SwediSh - ERIC · The spoken Swedish language in Finland can be divided into two main categories: the Swedish variety spoken in Finland (Högsvenska, which denotes standard Swedish)

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SwediSh

The Swedish language in education in Finland | 2nd Edition |

The SwediSh language in educaTion in Finland

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This document was published by the Mercator European Research Centre on Multilingualism and Language Learning with financial support from the Fryske Akademy, the Province of Fryslân, and the municipality of Leeuwarden.

© Mercator European Research Centre on Multilingualism and Language Learning, 2013

ISSN: 1570 – 12392nd edition

In 2014 some of the content of the online version of this dossier was modified.

The contents of this dossier may be reproduced in print, except for commercial purposes, provided that the extract is proceeded by a complete reference to the Mercator European Research Centre on Multilingualism and Language Learning.

This Regional dossier was originally compiled by Anna-Lena Østern of the Faculty of Education, Åbo Akademi University. She (currently of the Programme for Teacher Education, Norwegian University of Science and Technology) and Heidi Harju-Luukkainen of the Department of Teacher Education, University of Helsinki updated the dossier in 2012. Sebastian Ekholm, previously of the Faculty of Education, Åbo Akademi University, initially worked on the update, too. Unless otherwise stated academic data refer to the 2010-2011 school year.

AcknowledgementsThe authors wish to express their gratitude to Saskia Benedictus-van den Berg for careful reading and comments regarding the final updated version of this dossier. Anna-Lena Østern also wants to thank Heidi Harju-Luukkainen for stepping in and revising the numbers.

Contact information of the authors of Regional dossiers can be found in the Mercator Database of Experts (www.mercator-research.eu). From August 2012 onwards Ineke Rienks and Saskia Benedictus-van den Berg havebeen responsible for the publication of the Mercator Regional dossiers series.

Albanian; the Albanian language in education in ItalyAsturian; the Asturian language in education in SpainBasque; the Basque language in education in France (2nd ed.)Basque; the Basque language in education in Spain (2nd ed.)Breton; the Breton language in education in France (2nd ed.)Catalan; the Catalan language in education in France Catalan; the Catalan language in education in Spain (2nd ed.)Cornish; the Cornish language in education in the UKCorsican; the Corsican language in education in France (2nd ed.)Croatian; the Croatian language in education in AustriaFrisian; the Frisian language in education in the Netherlands (4th ed.)Friulian; the Friulian language in education in ItalyGaelic; the Gaelic language in education in the UKGalician; the Galician language in education in SpainGerman; the German language in education in Alsace, France (2nd ed.)German; the German language in education in BelgiumGerman; the German language in education in South Tyrol, ItalyHungarian; the Hungarian language in education in SlovakiaHungarian; the Hungarian language in education in SloveniaIrish; the Irish language in education in Northern Ireland (2nd ed.)Irish; the Irish language in education in the Republic of IrelandItalian; the Italian language in education in SloveniaKashubian; the Kashubian language in education in PolandLadin; the Ladin language in education in ItalyLatgalian; the Latgalian language in education in LatviaLithuanian; the Lithuanian language in education in PolandMaltese; the Maltese language in education in MaltaMeänkieli and Sweden Finnish; the Finnic languages in education in SwedenNorth-Frisian; the North Frisian language in education in Germany (2nd ed.)Occitan; the Occitan language in education in FrancePolish; the Polish language in education in LithuaniaRomani and Beash; the Romani and Beash languages in education in HungarySami; the Sami language in education in SwedenScots; the Scots language in education in ScotlandSlovak; the Slovak language in education in HungarySlovene; the Slovene language in education in Austria (2nd ed.)Slovene; the Slovene language in education in Italy (2nd ed.)Sorbian; the Sorbian language in education in GermanySwedish; the Swedish language in education in Finland (2nd ed.)Turkish; the Turkish language in education in GreeceUkrainian and Ruthenian; the Ukrainian and Ruthenian language in education in PolandVõro; the Võro language in education in EstoniaWelsh; the Welsh language in education in the UK

Contents

Glossary ..............................................................................2

Foreword ..............................................................................3

1 Introduction...........................................................5

2 Pre-schooleducation..........................................16

3 Primaryeducation..............................................20

4 Secondaryeducation..........................................28

5 Vocationaleducation..........................................32

6 Highereducation................................................34

7 Adulteducation...................................................39

8 Educationalresearch..........................................41

9 Prospects............................................................46

10 Summarystatistics.............................................47

Endnotes................................................................................50

EducationsysteminFinland...................................................51Referencesandfurtherreading..............................................52Addresses...............................................................................64

Otherwebsitesonminoritylanguages...................................69

WhatcantheMercatorResearchCentreofferyou?..............70

ContentsGlossary2Foreword 31 Introduction52 Pre-schooleducation163 Primaryeducation 204 Secondaryeducation285 Vocationaleducation326 Highereducation 347 Adulteducation 398 Educationalresearch419 Prospects 4610Summarystatistics 47Endnotes 50EducationsysteminFinland 51Referencesandfurtherreading 52Addresses64Otherwebsitesonminoritylanguages 69WhatcantheMercatorResearchCentreofferyou? 70

Education and lEssEr usEd languagEs

2

Glossary

ECEC EarlyChildhoodEducationandCareFNBE Finnish National Board of Education (Utbildningsstyrelsen /

Opetushallitus)NIHW NationalInstituteforHealthandWelfare(Institutetförhälsaoch

välfärd/Terveydenjahyvinvoinninlaitos)

thE swEdish languagE in Education in Finland

3

Foreword

background The Mercator European Research Centre on Multilingualismand Language Learning aims at the acquisition, circulation,and application of knowledge in the field of regional andminority language education. Regional or minority languagesarelanguagesthatdifferfromtheofficiallanguageofthestatewhere they are spoken and that are traditionally used withina given territory by nationals of that state forming a groupnumericallysmallerthantherestofthestate’spopulation.Forseveral yearsan importantmeans for theMercatorResearchCentre to achieve the goal of knowledge acquisition andcirculationhasbeentheRegionaldossiersseries.Thesuccessofthisseriesillustratesaneedfordocumentsstatingbrieflythemostessentialfeaturesoftheeducationsystemofregionswithanautochthonouslesserusedlanguage.

aim Regional dossiers aimat providing a concise description andbasicstatisticsaboutminoritylanguageeducationinaspecificregionofEurope.Aspectsthatareaddressedincludefeaturesof the education system, recent educational policies, mainactors, legalarrangements,andsupportstructures,aswellasquantitativeaspects,suchasthenumberofschools,teachers,pupils,andfinancial investments.Thiskindof informationcanserveseveralpurposesandcanberelevantfordifferenttargetgroups.

target group Policymakers, researchers, teachers,students,and journalistsmay use the information provided to assess developments inEuropean minority language schooling. They can also use aRegionaldossierasafirstorientationtowardsfurtherresearchorasasourceofideasforimprovingeducationalprovisionsintheirownregion.

link with Inordertolinktheseregionaldescriptionswiththoseofnationaleducationsystems,theformatoftheregionaldossiersfollowsthe format used by Eurydice, the information network oneducation in Europe. Eurydice provides information on the

Eurydice


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administration and structure of national education systems inthememberstatesoftheEuropeanUnion.

contents Theremainderof thisdossierconsistsofan introductionto theregionunderstudy,followedbysixsectionseachdealingwithaspecific levelof theeducationsystem.Thesebriefdescriptionscontainfactualinformationpresentedinareadilyaccessibleway.Sectionseight to tencover research,prospects, andsummarystatistics.Fordetailedinformationandpoliticaldiscussionsaboutlanguage use at the various levels of education, the reader isreferredtoothersourceswithalistofpublications.


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1 Introduction

language SwedishispresentlyoneofthetwoofficiallanguagesinFinland.Themajorityof the inhabitants inFinlandareFinnish-speaking,but a minority speaks Swedish as their first language. Thenumber of bilingual families (one parent Finnish-speaking, theotherSwedish-speaking)isincreasing.Three native Saami lan-guagesare spoken inFinland: Inari Saami, North Saami, andSkolt Saami. Regional and minority languages include Romani,Karelian, Russian, Tatar, and Yiddish (Council of Europe, 2012).Foreign languages that have the largest representation are Ara-bic, English, Estonian, Kurdish, Russian, and Somali (Official Statistics of Finland, 2013).

The spokenSwedish language in Finland can be divided intotwo main categories: the Swedish variety spoken in Finland(Högsvenska,whichdenotesstandardSwedish)andthedialectsindifferentregions.TheSwedishvarietyspokeninFinlandisoneofthefiveregionalvarietiesofSwedish.Theothervarietiesi.e.dialectsareÖsterbottniska(spokeninOstrobothnia),Åländska(spoken in Ahvenanmaa – the Åland Islands), Åboländska(spokenintheWesterncoastalareaofFinland),andNyländska(spokeninSouthernFinland).SwedishbelongstotheGermaniclanguage family and is one of the Nordic languages, whichhavemuch incommon. It isunderstood inallNordiccountriesby about 20 million people. Swedish spoken in Finland hasthesamestandardandnormsasSwedishspokeninSweden.However,onecan tell fromaperson’s intonationwhethers/heisaFinland-Swede.Onecanalsotell,onthebasisofintonationdifferences, from which part of the Swedish-speaking part ofFinland a person comes, i.e. whether a person comes fromÖsterbotten/Pohjanmaa(Ostrobothnia),Åland/Ahvenanmaa,or the southern part of Finland. The norm for the Finland-Swedes is standard Swedish, which is also the medium ofinstruction in theSwedish-languageschools. It is important for


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the Finland-Swedes that written Swedish in Finland does notdifferfromwrittenSwedishinSweden.

InFinlandeverycitizenhastherighttochoosewhichlanguageistheirmothertongue;parentsmakethischoicefortheirchild,within a few weeks after its birth. Later in life, as an adult,citizenscanchange theirmother tongue.Theextent towhichit ispossibletouseSwedishasalanguageofcommunicationin stores,offices, religiousmatters, socialwelfare,andhealthcare,variesverymuch.

population The origins of the Swedish-speaking population in Finlandcan be traced back to medieval times when farmers fromSweden colonised Finland. Finland was a part of Swedenformore than600years (until1809).Asa result, therewerenumerous contacts between the countries:manymerchants,civil servants, andmilitary personnelmoved fromSweden toFinland.Still today, theSwedish-speakingminority inFinlandlives near the influence of Sweden, i.e. in the coastal areasofFinland.Inaddition,someso-calledlanguageislandshavedeveloped in Finland, where the Swedish-speaking minoritylivesisolatedamongaFinnish-speakingpopulationinofficiallymonolingualcities.

Today the total population of Finland is about 5.4 millionpeople (Befolkningsregistercentralen / Väestörekisterikeskus,2012). Of this population 155,705 people hold a citizenshipother than Finnish (Statistics Finland, 2009), and about 120differentlanguagesarespokeninthecountry.ThismeansthattheFinnishsociety ischanging froma relativelyhomogenousmonoculture into a pluricultural society. Altogether there are224,388 people in Finland that have registered themselvesas speaker of another language than the official languages(StatisticsFinland,2010).

About 5.5 % (291,193) of the total population state Swedishas their mother tongue (Statistics Finland, 2010). People whoconsiderSwedishtobetheirmothertongueareusuallybilingual


7

with at least sufficient knowledge of Finnish; quite often theyaretrilingualwithEnglishbeingtheir third language.Thesocialstratification in the Finnish society is equal for the Finnish-speakingandtheSwedish-speakingpopulation.

ThemunicipalitiesinFinlandhavebeenreorganisedintolargerunitsduringthelastyears.In2004therewere444municipalitiesandin2011336.Ofthese,nineteenwereSwedish-speakingandtwelvebilingualwithaSwedish-speakingmajority(Kommunerna,2011b).Amunicipalitycanbedescribedasofficiallymonolingualwhen thenumber ofminority language speakers is lower than6%.AllmunicipalitiesinÅlandaremonolinguallySwedish.

OneoftheareasinFinlandwheremostSwedishisspokenistherefore the Åland Islands.About 26,500 Swedish-speakinginhabitants live on the Åland Islands, between Sweden andFinland. Åland already had aSwedish population in 500BC,whichiswellbeforethemainimmigrationflowfromSwedentoFinland,intheeleventhandtwelfthcenturies.

Figure 1: The West coast of Finland (Åland excluded), with the percentage of the Swedish-speaking population in 1900, 1950, and 2005 respectively; ranging from 0-14% to 92-100% (Source: Finnäs, 2007, p. 10).


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In1900theSwedish-speakingpopulationconsistedof349,700peopleandatthattimeconstituted13%ofthetotalpopulationof Finland. Because of the doubling of the Finnish-speakingpopulationduringthetwentiethcentury, theSwedish-speakingpopulationhas relativelydecreased toabout5.5% (in2005),although it has remained quite close in numbers: 289,675.The relative decrease in the number of Swedish-speakingpeopleinFinlandcanpartlybeexplainedbyemigration.Since1950about60,000Finland-Swedeshaveemigrated,mostlytoSweden.TheproportionaldecreaseofthenumberofSwedish-speakingpeopleistoalesserdegreedependentonalanguageshift to Finnish. The net number of people who have shiftedfromSwedishtoFinnishsince1950isabout1,000.

language status The government of 1919 postulated that Finnish and Swedishare the two national languages of the country. In the Finlandsgrundlag / Suomen perustuslaki (1999/731) (Constitution ofFinland)of1922thecitizens’rightsregarding languageusearespecified in more detail.According to the Finnish Constitution,anindividualhastherighttousetheirownlanguage(FinnishorSwedish) before authorities. The public authority shall providefor the cultural and societal need of the Finnish speaking andSwedish-speakingpopulationsofthecountryonanequalbasis.In 2003 a new Språklag / Kielilaki (2003/423) (LanguageAct)replacedtheoldactof1922.Thenewactdoesnotentailanynewlanguage rights: its primary objective is to ensure the practicalimplementationoftherights(MinistryofJustice,Finland,2013).

According toMinistryofJustice inFinland(2013) thenewactprescribes that theauthoritiesshallon theirown initiativeseeto the implementation of the language rights of individualswithout themhaving tocallattention to the rights themselves.TheLanguageActdeterminesaminimumlevel.TheHälso-ochsjukvårdslag / Terveydenhuoltolaki (1326/2010) (Health CareAct)containsamoredetaileddescriptionofthelanguagerightsofpatientsorsocialwelfareclients.Thisactalsocontainsmoredetailed provisions on the language of instruction, consumerprotection,androadtraffic.


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There are special laws protecting the autonomy of the ÅlandIslands. The Självstyrelselag för Åland / Ahvenanmaan itse-hallintolaki (1991/1144) (Act on the Autonomy of Åland)was revised in 1991. The Åland Islands have got their ownÅlands lagting (parliament) and an Ålands landskapsregering(government),and,besides,totalautonomyinmanyquestions,forexampleregardingeducation.

The Republic of Finland signed the European Charter forRegionalMinorityLanguagesin1992andacceptedittwoyearslaterin1994.Itwasbroughtintoforcein1998byadecree.

status of The Grunderna för läroplanen för den grundläggande utbild-ningen /Perusopetuksenopetussuunnitelmanperusteet (Natio-nalCoreCurriculumforBasicEducation)(FNBE,2004)describescurriculum guidelines for nine languages (mainly as mothertongue): Swedish, Finnish, Sami language, Romani language,mothertongueforpupilswithanimmigrantbackground,Swedishassecond language,FinnishassecondLanguage,Finnish forSami-speakingchildrenandforchildrenwhousesignlanguage(FNBE,2007b).

education Geographically accessibility of education in Finland is high.Onehasthepossibilitytoeducateoneselfatalmostall levelsthroughout the country. A leading principle of the Finnisheducationpolicyhasbeentoprovideequalopportunitiestoallstudents, regardless of social background or language. TheequalopportunitiesontheonehandandthefactthatFinlandhas two national languages on the other, has produced twoparallel school systems i.e. the Swedish-speaking and theFinnish-speakingsystem.Thesesystemsarerunsidebyside,withalmostequalcurriculumsandresources.IntheSwedish-speakingschools the teachersareusuallynativespeakersofSwedish and the language of the schools is Swedish on alloccasions.

Pre-primaryeducation isvoluntary forchildrenagedsix.Mostofthechildrenattendpre-primaryeducation.Basiceducationin

language education

system


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Finlandiscompulsoryforchildrenbetween7and16yearsold.This encompasses nine years of basic education, i.e. gradesonetonine,andwasfoundedinthe1970s;thiswaslaiddownin the Lag om grundläggande utbildning / Perusopetuslaki(1998) (Basic EducationAct), which was first given in 1968,but has been revised several times until 1998. All of themunicipalities gradually adopted the new compulsory basiceducation for the children; the lastmunicipality at the end ofthe 1970s. The children can choose to go to the school oftheirownchoiceorchooseaschool intheirowndistrict.Afterbasiceducationpupilscancontinuetoandrastadietsutbildning(secondaryeducation)andchoosebetweengymnasier(generaluppersecondaryeducation)andyrkesinstitut(uppersecondaryvocational education and training). Folk high schools alsoprovide secondary education. The upper secondary schooland the vocational institute then normally lead, after a three-year education, to universitet (universities) or yrkeshögskola(polytechnicuniversities).

InFinlandallschoolpupilsaretaughttheirmothertongueandatleasttwootherlanguagesduringcompulsoryeducation.TheFinnish time allocation defines two levels of foreign languageteaching: A-level and B-level. The students start with anA1-languageastheirfirstobligatoryforeignlanguageandlaterontheyaddanotherA1-language(ifstudentsstudyinaSwedish-speaking school) or B1-language (if the students study in aFinnish-speakingschool)totheirlanguagepalette.A1-languagestartsatthelowerstageofthecomprehensiveschool.TheB1-languagestartsintheupperstageofthecomprehensiveschool.Bothofthelanguages(A1orB1)areobligatorytoallstudents.Oneoftheselanguageshastobetheothernational language(FinnishorSwedish,dependingontheschoollanguage).Thereis also a possibility for students to start aB2-languageat theupper stage of comprehensive school or B3-language in theuppersecondaryschool1.TheremightalsobelanguagestudiesthatdonotreachB-level.ThisnaturallymeansthatinSwedish-speakingschoolsthestudentslearntwoA1-languages(FinnishandforexampleEnglish)alreadyatcomprehensiveschool.As


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forstudentsinFinnish-speakingschools,onlyoneA1-languageisintroducedincomprehensiveschool(FNBE,2003).

Themunicipalities have a great role in defining the status ofdifferent languages inFinland.Themunicipalities can choosewhichlanguagestheyoffertostudents,towhatextent,andinwhichschools.

private and There are both public and private schools inFinland.A largenumber (approx. 98 %) of the schools, at all levels, are runpubliclybythemunicipalities.Thismeansthatthereareonlyafewprivate schools.Theseare for example schools followingaparticularpedagogicalapproach,differentlanguageschools,schools adhering to a specific religion, or ordinary privateschools.Allschoolsarefundedbythestateforupto60-70%ofthecosts.Therestofthecostsarefundedbythemunicipalities.Thismeans that themunicipalities have a great influence oneducation.

Thestateregulatestheschoolsystemthroughlaws.Thesamelawsandcurriculumshave tobe followedbyevery (publicorprivate)school.Inthissensethereisnodifferenceineducationin private or public schools.Students do not pay fees at anylevel;thisistrueforalllevelsoftheschoolsystem.Exceptionstothisrulearesomeinstitutionsforadulteducation.

bilingual ThelanguageofinstructioninschoolsinFinlandiseitherFinnishor Swedish. Teaching can also be done in another languageeither partly or completely. According to Utbildningsstyrelsen/ Opetushallitus (the Finnish National Board of Education;hereafter:FNBE) “regardlessof howextensive the instructioninaforeignlanguageorlanguageimmersionis,thepupilistoachievesuchalanguageproficiencyintheschool’slanguageofinstructionandintheforeignorlanguage-immersionlanguagethat the objectives of the different subjects can be attained”(FNBE2004,p.270).

public

education forms


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Swedish-language immersion programmes have existed forover twenty years in Finland, and todaywe can find differentmodifications of this. The most popular one in Finland is stillEarly Swedish Immersion. The roots of the programme lie inFrench as second language education inCanada, whichwasdevelopedinSt.Lambertinthe1960s.ThisCanadianapproachhas been adapted to the Finnish context over time, andtherefore some differences between the programmes can befound.According to theUniversityofVasa(UniversityofVasa,2011) approximately 4,000 children attended Early SwedishImmersionprogrammesin2009.ThelatestsurveyofSwedish-languageimmersionandCLILeducationwasconductedin2011byKangasvierietal.

CLILmeans‘contentandlanguageintegratedlearning’,whichis also used in Finland to support the learning of schoolsubjects througha foreign language.This foreign language isoftenEnglish,andavarietyofsubjectsaretaughtthroughCLILinFinland.

TheSwedish-languageschoolsaremainlylocatedinthecoastalareas.AfewSwedish-languageschoolscanalsobefoundonso-called language islands(cf.p.6).AccordingtoStudieinfo(2012)therewere150Swedish-languageschoolsinFinlandin2012.

ThemajorSwedish-languageuniversityinFinlandisÅboAka-demi. The university has a special task in taking care of theneedsofeducationandresearchamongandfortheSwedish-speaking Finns. Åbo Akademi’s campus in Vasa hosts theFacultyofEducation.Thefacultymaintainsaclosecontactwithall the Swedish-language regions of Finland, being sensitivetothenumberofteachersrequiredandprovidingcoursesandresearch inmostof thevariousfieldsofspecialisationofferedbytheFinnish-languagefacultiesofeducation.

There are also other universities with a significant Swedish-speaking student population. The University of Helsinki, thebiggestuniversityofFinland,isabilingualuniversity(Swedish-


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Finnish), with many monolingual-Swedish master-level pro-grammes. Helsinki University nowadays educates Swedish-speaking teachers, both day care- and subject-teachers andalsoawiderangeofSwedish-speakingspecialistsforthefield.

administration Central aswell as local authorities are involved in education.The primary, lower secondary, and higher secondary schoolsystemshavebeenregulatedbycentrallawssince1984,withthe introduction of theGrundskolelag / Peruskoululaki (1983)(Comprehensive School Act). The Undervisningsministeriet /Opetusministeriö(MinistryofEducation)isthehighestauthorityon education, regulating among other things which subjectsare taught and which competences the teacher must have.TheMinistryofEducationalsocontrolstheuniversitiesthroughyearlynegotiations.TheFNBE isgenerallynotnormative,buttheboardhasastatutory right todecideuponevaluationandgrading. The task of the board is to develop the educationalsystem through different developmental projects and to workouttheNationalCoreCurriculumforBasicEducation(2004).

The localauthoritieswork throughaSkolnämnden (councilofeducation). Inthiscouncil the localcurriculumfor thedifferentschool levels isdecidedupon.WiththereformoftheNationalCore Curriculum for Basic Education in 2004 the power ofthe FNBE was underlined. The schools are not allowed toneglect thecontentof theNationalCoreCurriculum forBasicEducation, which now is a norm for every school in basiceducationandhighersecondaryeducation.ThelocalcouncilofeducationactsasacomplementtotheFNBE.

The FNBE gives advice to the Ministry of Education oneducation policy and is in charge of the development ofeducation in Finland. The FNBE is also responsible for thedevelopment of pre-primary education, basic education,generalhighersecondaryeducation,vocationaleducationandtraining, formal adult education and liberal adult education(folk high schools, study centres, summer universities), andextracurricular basic education in arts. The FNBE operates


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in fourareas:developmentofeducation,evaluationservices,information services, and educational services. The FNBEsupportsschoolsthroughdevelopingthecurriculumstandardsfor different age groups. The board also controls the qualitythroughdifferentkindsoftestsgiventoacertainpercentageofthepupilsatdifferentstages.

Aspecialcouncil,Studentexamensnämnden /Ylioppilastutkin-tolautakunta (Matriculation Examination Board), controls thenational standard for graduates at higher secondary schools.The Matriculation Examination Board formulates the exten-siveexaminationsforgraduatingstudents.Theoutcomesalsoserve as an entrance test to university and higher vocationaleducation.

inspection The FNBE has the right to inspect schools if necessary. Thequalitycontrolismostlydonebymeasuringthecompetenciesoreducationalachievementsofthepupils.Avarietyofbothnational(often conducted by theFNBE) and international assessments(often conducted by the Koulutuksen Tutkimuslaitos (FinnishInstitute for Educational Research) at the JyväskylänYliopisto(UniversityofJyväskylä))isapplied.

support TheFinnishandtheSwedisheducationalsystemsareparallel,withequalgovernmentalorganisationsthathavebeencreatedtomaintainthepossibilityforequaleducation.ThismeansthatforexampleintheFNBEtherearedifferentspecialistsworkingwithFinnishandSwedishissues.Thisisalsothecaseinmanybilingualmunicipalities.TheSwedishstructuresareassimilarto the Finnish ones as possible, and the same pedagogicalsupport exists for both languages. The number of specialistsworkingonSwedishlanguageissuesislower.

There are several associations in the field of education thatgive support at different levels. The goal of the Kommunför-bundet /Kuntaliitto (AssociationofFinnishLocal andRegionalAuthorities) is“topromote theopportunities for localauthoritiesto operate for the benefit of (their) residents” in both Finnish

structure


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and Swedish (Kommunerna, 2011a). The Folktinget (SwedishAssembly in Finland) has a support function for informationabout the Finland-Swedish population. The Svenska kultur-fonden (Swedish cultural foundation) offers grants for projectsand researchon theSwedish languageandculture inFinland.Folkhälsan“isaSwedish-speakingnon-governmentalorganiza-tion in the social welfare and health care sector in Finland. Itcarries out scientific research and provides social welfare andhealth care services aswell as information and counselling inordertopromotehealthandqualityoflife”(Folkhälsan,2011).

In2012twopublishingcompaniesinSwedish-speakingFinlandmerged.Thenewpublishingcompany,Schildts&Söderströms,focuses on literature and educational content in Swedish. Alot of imported teachingmaterial from Swedish is also used.Also,ÅboAkademiandotheruniversitiesproducematerialforteachers.


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2 Pre-school education

target group Finnishearlychildhoodeducationandcare(ECEC)coversboththe child day care arrangements and themore goal-orientedearlychildhoodeducationforthechildren(so-calledpre-schooleducation). Pre-school education in Finland is intended forchildrenaged6.Itisnotcompulsorytoattendpre-school.

structure Early childhood education and caremust be offered to everychild,iftheparentssowish,eitherindaycareinstitutionsorinfamilydaycaregroups.Thepre-school institutionsare ledbyapre-schoolteacherwithauniversitybachelordegree.Mostlythe different units in the pre-school institution are led by pre-schoolteacherssupportedbyotherkindsofcaringstaff.

Earlychildhoodeducationinstitutionsareorganisedbythelocalauthorities.Daycare isorganised indifferent forms.Theyarenot freeof charge;parentspayaccording to their income.All6-year-oldsareofferedapre-schoolyear freeofcharge.Thispre-schoolyearisofferedeitherwithinthepre-schoolorwithinthe primary school.About 90% of the 6-year-old children inFinlandattendthisyearofpre-school,whichisapreparationforprimaryschool(atleast700hoursofteaching).

Educational goals in early childhood education and care arebroad.Themaingoalsasstated in theGrunderna förplanenför småbarnsforstan / Varhaiskasvatussuunnitelman perusteet(National curriculum guidelines on early childhood educationandcare)arepromotionofpersonalwell-being,reinforcementof considerate behaviour and action towards others, andgradual build-up of autonomy (Stakes, 2003). According totheFNBE “pre-primaryeducation isbasedon thechild’sownknowledge, skills andexperiences. Its focus isonplayandapositive outlook on life. From the educational point of view,workingmethodsthataccustomchildrentoteamworkareoftheutmostimportance.Anothercentralconsiderationistopromotethe child’s own initiative and to emphasise its significance asthefoundationforallactivities”(FNBE,2012a).


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legislation There are several national regulations and policy documentsas well as local policy documents governing early childhoodeducationandcareinFinland:theLagombarndagvård/Lakilasten päivähoidosta (1973) (Law on Children’s Day Care),the Government Resolution Concerning the National PolicyDefinitiononEarlyChildhoodEducationandCare (2002), theNationalCurriculumGuidelinesonEarlyChildhoodEducationandCare (2003),and theLagomgrundläggandeutbildning /Perusopetuslaki(1998)(BasicEducationAct).

Day care institutions are regulated by the Law on Children’sDayCare (1973).The lawobliges localauthorities toarrangedaycareaccordingtotheneedofthemunicipalitiesforchildrenbetween 6months and the age of 6. The law underlines theimportanceofupbringingandcaringmorethanthatofteaching.TheFNBEdefinedtheGrundernaför förskoleundervisningensläroplan / Esiopetuksen opetussuunnitelman perusteet (Corecurriculumforpre-primaryeducation)in2010(FNBE,2010c).

At the moment ECEC is under the supervision of the Social-ochhälsovårdsministeriet/Sosiaali-jaterveysministeriö(FinnishMinistry of Social Affairs and Health). There will be structuralchanges in 2013 and supervision of the pre-schools will thenbecometheresponsibilityofUndervisningsochkulturministeriet/ Opetus- ja kulttuuriministeriö (the Ministry of Education andCulture).

In the Basic EducationAct (1998) the possibility to organisea pre-school year within the frame of primary education ismentioned.AccordingtoStatisticsFinland(WERA)in2010,inSwedish-speaking pre-schools, 930 children were enrolled inpre-school connected to basic education, and 2,274 childrenin six-year-old groups in day care. In total 3,204 childrenparticipatedinSwedish-speakingpre-schooleducation.

Inthenextchapter,referenceismadetoarenewalofthecorecurriculumforpre-primaryandbasiceducation(cf.p.21).


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language use The day care institutions are divided into Swedish-languageandFinnish-languageinstitutionsonthebasisoftheirlanguageof instruction.Therearealsodaycare institutionswithanotherlanguageasthemediumofinstruction.Somedaycareinstitutionsarebilingualwithseparatelanguagegroupswithintheinstitution,basedonthechildren’smothertongueofparentalwish.Therearealsogroupswherechildrenwithdifferentlanguagebackgroundsareinthesamegroup.Thepre-schoolteacheroftenaddresseseachchildinthechild’slanguage.

Thepre-school teachers inSwedish-speakingpre-schoolsarecommonly native speakers of Swedish, but usually they arealso fluent in Finnish. This is typical for the urban bilingualareasinFinland,whereSwedish-speakingfamiliesoftenliveinaFinnish-speakingcontext.TheparentswanttheirchildtogotoaSwedish-languagepre-school inorder togive thechildachancetospeakSwedishmorefluentlywhenprimaryschoolingstarts.According to the latestSwedish day care report aboutlanguageandqualityaspects(Erikssonetal.2012),only28percentofchildreninHelsinkicomefrommonolinguallySwedish-speaking families. Also, very seldom, bilingual Swedish andFinnish-speakingchildrenchooseFinnish-insteadofSwedish-languagedaycare.

ForFinnish-speakingchildren there is, in someareas,apos-sibility to take part in an early Swedish total immersion pro-gramme where the medium of instruction is Swedish. Thesechildren are monolingually Finnish-speaking, but they willbecome functionally bilingual inSwedish andFinnish throughthe programme. Similar Finnish-immersion programmes existforSwedish-speakingchildren.Nowadaysmostofthelanguageimmersiongroupscanbefoundinthecoastalareasandespe-ciallyinthemetropolitanareaaroundHelsinki.Thestartingageforchildren in the immersionprogrammes isflexible:between3and6yearsofage.

teaching There is teaching material in Swedish and in Finnish for thepre-school teachers in different thematic areas. Much of thematerial


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material used for the Swedish-speaking children is importedfromSweden.OnlyoneSwedishpublisherinFinlandproducesteachingmaterialinSwedish(Schildts&Söderströms),andtheyhaveanagreementwithpublishers inSwedenabout importingteachingmaterialforpre-school,primary,andsecondaryschool.

statistics TheInstitutetförhälsaochvälfärd/Terveydenjahyvinvoinninlaitos (National Institute for Health and Welfare; hereafter:NIHW) is a research and development institute under theFinnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health. It is also astatisticalauthorityinthehealthandwelfarefield.Theydonotprovidestatisticsbasedon languageregarding thenumberofchildren inpre-school; theygiveout thestatisticsonly for thewholecountry.In2010therewere223,364children(aged0-6)intotalindaycareandpre-school(NIHW,2010).

AccordingtoKumpulainenapproximately3,200childrenatten-dedaSwedish-speakingpre-school in2009,outofa totalof57,700pupilsinpre-schoolsinFinland.Mostoftheseattendedpre-school the previous year.About 23 % of the pre-schoolteaching was organised within primary education; Swedish-speakingchildrenattendedapre-schoolattachedtoaprimaryschoolmoreoften(30%)(2010).


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3 Primary education

target group Grundskolan / peruskoulu (basic education or comprehensiveschool) is compulsoryandcovers theagegroups7 to16andgrades 1-9. This basic education consists of the lower andupperstagesofcomprehensiveschool.Thelowerstagecaterstopupilsaged7to12(grades1-6)andtheupperstagecaterstopupilsaged13to15(grades7-9). Insomecasesthere isapossibilityforthestudentstoattenda10thgrade(additionalbasiceducation).Thisisnotalwayssituatedinthesameschool.

Class teachers teach ingrade1-6(thesameteacher teachesmostofthesubjectstoaclass).Subjectteachersteachmostlyingrade7-9.Grades7-9arebroughttogetherinlargerschoolsgettingpupilsfromseveralprimaryschools.

Asaprinciplechildrenwithlearningdifficultiesandhandicapsshould be included in the mainstream school. At primaryeducation level thereare trainingschools for severelyhandi-capped children, training vocational schools, and schools forvisuallyhandicappedchildreninbothnationallanguages.

structure Almost all schools are public in Finland. This means thatcompulsoryeducation is free forallpupils.The textbooks forbasiceducationarefree.Freemealsarealsoservedatschool.EverychildhastherighttobetaughtaccordingtotheNationalCoreCurriculumforBasicEducationeitherbyattendingschoolorprovidedbytheircaretakers.InFinland99.7%ofthechildrencomplete compulsory education. For children with specialneedstheabove-mentionedrulesofcompulsoryeducationalsoapply; the timeof compulsory learning canbeextended fromnineuntilelevenyears.

TheNationalCoreCurriculumforBasicEducationisdeterminedby the FNBE and it was confirmed in January 2004. ThiscurriculumisthesameforSwedish-languageschoolsformostparts.Theonlydifferencecanbe found in thesubjectareaofmother tongueand literature,due to the fact that thecultures


21

and languagesaredifferent.Therehavebeensomechangesinthecurriculumsince2004.Inyear2010somechangesweremadeespeciallyconcerningspecialeducation(FNBE,2010a).

The subjects to be taught are defined in the National CoreCurriculum for Basic Education such as second and foreignlanguage, mathematics, environmental and natural sciences,biologyandgeography,physicsandchemistry,healtheducation,religion,ethics,history,socialstudies,music,visualarts,crafts,physical education and home economics. It also specifies thecentralprinciplesofstudentwelfareservicesandschool-homecooperation,aswellastheobjectivesofstudentwelfareservicesthatareseenasapartoftheeducationalsystem.TheNationalCoreCurriculumforBasicEducationalsodefinescentralthemesto elaborate through the different subjects taught. It functionsalsoasa regulationon thebasisofwhich thebasiceducationproviderwilltakedecisions.

renewal of the core curriculum for pre-primary and basic education (OPS2016)Theabove-mentionedcurriculumof2004willbechanged.

The Finnish National Board of Education has begun toprepare the new national core curriculum for basic andpre-primary education. The new curriculum will be basedon the [Statsrådets förordning om riksomfattande mål förutbildningen enligt lagen om grundläggande utbildningoch om timfördelning i den grundläggande utbildningen /Valtioneuvoston asetus perusopetuslaissa tarkoitetunopetuksenvaltakunnallisista tavoitteista japerusopetuksentuntijaosta]Decreeonnationalobjectivesanddistributionofteachinghoursinbasiceducation(422/2012),issuedbytheGovernmentinJune2012.Therenewedcorecurriculumwillbecompletedby theendof 2014. New local curricula that are based on this corecurriculum should be prepared by the beginning of schoolyear2016-2017.The preparation is carried out in working groups that


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focusonstructureandobjectives,conceptionsoflearning,supportforlearningandthedifferentsubjectstaughtinbasiceducation. Each working group consists of educationalofficials,researchersandteachers.Thepreparationofthecurriculumisinteractive.Alleducationproviderscanfollowthepreparationandgivefeedbackatthedifferentphases.Theyarealsoencouragedtoinvolvepupilsandtheirparentsintheprocess(FNBE,2013)2.

Everyonehas the right toapply forastudyplace for thenextstageofeducationafterfinishingbasiceducation.

legislation There are several documents that form the basis of Finnishbasiceducation.BasiceducationisgovernedbytheFörordningomgrundläggande utbildning / Perusopetusasetus (1998) (Ba-sic Education Decree), and the Decree on national objectivesand distribution of teaching hours in basic education (2012).The Förordning om behörighetsvilkoren för personal inomundervisningsväsendet /Asetus opetustoimen henkilöstön kel-poisuusvaatimuksista (1998) (Teaching Qualification Decree)determinesdifferentteacherqualificationsinFinland.

language use The medium of instruction in Swedish-language schools isSwedish, unless a foreign language is being taught. Theteachers are either native speakers of Swedish, or they havepassedanadvancedleveltest inSwedish,orhavetakentheirmaster’sdegreeinaSwedish-languageuniversity,thusshowingtheircompetenceinSwedish.SchoolsareofavitalimportancefortheculturalidentityofasmallminoritysuchastheSwedish-speakingpopulationinFinland.

In Swedish-language primary schools there is a course calledförstärkt modersmål (strengthenedmother tongueSwedish) forpupils from bilingual homes where Finnish is the dominantlanguage and the child is not quite fluent in Swedish. For thepupils who have Finnish as their mother tongue, there is acoursemodersmålsinriktad finska (Finnish as mother tongue).TheotherpupilslearnFinnishastheirfirstforeignlanguage.The


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teachingofFinnishasasubjectstartsingradethree.InFinnishschoolspupilscanchooseto learnSwedishorEnglishastheirfirst foreign language.MostFinnishpupilschooseEnglishfromgradethreeandSwedish fromgradeseven.LearningSwedishisobligatory forFinnish-speakingpupilsand learningFinnish isobligatory for the Swedish-speaking pupils.Only on the ÅlandIslandspupilsmaychooseFinnishonavoluntarybasis.

In the early Swedish immersion programme the medium ofinstructionisSwedishduringthefirsttwoyears(80%).Graduallymore teaching takesplace inFinnishandat theendof the6thgrade approximately 50 per cent of the lessons is taught inSwedish. The lower secondary and higher secondary levelsare bilingual. In a few cases in areas where Swedish is verydominant inOstrobothnia early Finnish immersion forSwedishpupilsisalsoorganised.

InareportaboutthesituationintheSwedish-languageprimaryschools (grade 1-6) in the school year 1998/1999 the FNBEconcludedthattheclassesaremuchmoremixedlinguisticallytodaythanduringtheeighties(Oker-Blom,Geber&Backman,2001). The number of pupils in Swedish-language schoolshad increased by almost 30 % from 3,200 in 1980 to 4,100in 1998. According to the investigation still two out of threepupils in Swedish-language schools at that time came fromcompletely Swedish-speaking homes. Especially pupils fromSwedish-speakinghomesspeakFinnishregularlyinthehighergrades.TheFNBEconcludesalsothatabout30%ofthepupilsin the Swedish-language schools speak a Swedish dialect.Thesepupilsarealmostwithoutexception fromOstrobothnia.InallSwedish-speakingregionsofFinlandtherearepupilsfromfamilieswhereother languagesthanSwedishandFinnisharespoken (about 2% of the pupils).According to the teachers’estimates about 19% of the pupils in the Swedish-languageschoolsdonotspeakSwedishfluently.Teachersalsoestimatethat56%of thebilingualpupilsspeakSwedishunimpededly.This means that there are many children that speak mostlyFinnishathomebutattendaSwedish-languageschool.


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TheresultsoftheOECDProgrammeforInternationalStudentAssessment (PISA3)2009 revealed thatapproximately19percent of the 15-year-old pupils in Swedish-language schoolsspeakmostlyFinnish at home (Harju-Luukkainen&Nissinen,2011). In themetropolitan area the Finnish language is evenmore dominant.At Swedish-language schools, approximately36percentofallpupilsaged15speakmostlyFinnishathome(Harju-Luukkainen&Nissinen2011,2012).Figure 2, below, shows the proportion of pupils from thedifferentlanguagebackgroundsinSwedish-languageeducation,forgrades1-6ofbasiceducation.

S(D): the pupil comes from a Swedish-speaking home. Only standardSwedish+pupilswhoalsospeakdialectintheirneighbourhood

D(S): thepupilspeaksSwedishdialectathomebutalsostandardSwedishintheneighbourhood

SF(D): the pupil comes from a Swedish-speaking home but also speaksFinnish(dialect)onaregularbasisintheneighbourhood

FS(D): the pupil comes from a bilingual home and regularly speaksstandardSwedishandFinnishathomeandintheneighbourhood(intheneighbourhoodpossiblyalsoSwedishdialect)

FD: thepupilcomesfromabilingualhomewheretheSwedishspokenisadialect

F: thepupilcomesfromaFinnish-speakinghomeA: anothermothertonguethanSwedishorFinnishÖ: others

Figure 2: Proportion of pupils per language-background-category: all pupils in grades 1-6 attending Swedish-language primary education in 1998 (in %). (Source: Oker-Blom, Geber & Backman, 2001; Sjöholm & Østern, 2007).


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teaching material ThebooksusedforteachingdifferentsubjectsareinSwedishandmainlyproducedinSwedenorinFinlandbytheSwedish-languagepublishers.TheproductionandpublishingofSwedish-language text books in Finland is supported by grants fromfoundations, especially from the Swedish cultural foundation. Theimportanceoflinguisticawarenessisstressedandmaterialtohelptheteachersisdevelopedforthatpurpose.

In a report published by the Swedish cultural foundation(Selander, 2006) the text books in use in Swedish-languageschools in Finland were evaluated. The report was rathercriticalabout thequalityof the textbooksused:criticalpointsincludedthatthematerialwasold-fashionedandFinnishtextswere badly adapted. Also in PISA 2009 (Harju-Luukkainen& Nissinen, 2011) one of the principal concerns was theavailabilityofeducationalmaterials.

Someexamplesofteachingmaterialformotherlanguageandliteracyforgrades1-6are:Litteraturboken 1 Poetens penna(Heilä-Ylikallio&Østern,2004).Tjugotre poetiska landskap. Lärarhandledning till litteraturboken

Poetens penna(Heilä-Ylikallioetal.,2004).Vems Romeo? Vems Julia? Litteraturbok 5 (Kaihovirta-Rosvik

etal.,2012b).Noll tolerans - arenor för individ och samhälle. Lärarhandledning

till Litteraturboken 5 Vems Romeo? Vems Julia?(Kaihovirta-Rosviketal.,2012a).

statistics According to Kumpulainen (2010), there were approximately540,000 pupils in grades 1-9 in basic education in Finlandin 2009. Approximately 2,300 pupils attended the 10th grade(additionalbasiceducation).

In 2009 there were 274 Swedish-speaking schools (basiceducation). Between 2002-2009 the Swedish-speaking basicschools diminished with more than 10 per cent. In 2009 atotal of 33,100 children attended a Swedish-speaking basic


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school.TheSwedishschoolsareoftensmallerinsizethantheFinnish-speaking ones. There were fewer than 100 pupils inapproximately 60 per cent of the schools. Swedish-speakingbasiceducationispopular; in2009therewere3,500pupils ingrade one and only 3,200 pupils had registered Swedish astheirmothertongue(Kumpulainen,2010).

In2010,21,405pupilswereenrolledingrade1-6inSwedish-language schools. In grade 7-9 11,700 pupils were enrolled(Westerholm,2011).

Figure 3, below, gives demographic data about the number ofchildrenstarting inSwedish-languageschoolscompared to thenumberofchildren registeredasSwedishspeakingand to thenumberofgraduatesfromSwedish-languagehighersecondary

education.Figure 3: Demographic data regarding the number of beginners in Swedish-language

schools (Elever i svenska skolor), number of children registered as Swedish-speaking (Svenskregistrerade barn), and number of pupils graduating from Swedish-language higher secondary education (studenter), including expected numbers of pupils and students for 2007-2012/2024, in a longitudinal perspective (Source: Finnäs, 2007, p. 24).

(Födelseår = year of birth; Skolstart = year started at school; Studentår =


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year started at university)

About 30 % of the pupils in Swedish-speaking schools useboth Finnish and Swedish at home.About 5% of the pupilsin Swedish-language primary schools come from Finnish-speakinghomes.About2%ofthepupilshaveanothermothertonguethanSwedishorFinnish(Finnäs,2007,p.24).

InsomeareasthereareSwedish-languageschoolsinFinnish-speaking surroundings. In these so-called language island-schools (språkö / kielisaareke) 80-90 % of the pupils comefrom Finnish-speaking homes (cf. Brink & Ericsson, 2007;Geber,1989).


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4 Secondary education

target group The teaching in higher secondary education builds on thepupils’ studies in lower secondary education as described inthepreviouschapteronprimaryeducation.Highersecondaryeducation isaimedatpupilsaged16-18/19,butat thesametime there isnomaximumstartingage. InFinland, theuppersecondarylevel isdividedintotwoeducationalsystems.Afterbasic education students can apply for further education atthe second stage of education, which is either Gymnasium/ Lukio (general upper secondary education) or Yrkesskola/ Ammattikoulu (upper secondary vocational education andtraining). Both of these are three-year programmes.Generaluppersecondaryeducationendsinamatriculationexaminationand upper secondary vocational education gives the studenta vocational qualification. Qualification from both types ofeducationentitleentryintohighereducation.

Inthischapter,generaluppersecondaryeducationisdiscussed.The next chapter will focus on upper secondary vocationaleducationandtraining.

structure General upper secondary education is organised withoutdivision into grades. The studies are usually accomplished inthreeyears,buttheymaybedoneintwoorfouryearsaswell.Onecourse takesplacewithinaperiodof6weeks,when thesubject in question is taught intensively. The total number ofcourses (a minimum of 75 courses) can be taken during 3-4years.Thisflexiblesystemallowsstudentswhowishtocombinevocational studies and higher secondary studies to get thenecessaryflexibilityintheirindividualstudyschema.Accordingto the FNBE there are no national regulations concerning thepupil-teachersratio(FNBE,2011a).

The Grunderna för gymnasiets läroplan / Lukion opetussuun-nitelmanperusteet(nationalcorecurriculumforuppersecondaryschools)isfrom2003(FNBE,2003)andappliestobothFinnish-languageandSwedish-languageuppersecondaryschools.


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At the Swedish-language schools for general upper secondaryeducationSwedishasmothertongueispartofthecurriculum.Itconsistsof six compulsorycoursesand threeoptional courses.The compulsory courses are (1)Aworld of texts; (2)Narrativeliterature and media texts; (3) Texts, culture and identity; (4)Nordic texts; (5) Modern texts; and (6) The power of texts.Theoptionalcoursesare(7)Oralcommunication,(8)Advancedwriting and textual skills, and (9) Literature as a source ofenjoymentandknowledge.ThesecoursesdiffertosomeextentfromtheonestaughtintheFinnish-languageschools.Also,allofthestudentsmaystudymorethanoneA-language(FNBE,2003).

Generaluppersecondaryisfreeofcharge,butthestudentsdohavetopayforthematerials.Thestudentsalsogetafreemealatschool.Thestudentspayabasicfeetotakethematriculationexamination.Passingthematriculationexaminationentitlesthestudenttocontinuestudiesatuniversity.Studentsinvocationalupper secondary education and training may also take thematriculationexamination(FNBE,2011a).

legislation The Gymnasieförordning / Lukioasetus (Upper SecondaryEducation Act, 1998) describes the framework for teaching,student assessment, and students’ rights in general uppersecondary education. The Gymnasielag / Lukiolaki (Law onUpperSecondaryEducation,1998)describesthepurposeandobjectivesofgeneraluppersecondaryeducation.AcloserpictureofthedistributionoflessonhoursgivestheStatsrådetsförordningomallmännariksomfattandemålförgymnasieutbildningenochtimfördelningen i gymnasieundervisningen / Valtioneuvostonasetuslukiokoulutuksenyleisistävaltakunnallisistatavoiteistajatuntijaosta(2002)(GovernmentDecreeontheGeneralNationalObjectivesandDistributionsofLessonHoursinGeneralUpperSecondaryeducation).

language use The Swedish-language general upper secondary schools useSwedishasmediumofinstruction.FouroftheSwedish-languagegeneraluppersecondaryschools,eachoneofthemindominantlyFinnish-speaking cities (Oulu, Pori, Tampere, and Kotka), are


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called ‘private’ or ‘substituting’ schools. These schools werefounded because of private initiatives. Here the students useFinnishas their languageofcommunicationoutside theschooltoalargeextentandalsoinsidetheschoolwhennottalkingtoa teacher. In these schools the useofSwedish asmediumofinstructionisemphasised(Brink&Ericsson,2007;Geber,1989).

Inthegeneraluppersecondaryschoolsacoursecalledförstärkt modersmål(strengthenedmothertongueSwedishforbilingualpupils) can also be taught. The aim of the course is to offerbilingualpupilsapossibilitytoreachthesameproficiencylevelinSwedishasmonolingualSwedish-speakingpupils.

There are around 18 IB (international baccalaureate) schoolsinFinland,but in twoof themstudentscan receiveeducationinSwedishasmother tongue.Mostof theeducation in theseschoolsisgiveninEnglish.

InFinnish-languagegeneraluppersecondaryschoolsSwedishis taught as a compulsory subject. The students can chooseSwedish-languageatAorB-level.Writing,readingofliterature,oral communication skills, grammar andmultimodal texts arepartofthesubject.SwedishisdescribedintheFinnishNationalcorecurriculumforuppersecondaryschools(FNBE,2003)asa part of the student’s general education. Swedish languagecompetence,itissaid,givesthestudentsNordicculturalcapitalandstrengthenstheirculturalidentityofwhichthebilingualismofthecountryisapart.

Insecondaryschool thesame typesof languagesupportandeducationcanbegivenasinprimaryschool.

teaching School books are to some extent in Swedish and producedfortheSwedishschoolsinFinlandbySchildts&Söderströms.TosomeextentschoolbooksfromSwedenareused.InsomecasesFinnish-languagebooksareused inSwedish-languagegeneraluppersecondaryschools.

material


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statistics In 2007 there were 417 general upper secondary schools inFinland with approximately 100,000 students (FNBE, 2010e).Atthemoment51percentofstudentsfinishingbasiceducationwill continue in upper secondary school (Kumpulainen, 2010).In 2010, there were 37 Swedish-language general uppersecondary schools with 7,041 students enrolled (Westerholm,2011). Most of the Swedish-language gymnasiums are smallandaSwedish-languagegymnasiumnetwork isestablished inordertostrengthencooperationthroughvirtualcommunication.


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5 Vocational education

target group Vocational education and training has becomemore popular.Two thirds of upper secondary students are in vocationalprogrammes(Kumpulainen,2010).Uppersecondaryvocationaleducationand training isaimedatpupils from16 to19yearsold,butagain, there isnomaximumage.Studentswhohaveaccomplishedthematriculationexaminationandgeneraluppersecondary education have the opportunity to complete anuppersecondaryvocationalqualification.

structure Insteadofgeneraluppersecondaryeducation(describedabove),pupilscanalsochoosetoapplytoanuppersecondaryvocationalprogrammeaftertheirbasiceducation.On-the-joblearningisanimportant part of the education. Usually, vocational institutionsofferthreeyearsoffull-timestudiesindifferenteducationalfieldslikeculinaryart,fashionandbeauty,homeeconomics,audiovisualcommunication,socialandhealthcare,hotelandrestaurantserv-icesetc.Thestudiesincludeatleasttwentycreditsofinstructionattheworkplace,outofatotalof120creditsforthefullthree-yearprogramme.Avocationalprogrammecanbecompletedthroughapprenticeshiptraining;itmayalsobecompletedthroughcompe-tencetests.Theeducationisfreeofcharge,butthepupilshavetopayfortheeducationalmaterials,i.e.booksetc.

legislation Legislationregardinguppersecondaryvocationaleducation iscomplex, withmany recent additions. The following acts andresolutionsformtheframeworkforuppersecondaryvocationalprogrammesaswellastheframeworkforeducation:- Lagomyrkesutbildning/Lakiammatillisestakoulutuksesta

(1998)(VocationalEducationAct)- Lagomyrkesinriktadvuxenutbildning/Lakiammatillisesta

aikuiskoulutuksesta(1998)(LawonVocationalAdultEdu- cation);- Lagomupphävandeavlagenomförsökmedutbildningpå

ungdomsstadietochmedyrkeshögskolor/Lakinuorisoasteenkoulutuksen ja ammattikorkeakoulujen kokeiluista annetunlainkumoamisesta(1998)(Actrepealingthelawonthetrialintheyouthstageofpolytechnics);and


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- Statsrådets förordning om ändring av statsrådets beslutomexaminasuppbyggnadochdegemensammastudiernai den grundläggande yrkesutbildningen / Valtioneuvostonasetus tutkintojen rakenteesta ja yhteisistä opinnoistaammatillisessaperuskoulutuksessaannetunvaltioneuvostonpäätöksen muuttamisesta (2001) (Government resolutionamending the government resolution on the qualificationsstructureandjointstudiesinbasicvocationaleducation).

Allofthedifferentfieldsofvocationaleducationhavetheirowncurriculum.

language use Swedish isusedasmediumof instruction inSwedish-languagevocationalschools.Swedishlanguageisobligatoryforallstudentsin Finnish-language vocational education as a part of commonstudies.Vice versa,Finnish-language studiesareobligatory forstudentsattendingSwedish-languagevocationalprogrammes.

teaching Teachingmaterial is tosomeextentdevelopedby thesubjectteacher.BookspublishedbySchildts&Söderströmsareused,too.BooksarealsoimportedfromSweden.

statistics Thereare119differentvocationalstudyprogrammesinFinland(FNBE, 2012b). In 2011 there were 14 general vocationalschools in Finlandwith aSwedish-language programme (6 ofthemofferedaprogrammeonlyinSwedish)(Westerholm,2011).Altogetherthereareover600vocationalschoolsinFinlandwithdifferent programmes. There are in total 53 vocational uppersecondaryqualificationsinFinland.

In2008altogether42percentofthoseleavingbasiceducationcontinued to vocational education and training educationimmediately (Kumpulainen 2010). In 2010, 2,235 studentsbegan their vocational studies. In autumn 2010 there werein total 7,283 students enrolled (Westerholm, 2011). Apartfrom that, in 2007 therewere about 2,100Swedish-speakingstudentswithalearning-contract.Thisvocationalstudysystemisanalternativetouppersecondaryeducation.

material


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6 Higher education

structure InFinlandhighereducationisprovidedintwoparallelsectors:atyrkeshögskola / ammattikorkeakoulu (polytechnics)anduniver-siteten/yliopistot(universities).TheseinstitutionsareunderthesupervisionoftheMinistryofEducation.Theemphasisofuniver-sities is on academic and scientific research and polytechnicsareorientedtowardstheworkinglife.Highereducationisfreeofcharge,butthestudentsareresponsibleformaterialandbooks(FNBE,2011b).

Atpolytechnicsprogrammesin,forinstance,technology,health,arts,youthwork,businessmanagement,andhotelandrestaurantmanagement, are available. The bachelor exam consists of210-270ECTS.Anexamatapolytechnictakes3,5-4,5yearstocomplete.Studiesatmaster’slevelarealsooffered;studentscanstartamaster’scourseafter3yearsofrelevantworkexperienceandaftercompletingabachelor’sdegree.

Therearetwenty-sevenpolytechnics inFinland.ThefollowingpolytechnicsareSwedish-languagepolytechnicsandoffertheirstudies in Swedish: Arcada, Högskolan på Åland, MellerstaÖsterbottens yrkeshögskola, Vasa yrkeshögskola, Yrkeshög-skolan Novia. Additionally, Haaga-Helia and Polisyrkeshög-skolanarebilingualpolytechnics.

Asapartof theBolognaProcess,Finland launcheda reformof the higher education system.At the universities there is atwo-cycledegreesystem(threeyearsofstudyforabachelor’sdegree(180ECTS)andtwoyearsforamaster’sdegree(120ECTS).Thethirdcycleisthedoctoraldegree(240ECTS).

Therearesixteenuniversities inFinland.ThemajorSwedish-languageuniversityisÅboAkademiinÅboandVasa.AnotherSwedish-languageuniversityisHankenSvenskahandelshög-skolan (Hanken School of Economics). A third Swedish-language institution at university level is Svenska social- ochkommunalhögskolan vid Helsingfors universitet (the Swedish


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SchoolofSocialScience,anautonomousunitoftheUniversityof Helsinki, linked to the Faculty of Social Sciences). Someother universities are bilingual and offer some teaching inSwedish:Helsingforsuniversitet/Helsinginyliopisto(Universityof Helsinki), Sibelius-Akademin / Sibelius-Akatemia (SibeliusAcademy),Aalto-universitetet/Aalto-yliopisto(AaltoUniversity),andVasauniversitet/Vaasanyliopisto(UniversityofVasa).

legislation There are separate laws for polytechnics on the one hand,anduniversitiesontheother.Thelawconcerningpolytechnicsis Yrkeshögskolelag / Ammattikorkeakoululaki (Law on Poly-technicEducation) from2003.Someamendmentshavebeenmadein2011.

In 2009 parliament passed a new law concerning the uni-versities: Universitetslag / Yliopistolaki (UniversitiesAct). ThislawmakesuniversitiesinFinlandmoreautonomous;universitiesare seen as independent corporations or foundations. TheMinistry of Education agrees, together with the universities,onbothqualitativeandquantitativegoals.TheMinistry isalsoresponsibleforthebasicfundingoftheuniversities.

The Universities Act (2009) defines a special task for ÅboAkademi:toprovidethesocietywithSwedish-speakingspecia-listsandresearchersandtoconsiderinitsfunctionstheneedsof the bilingual population. The law also appoints specialtasks to all the institutions offering Swedish-language educa-tion – Åbo Akademi, Svenska Handelshögskolan, Universityof Helsinki, Bildkonstakademin / Kuvataideakatemia (FinnishAcademy of Fine Arts), Sibelius-Akademin, Teaterhögskolan/ Teatterikorkeakoulu (TheatreAcademy Helsinki), andAalto-universitet:toprovidethenecessarynumberofSwedish-spea-kingspecialiststoFinland.

language use Swedish is a medium of instruction at polytechnics anduniversities with Swedish-language programmes. It is alsopossible to study the Swedish language at university level.Students in Finnish-speaking programmes at polytechnics or


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universitiesareobligedtotakecoursesinSwedishasasubject.Vice versa, students in Swedish-language programmes haveFinnishasanobligatorylanguage.

Swedish-language university ÅboAkademi requires adequateSwedish-languageskillsfromitsstudents;thisisstipulatedintheUniversitiesAct.Around25%ofthestudentsarepredominantlyFinnish-speaking, but they have passed a test in Swedish.Academic teaching is offered in Swedish at all levels. TheprocessofinternationalisationhasledtoanincreaseinEnglishcourses, but also to an increased number of internationalstudents. At the bilingual universities of Helsinki and Vasathe same Swedish and Finnish courses are taught side byside.The summer universities and the open universitiesworkin close contact with the Swedish-language universities andbilingualuniversities;theyalsoofferdistancecoursesandvirtualuniversity courses.A summer university that offers courses inSwedishisforinstanceHangösommaruniversitet.

teacher training Contemporary teacher education in Finland is the outcomeof over thirty years of development. A teacher at primary,secondary, or higher secondary level must have a master’sdegree(300ECTS),andtheymusthavetakentheequivalentof one year of pedagogical studies. The pedagogical studiescanbeapartofthemaster’sprogramme.

Differentprogrammeswithinthefieldofeducation,frombachelortopostgraduatestudies,existbothatÅboAkademi(allpossibleprogrammes) and at the University of Helsinki (general andadult education, preschool-teacher education, and teachers ofpedagogicalstudies).TheFacultyofEducationatÅboAkademiis located inVasa.Themain reason for locating theFacultyofEducation in Vasa was political. Connected to the Faculty ofEducationisateachertrainingschoolcalledVasa övningsskola.

At the University of Helsinki bilingual teacher education isalsooffered.ThestudentsareofferedmainlyFinnish-languagesubject studies, but they do their supervised internships inSwedish-language schools.A cooperation of subject teachers’


37

pedagogical studies has been initiated between ÅboAkademiand the University of Helsinki. The pedagogical studies forvocationalteachersatSwedish-languagevocationalschoolsandpolytechnics are also organised at the Åbo Akademi Facultyof Education. A new Swedish-language pre-school teacherprogrammebeganintheautumnof2011inHelsinkiasacoop-erationbetween theUniversityofHelsinkiandÅboAkademi.Atwo-yearpreparationperiodprecededthestartoftheprogramme(Harju-Luukkainen,Mansikka&Silus-Ahonen,2010).

Swedishasa languagecanbestudiedatsevenuniversities inFinland. For teacher training for subject teachers in Swedishlanguage and literature, the University of Helsinki and ÅboAkademiarethemainuniversities;theyofferstudies(atalllevels)forSwedish-languagestudents,includingSwedishlanguageandinliteraryscience.

primary trainingTheeducationof pre-school teacherswas transferred to uni-versities in 1995.The pre-school teacher education is 3 yearsand at bachelor’s level (180 ECTS). There are two Swedish-language pre-school teacher training institutes in Finland.OneatthecampusinJakobstad(ÅboAkademi)andoneinHelsinki(UniversityofHelsinkiandÅboAkademi).

Teacher education for the primary level takes 5 years (300ECTS)andhasbeenamaster’sleveldegreesince1974.

secondary trainingThepedagogicalstudies forsubject teachers(grades7-9andhighersecondarylevel)areofferedattheFacultyofEducationat ÅboAkademi. The pedagogical studies are 60 ECTS andtakeoneyearoffull-timestudy.

in-service trainingDifferentuniversitiesofferin-servicetrainingforteacherstovaryingdegrees.Thenationalaveragelengthofthetrainingisdifficulttoestablish,butitvariesapproximatelybetween15to20weeks.


38

statistics At the biggestmonolingualSwedish university,ÅboAkademi,approximately7,000studentsstudyatthreecampuses.AttheofficiallybilingualUniversityofHelsinkithereareapproximately35,000 students on four campuses. Of these, approximately2,600areSwedish-speaking.Therearealtogether41Swedish-speakingprofessorsattheUniversityofHelsinki.

In the metropolitan area, in Swedish-language higher educa-tion, there are approximately 7,570 students at graduate levelatuniversitiesorpolytechnics(Handelshögskolanapproximately2,170students,AMK institutionArcada2,800students,Univer-sityofHelsinki2,600).

According to theMinistry of Education in 2010 around 5,600students were enrolled in Swedish-language polytechnics(Vipunen,2012).

AtÅboAkademi, about 700 studentsareenrolled for teachertraining forSwedish-languageeducation.Yearly,100studentstake a master’s degree in educational science and about30-40 a bachelor’s degree in education, especially in pre-school education (bachelor). About 4 persons yearly take adoctoraldegreeineducationatÅboAkademi.Theprogrammeofeducation(generalandadulteducation)admits12studentstotheUniversityofHelsinkieachyear.Studentscangraduateat all levels (frombachelor todoctoral level).Attached to thiseducational programme, Åbo Akademi and the University ofHelsinkihaveasharedgraduateschool.Furthermore,theearlychildhoodeducationprogrammeadmits30studentseachyear.

ThepressureonSwedish-languageteachereducationisgreatat themoment.There aremore unqualified teachersworkingin Swedish-language schools compared to Finnish-languageschools (Harju-Luukkainen & Nissinen, 2011). The situationis the same with pre-school teachers. In the metropolitanarea approximately 50 per cent of the pre-school teachers isunqualified(Harju-Luukkainenetal.,2010).


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7 Adult education

structure and Adulteducation today is the resultofa long,historicaldevel-opment.Itconsistsofanetworkofeducationalinstitutionsandcoursestaught.Theobjectivesandcontentsofadulteducationarenotprescribedbyanexternalbody,rather,theorganisationsand communities behind the institutionsmainly decide thesethemselves.Traditionaladulteducationestablishmentsarefolkhighschools,adulteducationcentres,andstudycentres;alsophysical education centres and summer universities can beincluded in thesamecategory.Theessentialcharacteristic inliberaladulteducationisthatparticipationisvoluntary(FNBE,2007a).

Adult education is offered in adult education institutes and thegoalistoensurelifelonglearningopportunities.Theseinstitutesteachalargenumberofdifferentcourses,manyofthemasleisuretime interests such as arts education and language courses.Someofthecentresteachvocationalcoursesforpeoplewithoutemployment.TheSwedishlanguageassociationforadultstudiesorganises distance language courses.Swedish as a subject isoffered in both Swedish-language and Finnish-language adulteducationinstitutes.OfspecialinterestarethefolkhighschoolsinFinlandwhereyoungpeoplestudyonesubjectinordertogetadeeperunderstandingofaspecialfieldofinterest4.

The FNBE is responsible for adult education in Finland. TheSamverkandebildningsorganisationerna /Vapaan sivistystyönyhteisjärjestö (Finnish Adult Education Association) is theassociationpromotingadulteducation.

language use The Swedish-language adult education institutes are locatedin the area where the Swedish-speakingminority is situated.Themediumof instruction isSwedish.TheSwedish-languageadulteducationinstitutesgraduallybecomemorebilingualandoffersubjectstudiesinSwedishaswellasinFinnish.Studentsoftencomefrombothlanguagegroups.Avisibleminorityofthestudentsarerefugeesandimmigrants.

language courses


40

Evangeliska Folkhögskolan i Österbotten offers an intensivestudy of Swedish for immigrants: Invandrarlinjen (ImmigrationProgramme).BothSwedishandFinnishare taught at differentlevels,and inaddition to the languagestudiesyoucanchoosepracticalsubjects,computerscienceandsomemusicalsubjects,which are also taught in Swedish or Finnish. The goal of theeducation is thatafteroneor twoyears thestudentswill havesuch a mastery of the language that they can continue theirstudiesorenterworkinglifeandinthatwaybeeasilyintegratedintosociety.

statistics According to Poikela et al. (2009) there are altogether 339differentadulteducationalinstitutionsinFinland.InFinland1.7million adults are involved in adult education yearly (Vuxen-utbildningariFinland,2012).AccordingtoPoikelaetal.(2009)wecanfind19Swedishlanguageand7bilingualmedborgar-och arbetarinstitut (adult institutions). Furthermore, there are17 Swedish-language folk high schools, two institutes forathleticeducation,andtwosummeruniversities.


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8 Educational research

For decades Swedish-speaking inhabitants of Finland havebeenthefocusofempiricalresearch.Todaythereisanexten-sivebodyof research in thefieldofeducation, thathasbeencarried out at different universities or institutions.One centralsite is ÅboAkademi and its Faculty of Education.Another istheFinnishInstituteforEducationalResearchattheUniversityofJyväskylä, thatconducts the internationalassessments likePISA,TIMSS,PIRLSetc.AttheUniversityofJyväskyläwecanalso find the Rådet för utbildningsutvärdering / Koulutuksenarviointineuvosto (the Finnish Education Evaluation Council)thatservesasanexpertbodyforeducationinconnectionwiththeMinistryofEducationandCulture.Also,atFNBEaresearchunit operates that conducts many national assessments.At the University of Helsinki, we can find the Centret förutbildningsevaluering/Koulutuksenarviointikeskus(CentreforEducationalAssessment). ÅboAkademi has the Institutet församhällsforskning – Samforsk (the social science researchinstitute).InalloftheseresearchunitstheSwedishpopulationisincludedin(partof)theresearch.

ThereareseveralongoingresearchprojectsinFinlandconcer-ning the Swedish-speaking population. Below, a few of themarepresented:

In2010-2011aPISAassessmentwasconductedofSwedish-speakingstudentsin2009(Harju-Luukkainen&Nissinen,2011,2012).TheSwedish-speakingschoolsaremeasuredwiththeirownweightinPISA,TIMSS(TrendsinInternationalMathematicsand Science Study), PIRLS (Progress in International Rea-ding and Literacy Study), and PIAAC (Programme for theInternational Assessment of Adult Competencies) in Finlandandalsoindifferentnationalassessments.ThismeansthattheSwedish-speakingstudentsrepresentonlyapproximately6percentof theassessedstudents. Insomecases largersamplesaredrawn(over6percent).ThiswasthecaseinPISA2003,2009,and2012,andthisgaveusamoreprecisepictureofthe


42

situation at hand. The latest PISA 2009 assessment showedgreat differences in the educational outcome between theSwedish-speakingandtheFinnish-speakingschoolsinFinlandforthebenefitfortheFinnish-speakingones(Harju-Luukkainen& Nissinen, 2011, 2012). Also PISA 2000, 2003, and 2006have shown a difference between the educational outcomesfor thebenefitof theFinnish-speakingstudents.Furthermore,manyoftheassessmentsconductedbytheFNBEshowsimilarinequalitiesineducationaloutcomes.Åland,too,wasassessedwithalargersampleinPISA2009.

At the University of Helsinki at the department of teachereducation a research project about quality aspects (includinglanguage)ofSwedish-languagedaycareinstitutionsinthecityofHelsinki hasstarted in2012.More than300children, theirparents,andover50daycareinstitutionsareinvolved.Thefirstresultswillbepublishedin2014.

Also, a project studying children aged 9-18 is conducted atthe city of Vantaa together with the university of Helsinki.The project will among others comprise information aboutSwedish-language students’ language usage and reading-relatedstrategies.Theprojecthasstartedin2013(2013-2015).Altogether1,800studentswillbeinvolvedintheproject.

Several other research and developmental projects, bothinternationalandnational,concerninglanguageandeducationare in progress.At theFNBEadevelopmental project called“Toppkompetens” in Swedish-speaking Finland has startedin 2012 (2012-2015). Many municipalities around Swedish-speakingFinlandareinvolvedintheproject5.

AlargescaleassessmentofthewholeECEC-sector inFinland(also including the Swedish sector) has started in 2012. Theassessment is conducted by the Finnish Education EvaluationCouncil and the Finnish Higher Education Evaluation CouncilthatareworkingundertheMinistryofEducationandCulture.Thefirstresultsoftheassessmentwillbepublishedinautumn2013.


43

Skolspråkprojektet (the school language project) (2010-2012)is a research and development project conducted by ÅboAkademiandtheFNBE6.

Below, some of the projects concerning Swedish-languageeducation carried out at the Faculty of Education of ÅboAkademiarediscussed.

The subject group Språk- och kulturvetenskapernas didaktik(Language and cultural education) has cooperated in variousumbrellaresearchprojects,e.g.Björklund,Gullberg&Sjöholm,2004;Østern&Heilä-Ylikallio,2004;Østern,Sjöholm&Arnolds-Granlund, 2006. International reports in journals about thelanguage situation have been published (Sjöholm, Hansén,Østern&Slotte-Lüttge,2004;Sjöholm,2004;Sjöholm&Østern,2007;Slotte-Lüttge,2007b).

Researchtopicsconcerningbilingualismandeducationhaveledtofourdoctoraltheses(Østern,1991;Slotte-Lüttge,2005;Harju-Luukkainen,2007;Toropainen,2008)andonelicentiatethesis(alicentiate isapostgraduate researcherexam,which takes twoyears of full time study, 120 ECTS) (Smeds, 2000). From thebeginning of the 1990s two visiting scholars (docenturer) havebeenattachedtotheFacultyofEducation:anassociateprofessorof Education with a special focus on minority education andlinguistic human rights and an associate professor of Swedishwithafocusonbilingualresearch.Twopostdoctoralprojectshavebeenlaunchedwherebilingualeducationisinvolved.Oneprojectisonmultilingual children’s learningand identity inandoutsideschool(Sahlström,Pörn&Slotte-Lüttge,2008).Theotherfocusesonreadingandwritinginthe21stcenturyandhasmultimodalityas focus.Thisproject isaNordicandnationalcooperationwithRiaHeilä-Ylikallioastheresponsibleresearch-manager.

A CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) projectwithin foreign languageeducationhas led to thedevelopmentofteachingskillsandteachingmaterialsforteachereducatorsandforstudents(Sjöholm&Björklund,1999).


44

Within Finnish education and Swedish education a uniqueprojectwith immersion inFinnishforSwedish-languagepupilsinJakobstadhasbeen investigated (Grönholm,2006;Østern,2000;Østern,2003).

One licentiate thesis about the Swedish-speaking teachersas languagemodels has been written by Therese Backlund-Smulter(2005).AsmanychildrenattendingSwedish-languageschoolsarenotfluent inSwedish theroleof the teacherasamodelforfluentSwedishisofvital importance.Shecontinuestoexplorethethemeinherdoctoralthesis.

The increasing need for intercultural education has beenaddressedthroughtwodoctoraltheseswithinforeignlanguageeducation (Larzén,2005;Forsman,2006).The importanceofcultural and aesthetic perspectives in language education isstressedinseveralprojects(Heilä-Ylikallio,1997;Heilä-Ylikallio&Østern,1997;Østern&Heilä-Ylikallio,1998;Østern,2001;Furu, 2004; Backlund-Smulter, 2005; Kronholm-Cederberg,2005;Aaltonen,2006).

Two research centres, both part of the Faculty of Educationof ÅboAkademi, are actively involved in language educationresearch:Centerförbarnpedagogiskforskning(Centreforearlychildhood education research) and Vasa specialpedagogiskacenter(Vasaspecialneedseducationresearchcentre).

Immersion programmes are continuously monitored andresearchedbyresearchersattheUniversityofVasaandotheruniversities.AttheUniversityofVasatheCentretförspråkbadoch flerspråkighet (a research institute on immersion andmultilingualism)islocated,ledbyprofessorSiwBjörklundwithimmersion as the special field of interest.An ongoing projectcooperation betweenÅboAkademi, theFaculty ofEducation,and the University of Vasa is called Lingva City. ResearchconcerningimmersionandCLILeducationisconductedattheUniversityofJyväskylä.


45

The Nordic research networks within education (for instanceNordiskmodersmålsdidaktiskforskning;Heilä-Ylikallio&Østern,2012) are of great importance because of the possibilities tomakecomparisonswithculturesquiteclosetoFinland-Swedish.


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9 Prospects

FromaFinland-Swedish perspective amajor concern are thediminishingagegroupsinthecountryasawhole,andthelargenumber of elderly people. Increasing immigration and thus anincreasing linguistic heterogeneity will represent a challengeand an opportunity. The demography professor Fjalar Finnäs(2007) regularly updates the information about the Swedish-speakingpopulationinFinland.HehasmentionedthatanactivelanguageplanninginbilingualfamiliesisofvitalimportancefortheperspectiveoftheminoritylanguageSwedish.

The Finland-Swedish research perspective includes Nordicorganisations like Nordplus and Nordforsk. Also, networkingregardinglanguageeducationnationallygivesmanypossibilities(e.g.KIEPO,anationalprojectonFinnishLanguageEducationPolicies)7. One goal is that the language subject teachersin Swedish-language schools have the same competence inSwedishastheFinnish-languageteachersinFinnish,andthatthepupilsinSwedish-languageschoolscangetteachingofthesamegoodqualityasFinnish-languagepupils (Hannén,2000,2001;Silverström,2002).

SjöholmandØstern(2007)writethatFinlandisanationthathasmuchexperiencewithfunctioningbilingualism.HereFinlandcansharemuchmore than good results in PISA. The underliningof an intercultural communication perspective is seen as avitalising factor.Through theseperspectives thepupilscanbeengagedinlanguagelearningwheretheirownlifeprojectscaninteract with the language learning at school, challenged byinspiringteachers.


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10 Summary statistics

type of education student enrolment Swedish-language schools

overall number of schools enrolment

pre-primary education 223,364(2010)(NIHW,2010)

3,200(2009)(Kumpulainen,2010)

basic education grade1-6 345,615(2010)(SVT,2010b)

intotal274(2009)(Kumpulainen,2010)

intotal33,100(2009)(Kumpulainen,2010)

grade7-9 186,368(2010)(SVT,2010b)

grade10(voluntary)

1,294(2010)(SVT,2010b)

special needs basic education

46,700(2010)(SVT,2011b)

general upper secondary education

111,800(2010(SVT,2011c)

secondary vocational education

133,800(2010)(SVT,2011a)

polytechnics 138,900(2010)(SVT,2010a) 5,6008(2010)

university 169,400(2010)(SVT,2011d) 12,0009(2011)

adult education 1.7million(SVT,2008)47(2009)(Poikelaetal.2009)

Table 1: Number of Swedish-language educational provisions and student enrolment (compiled by Harju-Luukkainen).


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Primary and secondary education

S(D): the pupil comes from a Swedish-speaking home. Only standardSwedish+pupilswhoalsospeakdialectintheirneighbourhood

D(S): thepupilspeaksSwedishdialectathomebutalsostandardSwedishintheneighbourhood

SF(D): the pupil comes from a Swedish-speaking home but also speaksFinnish(dialect)onaregularbasisintheneighbourhood

FS(D): the pupil comes from a bilingual home and regularly speaksstandardSwedishandFinnishathomeandintheneighbourhood(intheneighbourhoodpossiblyalsoSwedishdialect)

FD: thepupilcomesfromabilingualhomewheretheSwedishspokenisadialect

F: thepupilcomesfromaFinnish-speakinghomeA: anothermothertonguethanSwedishorFinnishÖ: others

Figure 4: Proportion of pupils per language-background-category: all pupils in grades 1-6 attending Swedish-language primary education in 1998 (in %). (Source: Oker-Blom, Geber & Backman, 2001; Sjöholm & Østern, 2007).


49

Figure 5: Demographic data regarding the number of beginners in Swedish-language schools (Elever i svenska skolor), number of children registered as Swedish-speaking (Svenskregistrerade barn), and number of pupils graduating from Swedish-language higher secondary education (studenter), including expected numbers of pupils and students for 2007-2012/2024, in a longitu-dinal perspective (Source: Finnäs, 2007, p. 24).

(Födelseår = year of birth; Skolstart = year started at school; Studentår = year started at university)


50

Endnotes

1 Theletterreferstotheleveloflanguage,andthenumbertothenumberoflanguagesthatthestudentisstudying.

2 See also www.oph.fi/lp2016/103/0/laroplanerna_i_nyaste_ numret_av_kasvatus3 www.oecd.org/pisa4 Formoreinformationseewww.kansanopistot.fi5 For more information see www.oph.fi/utvecklingsprojekt/

toppkompetens6 http://skolsprak.fi[AccessedNovember2011]7 www.jyu.fi/hum/laitokset/solki/tutkimus/projektit/kiepo [Accessed

January2010]8 Retrieved from theAMKOTA database, which does not exist

anymore. http://amkota2.csc.fi:8080/portal/page?_pageid=116, 41059&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL(retrieved19.10.2011)9 Countedfromdifferentresources.

http://www.oph.fi/lp2016/103/0/laroplanerna_i_nyaste_numret_av_kasvatushttp://www.oph.fi/lp2016/103/0/laroplanerna_i_nyaste_numret_av_kasvatushttp://www.oph.fi/utvecklingsprojekt/toppkompetenshttp://www.oph.fi/utvecklingsprojekt/toppkompetenshttp://skolsprak.fi/http://www.jyu.fi/hum/laitokset/solki/tutkimus/projektit/kiepohttp://amkota2.csc.fi:8080/portal/page?_pageid=116,41059&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTALhttp://amkota2.csc.fi:8080/portal/page?_pageid=116,41059&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL


51

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Documents

SwediSh - ERIC · The spoken Swedish language in Finland can be divided into two main categories: the Swedish variety spoken in Finland (Högsvenska, which denotes standard Swedish)