at Risk and Urban Education
Paper Session
Contribution
Integration of immigrant young people is a growing issue everywhere in European societies as well as in Finland (e.g. Cebolla Boado, 2011; Kilpi-Jakonen, 2011). For a long time, the amount of immigrants used to be considerably lower in Finland than in other European countries, however, this fact is changing quickly: the overall population of non-native residents is rising. The outstanding successes in PISA-tests may overemphasis the quality and equality of comprehensive school, and overwhelm the socially diversifying educational pathways of secondary education. Evidently, lower social classes are over represented at the vocational training and the dropout rates of the vocational education are considerably high. Despite the general equality of Finnish comprehensive school, non-native children have difficulties on following the mainstream educational paths and face higher risk of dropping out. (Statistics Finland 2013; Itkonen & Jahnukainen 2007; Järvinen & Jahnukainen 2008.)
This presentation focuses on the group of Finnish immigrant youth moving from comprehensive school to the secondary education – on the key ramification of Finnish education system. In the European context, Finland offers a unique education policy field, where multiculturalism meets quite uniform and homogenous society operating traditionally in relation to Nordic welfare model and it’s ideology of equality. Only after the ninth grade of comprehensive school the education system diversifies into two different branches – general and vocational secondary education. Although there are no educational dead-ends, these branches divide the youth to vocational and academic tracks. The overall aim of the ongoing research project is to understand and interpret the educational trajectories and transitions of immigrant youth on these tracks, especially contrasted with the majority population. We seek to follow a group of young people for three years, starting from the secondary education decision through transition to adaption of post-comprehensive phase.
In this presentation we look the youth at a particular moment of post-compulsory education choices. In the theories of late modernity some “ways of being” have become more dominant and better rewarded than others (Wyn 2009, for instance). Secondary education divides pupils to academic and vocational tracks and represents though one of the most evident educational phase that has individual and structural expectations about the “ways of being”. As a vital part of youth transitions, secondary education school choice entail possibilities and risks that are “--contingent and linked to complex interactions between individual decisions, opportunity structures, and social pathways” (Heinz 2009, 4). Theoretically the immigrant youth face variety of expectations and considerations of their own possibilities, risks and educational trajectories (Heinz 2009; Ogbu & Simons 1998). (Possibly) higher expectations and believe in education might burst into the reality where language skills and learning difficulties but also cultural and social differences limits and restricts the actual possibilities. The immigrant youth in Finland seem to follow the educational paths resembling the paths of the Finnish pupils with learning difficulties (e.g. Järvinen & Jahnukainen 2008) with its difficulties and risks, although their trust in education is strong.
In this presentation we address two research questions to our data. First we look at the phenomena of choice and analyse the intertwinement of choice, school achievement and difficulties in learning and schooling. We ask “is there diversification or contradiction among immigrant youth between choices of (academic) general secondary and vocational school in accordance of school achievements and learning difficulties?” Second, we analyse the uniqueness of school expectations and aspirations among the immigrant youth compared to majority population. We ask “What kind of future aspirations and trust immigrant youth and their societal surroundings have towards education compared to native Finnish youth?”
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Cebolla Boado, H. (2011). Primary and secondary effects in the explanation of disadvantage in education: the children of immigrant families in France. British Journal of Sociology of Education 32 (3), 407–430. Heinz, W. R . (2009). Youth transition in an age of uncertainty. In A. Furlong (ed.). Handbook of Youth and Adulthood. New Perspectives and agendas. Oxon; NY: Routledge, 3–13. Itkonen, T. & Jahnukainen, M. (2007). An Analysis of Accountability Policies in Finland and the United States. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education 54 (1), 5–23. Jahnukainen, M. (2009) Stories of survival: The struggle for resiliency in the post-institutional life course of former residential education students. In Brooks, R. (Ed.) Transitions from education to work: new perspectives from Europe and beyond. Palgrave: Hampshire, 94 – 109. Järvinen, T. & Jahnukainen, M. (2008). Koulutus, polarisaatio ja tasa-arvo: hyvä- ja huono-osaistuminen perus- ja keskiasteen koulutuksessa [Education, Polarization and Equality: Advantaged and disadvantaged youth in secondary education]. In Autio, M., Eräranta, K. & Myllyniemi, S. (Eds.) Nuoret ja polarisaatio. Nuorten elinolot vuosikirja. Nuorisotutkimusverkosto, Nuorisoasiain neuvottelukunta & Stakes, 72–81. Kilpi-Jakonen, E. (2011). Continuation to upper secondary education in Finland: Children of immigrnats and the majority compared. Acta Sociologica 54 (1), 77–106. Ogbu, J. & Simons, H. (1998). Voluntary and Involuntary Minorities: A cultural-ecological theory of school performance with some implications for education. Anthropolgy & Education Quarterly 29 (2), 155–188. Statistics Finland (2013). Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Population structure [e-publication]. Appendix table 2. Population according to language 1980–2012. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 24.9.2013]. Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/vaerak/2012/vaerak_2012_2013-03-22_tau_002_en.html. Wyn, J. (2009). Educating for late modernity. In A. Furlong (ed.) Handbook of Youth and Adulthood. New perspectives and agendas. Oxon; NY: Routledge, 91–104.
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