Browsing by Subject "maahanmuuttotaustainen"

School environments have become increasingly challenging due to segregation in cities, escalating social problems and multiculturisation. The challenges do not emerge only in classrooms but are also reflected more widely to the school communities and surrounding areas. The growing challenges raise a question whether a school’s role could be extended from an educational institution to a more versatile node of services that supports not only children’s learning but also all residents’ wellbeing and lifelong learning in the neighbourhood. In this study I examine a school’s local role in increasing social capital, sense of community, inclusion and trust in its neighbourhood and I analyse how a community building, where the school is placed, could take a supportive role in it. The thesis is a case study of a Finnish multicultural urban neighbourhood where a new community building was opened a few years ago. The community building houses a school, daycare, library, youth centre and social- and health services. I take an institutional approach in the study and I interview five institutional actors representing the school and the city. The study material consists of these interviews and of a recording given to me by one of my interviewee who had interviewed other school representatives before my study. In the analysis part, I use a case analysis method, which sheds light not only on the policies and functional practices of the school and the community building but also on the challenges they face. Even as one case study, the knowledge gained from it can be viewed in a wider context in order to understand the functioning of school communities and to take part in discussing the operational school environments. The main results of the study indicate that the interviewed school and city representatives perceive the school as a larger local actor rather than only as an educational institution. The representatives see that the school is an important actor in building sense of community, inclusion and trust in the wider neighbourhood and also believe that it reflects its conventions and values to the whole community. Central finding in the thesis is also the interviewees’ common view that the community building and its versatile services strongly support the school in delivering education, wellbeing and assistance for children, families and all residents of the community. The school and community building are also regarded as important domains of integration for the people with an immigrant background to the Finnish society. A school represents one the most central institutions of the society and it reaches whole families due to compulsory education. Therefore, it works as a natural platform for integrating services and assistance not only for children but also for adults. The main challenges that the school and community building face in its functioning and in creating a wider local role were mentioned to be segregation with its negative side effects and policies made in the city level that do not fit as such to the neighbourhood’s local context. This study takes part in the discussion of segregation in cities and growing spatial inequality with their negative impacts on people’s wellbeing and on equal opportunities. This negative trajectory will also lead to malfunctioning of cities and the wider society. The results of this study provide insights to the question, whether a community building as a concept could be a solution in school and spatial development and in urban neighborhood improvement. A community building that supports a school in taking a stronger local role and working as a node of services for education, hobbies, leisure and assistance can possibly improve people’s everyday lives and wellbeing in the whole society.