VAKKI Publications (Dec 2022)
Äidinkielenomaisen ruotsin oppimäärän kartoitustutkimus
Abstract
The school system in Finland is primarily divided into Finnish-medium and Swedish-medium schools, where pupils with Finnish as first language as a rule attend Finnish-medium schools while pupils with Swedish as first language attend Swedish-medium schools. In both Finnish- and Swedish-medium schools, there are also bilingual pupils, with Finnish and Swedish as their first languages. Since 2004, the national curriculum includes a school subject intended for these bilingual pupils at Finnish-medium schools, although only few of them are given the chance to study this subject and thus to participate in teaching that would deepen their Swedish skills and strengthen their bilingual identity. Our study shows that neither principals nor Swedish teachers are even familiar with this syllabus and they are thus not fully acquainted with the official language policy of the national curriculum. These findings show that there is a gap between the official language policy expressed in the national curriculum and the language practices of the schools. Our results further indicate that the language practices for teaching bilingual pupils vary a lot. In the few schools that offer the Swedish syllabus intended for bilingual pupils, the teaching is put into practice in different ways, e.g., through differentiated teaching within mixed groups or by forming specific teaching groups for bilingual pupils. Our research shows a clear need for more knowledge about and promotion of this under-researched and largely unknown syllabus.
