Session Information
31 SES 08 A, Preparing Pre-service Teachers for Multilingual Classrooms – Differing Approaches from Europe and Beyond
Symposium
Contribution
Education in Finland is highly and extensively influenced by multilingualism. By constitution, the country has two national languages (Finnish and Swedish) which are the media of instruction in mainstream education. Further, Sámi languages, Romani and Finnish Sign Language have a legally protected status as media of instruction. Although this legal frame already includes several languages, the above listed languages cover only a fraction of Finland’s multilingualism (Honko & Mustonen eds., 2018). Languages with a long history in Finland (e.g. Russian and Estonian) and others with a more recent growth (e.g. Somali and Arabic) are under-represented as media of instruction, even though their speakers form a growing proportion of the student population, especially due to recent immigration. Further, learners’ everyday literacy practices are also increasingly multilingual (Martin 2016). Although the recent National Core Curriculum (POPS 2014) emphasizes language awareness and multilingualism as goals and ideals of education, the lack of established practices often delays the implementation of multilingual pedagogies. In this presentation we ask how pre- and in-service teacher education answer the linguistic challenges brought by the sudden increase of multilingualism in Finnish education. Breaking traditional norms of parallel monolingualism (i.e., separate Finnish and Swedish medium tracks of mainstream education) and being in the phase of continuous experimentation, Finnish teacher education seeks answers and best practices of multilingual pedagogies in different teaching modules and courses they offer (Moate & Szabó 2018). In this paper, we map the related modules and courses of all Finnish teacher education institutions that prepare early childhood teachers, class teachers and subject teachers to see how they prepare teachers to work in linguistically diverse learning groups. We draw on curricula and course descriptions issued by all eight teacher education institutions in Finland as well as a survey conducted in early 2019 among teacher educators. Based on these sources, we apply discourse analysis to analyze the aims, content and structure of the modules and courses. Doing so, we highlight common features and atypical solutions alike. Since we asked participants to articulate their ideas for further developing the modules / courses, we also summarize potential avenues of improvement. Finally, we discuss how our findings relate to global strands of multilingual education policies and interactional practices. This study maps the current situation and best practices nationally and thus enhances cooperation among Teacher Education institutions in Finland and also provides a basis for international comparative studies (cf. MultiTED)
References
Honko, M. & Mustonen, S. (eds., 2018). Tunne kieli: matka maailmaan kieliin ja kielitietoisuuteen. Helsinki: Finn Lectura. Martin, M. (2016). Monikielisyys muutoksessa. Kieli, koulutus ja yhteiskunta, 7(5). https://www.kieliverkosto.fi/fi/article/monikielisyys-muutoksessa/ Moate, J. & Szabó T. P. (2018). Mapping a language aware educational landscape. Kieli, koulutus ja yhteiskunta, 9(3). https://www.kieliverkosto.fi/fi/journals/kieli-koulutus-ja-yhteiskunta-toukokuu-2018/mapping-a-language-aware-educational-landscape POPS (2014). Perusopetuksen opetussuunnitelman perusteet. Helsinki: Opetushallitus.
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