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Nationalprogramme to develop

multicultural skills within general education

2007–2011Head of Unit, PhD Leena Nissilä

Finnish National Board of Education2012

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Migrant Education in numbers

In Finland 5,3 million inhabitants3-4 % , over 200 000 migrantsBiggest nationality groups: Russians, Estonians, Swedes and SomalisAbout 25 000 migrant pupils/students in general educationMunicipalities (342) are responsible of providing pre-school and basic education, also to migrant pupils – autonomous, they have to follow the law and the national core curriculum

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Preparatory instruction for basic education

Local authorities can provide p.i.NBE has drawn up the national core curriculum State finances this instruction for one year with a double state grant per pupil.Target groups are children arriving in Finland at pre-primary age (6 years) or at basic education age (7-16 years) – they should start p.i. as son as possible after the arrival in the country.Each pupil has an individual study plan to follow –>integration to mainstream education (art, physical education)

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Preparatory instruction (suite)

Pupils study Finnish or Swedish, the main basic education subjects and if possible their mother tongueStuding is organised in groups, no minimum sizeA group is taught by one teacher who is helped by an assistant The challenge for the teacher is caused by heterogenous groups (knowledge, age and educational history).

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Instruction of Finnish or Swedish as a second language (L2)

NBE has drawn up a national core curriculum for L2Local authorities are responsible of the instructionInstruction is organized partly in a separate group and partly together with native speakers.State grants the municipality for L2-lessons the teachers’ salary each group of four pupils (even for two pupils)L2-teachers are mainly the same than the ones of mother tongue and litterature, but they have studied extra L2-studiesChallange is the time-table of lessons

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Mother tongue instruction

In 71 municipalities 12 000 students and 52 languagesBiggest groups Russian, Somali, Albanian, Estonian and KurdIt is mandatory for the education providers to arrange teaching of the mother tongue.State: extra state funding, max 2 hours / week for a group of min 4 pupilsChallenge: small migrant groups and rare mother tongue: it is difficult to find competent teachers

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Instruction of Religion

Basic Education Act guarantees the instruction of different religions in schools financed by municipalities.Parents may request the instruction of their religion for minimun of 3 pupils.

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The scope of multiculturalism development activities

Promoting the underlying values of the National Core Curriculum (human rights, equality, democracy, among others) and promoting development and establishment of multicultural skills in school communities.

Supporting *the formation of pupils’ multicultural identity, *participation in Finnish society and the globalising world; and*the promotion of tolerance and intercultural understanding in school communities.

Developing the multicultural skills of children and young people as well as their parents and school staff in such a way as to promote the abilities of the whole school community to learn and teach in a multicultural learning environment.

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TargetsDuring the first year:

• Drafting a municipal multicultural skills development plan in interdisciplinary co-operation.During the second and third years:

• Mainstreaming the plan in the municipality’s school community with the help of information and training.Multicultural skills refer to the skills of both immigrants and the majority population in encounters and activities with people belonging to different linguistic and cultural groups.

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The target groups of the activities

• Pre-primary education under the auspices of municipal educational authorities

• Basic education• General upper secondary education (since 2008)• Transition points in particular;

pre- to basic and basic to upper secondary

• A total of 52 municipalities have participated in the programme

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07 08 09*EspooHamina*HelsinkiHämeenlinnaIisalmiJoensuuJyväskyläKajaaniKirkkonummiKokkolaKontiolahtiKotkaKuopioLahtiLappeenrantaMikkeli*OravainenOuluPyhtääRaaheRaisioSavonlinnaTampereVaasaVantaa *=Finnish & Swedish

KemiKiteeKouvolaLumijokiOulainenPorvooRovaniemiSulkavaTurkuUurainenÄhtäri

EnonkoskiImatraKauhajokiOrimattilaParikkalaPunkalaidunSiikajokiTornioVihtiVörå-Maxmo,

Swedish

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Development activities must contain

measures for:1. Organising immigrant education in municipalities/schools – preparatory,

Finnish/Swedish as a second language, own mother tongue, etc.; co-operation within municipalities

2. Meeting pupils and their parents with versatile linguistic and cultural backgrounds at school – information, solving problems

3. Promoting tolerance and good ethnic relations, increasing versatile linguistic and cultural knowledge and particularly promoting relations between cultural minorities and the majority culture within the school community – information, integration, preventing discrimination

4. The formation of a multicultural identity for pupils with versatile linguistic and cultural backgrounds – valuing cultures in all school subjects, own language

5. Promoting the learning opportunities of different linguistic and cultural groups and producing material – pedagogics taking the pupils’ background into consideration, cultural sensitivity, solving problems

6. Developing multicultural co-operation between home and school – information, learning about the background culture, listening to parents

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Guidance documents

Multicultural skills development plan form (MS Word format, available in Finnish and Swedish)

– present status, development plan, implementation and

monitoring

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Requirements for receiving special government grants Municipality’s/-ies’ and schools’ overall commitment to

development work and commitment to drafting, implementing and mainstreaming a municipal (or sub-regional) multicultural skills development plan,

The participation of the whole school community led by the principal,

Setting up a steering group to steer operations within the municipality or sub-region,

Setting up a multicultural skills development/co-operation network to implement the programme within the municipality or sub-region,

Results are to be evaluated and reported annually according to instructions from the National Board of Education.

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Special government grants can be used for:

Covering the costs of planning, implementation and mainstreaming development activities (municipal plan),

Further developing and extending measures that promote and mainstream multicultural skills of the whole school community,

Reimbursing costs for substitutes and travel resulting from development activities; and

Covering the costs of work input by necessary personnel, such as a person to steer or organise the work.

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Special government grants cannot be used for:

Hiring new employees; nor Such activities for which there already exist special government

grants or funds through a funding system (eg. international activities, morning and afternoon activities, teaching Finnish as a second language or teaching own mother tongue, instruction preparing for basic education).

MATERIAL PRODUCED WITHIN THE PROGRAMME IS FREE OF CHARGE!

The special government grant can be 5,000–40,000 euros per municipality (in total: 3.3 M€ for 2007–2010) depending on

the number of foreign language pre-school and school-aged children and upper secondary school-aged young people in the municipality,

the quality of planned development measures; and the number of municipalities applying for special government grants.

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Examples of activities and results taken from municipal reports

1 Municipalities have drafted multiculturalism plans- a municipal interdisciplinary steering group has been set up;

people active in immigrant teaching have formed networks- awareness of challenges in immigrant teaching has increased

-> allocation of resources2. The Core Curriculum has been updated on a municipal level.3 Regional co-operation has increased, regional networks (6)4 In-service training for teachers, principals and co-ordinators

*A contact teacher at every school*Consultant teachers

5 Co-operation between home and school- (functional) parent-teacher meetings and parent education in

different languages, parents’ associations6. Production and translation of information material

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Examples of activities and results taken from municipal reports, cont.7. Increasing cultural awareness, theme days and theme week8. Copying and disseminating best practices - regional co-operation9. Support activities; peer support and peer families, buddy pupils,

trainees, exchange students, after-school clubs, summer camps

10. Co-operation with the third sector, NGOs, such as the Mannerheim League for Child Welfare, the Finnish Red Cross, the Family Federation, Immigration Office, social and health services, youth services

The special government grant has acted as a catalyst; it has

enabled various immigrant education measures. ”Extremely important.”

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Other activities• Reporting to the National Board of Education• Publication: ”Multicultural school community”• Publication: ”Towards a multicultural through art”• Multicultural brochure (Finnish, Swedish and

English)• Steering visits to municipalities• National steering group• Evaluation of multiculturality (28 municipalities) by

NetEffect Oy• National Board of Education website www.edu.fi

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DVDs produced in Vantaa It’s time for the ABC – information for pupils in

the first class - The DVD presents daily activities at school and

provides information for future pupils and their parents- 24 minutes, in Finnish, English, Turkish, Russian and Somali

When the child needs more support - special education and other special services- 24 minutes, in Finnish, English, Turkish, Russian and Somali

- www.edu.vantaa.fi/lansimaki

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- 14 video clips of 0.5-2 minutes (total 12.5 minutes) presenting Finnish basic education in 8 languages (Finnish, Arabic, English, Persian, French, Somali, Russian and Kurdish).- The material is mainly aimed at pupils and their parents belonging to different language groups.

The themes:- comprehensive school, compulsory education, preparatory instruction, school supplies, the way to and from school, the school day, school subjects, meals, recess, the school year - co-operation between home and school, what are the responsibilities of the

home, teaching of own mother tongue, religion and ethics and philosophy of life as school subjects

- >http://kajaanimcl.info/wordpress/

Information about basic education

in 8 languages - Kajaani

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- Joint project of Finnish educational services and early childhood education services in Espoo.  - Common evaluation criteria for monitoring development of language skills applying the European framework into Finnish as a second language in early childhood education as well as in pre-primary and early basic education.  - Use of common criteria makes it easier for day care centres to help children get the support most suitable for them in pre-primary and early basic education.  The project has produced evaluation material containing: www.espoo.fi/kielireppu-       Meal pack – a guardian’s description of the child’s language background -      Linguistic compass – an assessment of the child’s competence in their own mother tongue by the child and the teacher of their own mother tongue. The linguistic compass applies to pupils at school participating in instruction in their own mother tongue. It is the mother tongue teacher’s responsibility to fill in the form. The language and culture group-specific educational authorities disseminate the forms to teachers and send the completed forms to appropriate schools. -       Follow-up form containing a skills profile of speaking and listening -       Pictorial pack – assesment material for monitoring development of interaction. 

”The little ones’ language backpack”

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATIONMs. Leena Nissilä Head of Unit, Counsellor of Education Finnish National Board of Education tel. +358 40 348 7705 e-mail: leena.nissila@oph.fiMs. Pirjo Immonen-Oikkonen Counsellor of Education Finnish National Board of Education tel. +358 40 348 7821 e-mail: pirjo.immonen-oikkonen@oph.fi