Koulujen monet kielet ja uskonnot: Selvitys vähemmistöäidinkielten ja -uskontojen sekä suomi ja ruotsi toisena kielenä -opetuksen tilanteesta eri koulutusasteilla

Globalisation and increasing mobility diversify societies and expand the number of languages and religions in the Western countries. With the speed of present demographic change, Finnish schools and other educational institutions, including teacher education, have not been fully able to adapt to this new situation. Key issues in immigrant integration comprise the adoption of the local language and culture while also maintaining the language(s), religion and culture of the country of origin. From the point of view of general education, the school subjects that best support integration are Finnish or Swedish as a second language (S2, R2), the learner’s own mother tongue, and religion / ethics.
The many languages and religions in schools is a research project funded by the Finnish Government and carried out in the Faculty of Educational Sciences at the University of Helsinki. The project has generated rich knowledge of the resources and future needs of the teaching of minority languages and religions, and of Finnish and Swedish as a second language, at different levels of education. The goal of the project has been to provide research-based knowledge for decision makers and education administrators to be able to better allocate resources and to take concrete actions toward the successful integration of recent immigrants to the Finnish society. The project covered early childhood education, pre-primary education, instruction preparing for basic education, basic education, vocational education, upper secondary education, and pre-service and in-service teacher education. Data was collected mainly by online surveys sent to education providers and to teacher education departments in the universities. Data regarding in-service education was collected through teacher organisations and the National Agency of Education. Additionally, data supplied by Statistics Finland and other authorities were used. The project also aimed to disclose well-functioning research-based models for teaching. Examples of these were inquired directly from schools. The survey questions were adjusted for the different educational fields and levels, and they were pre-tested with the respective target groups. The project was carried out in 2017–2018.
Key results regarding the different educational fields or levels are summarised (in Finnish) at the beginning of this report, followed by recommendations based on these results. The recommendations emphasise, among other things, that attention should be paid to the qualifications of teachers of minority languages and religions at all levels of education. Furthermore, it is recommended that diverse pathways for acquiring qualifications should be created, for example, through in-service training or by supporting religion and ethics teachers to acquire qualifications for teaching several religions. In vocational training, guidance related to multiculturalism and multi- lingualism should be increased.