Browsing by Subject "opettajan positio"

In integration policy perspective employment in the Finnish labor market is considered as a measure of integration. Integration training aims to find a suitable career and work path for each immigrant. Instead of an individual's wishes and skills, the labor market strongly guides career choices. The marketisation of education has also brought a new kind of efficiency requirement to the field of integration education, which combines declining financial resources and intensified efficiency expectations. Preparatory education for upper secondary vocational education and training (VALMA) is one actor in the integration field, whose purpose is to orientate immigrants to Finnish working life, society and different professions. The purpose of this thesis is to bring out the views of teachers who work in VALMA and reveal the tensions in the field of integration training. Through the interviews of teachers, I explore how the subject positions of teachers are constructed and what kind of reflections they have regarding to power and ethics. The research material consisted of interviews of five teachers working in VALMA education. My approach to the analysis has elements of discursive reading. In response to the research questions, four key factors were outlined in the background of teacher’s subject position. At the heart of everything are reflections on power and ethics, which are intertwined with reflection on language skills requirements, issues related to career choice and working life. The subject position of VALMA-teacher was constructed through controversial goals and objectives toward the desire to do the right thing and act ethically.