Browsing by Subject "maahanmuuttajatausta"

The basis of this research lays in the developing school life, where the number of students with a migratory background is rising. This also increases the number of students who need special education. There is not a great number of research done about adult students with a migratory background in special education, as previous research is mostly related to chil-dren and adolescents. The research task of this study is to describe, analyze, and interpret the experiences of special education teachers in teaching adults with a migratory back-ground. The research aim is to find out, how the teachers describe their work and aspects related to teaching, and how the various background factors of an adult with a migratory background affect teaching and learning. The research material is based on six interviews with special education teachers. All teach-ers work or have worked with adult students with migratory backgrounds. The interviews were held and recorded on Teams platform. The transcribed interview material was analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The key result of the research is that there is not a specific way of teaching students with a migratory background, as the student body is very diverse. The teachers described their work in various ways. Language awareness and a clear structure in the lessons were seen to be important. The teachers emphasized the importance of knowing the students both in approaching the students and in identifying possible learning difficulties. Testing for learning difficulties was not seen very useful, whereas giving direct support to challenges was felt to be a more effective method. Teaching was also seen as a way of integration. The teachers felt that they learned their job mostly though their work itself, but they also wished for more training especially in language and trauma awareness. Different factors of the students’ background effects on teaching and learning were found. Adulthood emerged as a special feature, as an adult’s previous experiences in life strongly influence learning. In addition, cultural differences, importance of language skills, previous schooling background and the student’s perception on learning were seen to affect learning and teaching. Experienced traumas were also mentioned as a way that can weaken learning. The research clearly revealed a need to develop teacher training programs, so that they would better consider students with a migratory background. As the student body changes, so does the school world’s need for continuous education. The heterogeneity of adult stu-dents with a migratory background creates a unique challenge for teaching, as background factors have a great impact on learning.

This master’s thesis studies the interviews of young people with majority population and immigrant backgrounds about their education. Special attention has been given to what kind of meaning they give to their family background regarding to secondary education expectations. In earlier studies, the family background has been noticed to guide young people's educational choices based on their inherited educational level as well as on the resources offered by the family (e.g. Myllyniemi & Kiilakoski 2017, Saari 2016, Bourdieu 2011). Especially among students with immigrant background, family has been noticed to associate with educational choices (e.g. Kalalahti et al. 2017, Hyvärinen & Erola 2011). The aim of this thesis is to get new perspectives and topical information about how the family affects the young people's educational choices and how immigration background affects how one speaks about family. The material of this thesis consists of 16 interviews given by 9th-graders, of which eight had immigrant background and eight were part of the majority. The interviews were done originally for the Transitions and educational trajectories of immigrant youth -project. The material was analyzed with theory-driven content analysis. The focus of the analysis was on the meanings given to family background in relation to education and future in young people’s speech. In addition, the possible meanings, which related to immigrant family background, were observed. The resources provided by the family were a significant guiding factor in the educational path of the young. The educational status and the educational-cultural capital of the family shaped the young’s mind about possible educational opportunities. The attitude of the family towards education was seen as an important factor. Especially the parent’s appreciation for education was present among the immigrant youth's educational speeches. The goals of the youth were constructed largely based on the model, attitudes and educational values offered by the family, which young people did not necessarily recognize. Especially young people with immigrant backgrounds seemed to value the importance of the family as part of the education choice. Also, hobbies, working life experiment and interest in a particular field were mentioned in the interviews speeches as guiding factors for the educational choices.