Kulttuurin muuttunut olemus opetussuunnitelmissa ja vieraiden kielten oppikirjoissa

Culture and interculturality have been integral parts of language teaching but they have changed their form and emphasis both in core curricula and text books over the decades. In this article I compare the concepts related to culture in the previous and current core curricula for basic education and general upper secondary education. I have analysed with content analysis four textbooks for long syllabus English in upper secondary education and investigated how the textbook texts, pictures or tasks guide students to practices related to culture and interculturality. The results indicate that although the current core curriculum
acknowledges an individual’s multi-layered cultural identity, this kind of
hybridity of cultures or fluidity of cultural identity is not found in the studied textbooks. The content and tasks related to culture and interculturality in the textbooks do not develop cultural competence but rather strengthen stereotypical understanding of cultures. It is thus important that teachers have skills for culturally responsive education so that they can select such content and tasks for language lessons that support the understanding of cultural diversity.