Browsing by Author "Kurppa, Roosa"

One objective of this study is to examine how teachers perceive the scope of preparatory education. Additionally, I aim to explore teachers' experiences and views on integration within preparatory education. My research questions are: 1) How do teachers of preparatory education perceive the scope of preparatory education?; 2) What facilitates and impedes integration during preparatory education?; 3) How do teachers of preparatory education perceive the significance of integration for newly arrived students? Previous research has suggested that the scope of preparatory education is not the most crucial aspect. Previous research on integration indicates that it is an essential part of the newcomer's school path. I also examine these previous findings in my study. The study was conducted as a qualitative content analysis, utilizing data from a report published in 2022 by the Finnish Education Evaluation Centre (FINEEC) “Linguistic skills and capacities to attend school - evaluation of preparatory education and instructions in the student’s own mother tongue”. The collected data is from 2021. I narrowed down the data to fit my research and focused only on responses from teachers currently teaching preparatory education. Three of the survey questions were particularly relevant to my research, and I analyzed their open-ended responses. The data revealed that the majority of teachers perceived the current scope of preparatory education as appropriate. Slightly less than half of the teachers supported extending the scope. When discussing the scope, teachers highlighted five key aspects: individuality and diverse backgrounds, flexibility, integration, lack of support, and learning a new language. Based on these factors, teachers felt that decisions about the scope of education should be made on an individual basis, considering the students' unique needs.Teachers considered integration important for the development of the newcomer's language skills and integration. Three key factors affecting integration emerged from the data: collaboration with other teachers, teachers' attitudes, and personnel resources.