Medis – The Civic Institute in Mariehamn

Swedish for Immigrants (SFI) as implemented by the Civic Institute, Medis in Mariehamn on the Åland islands is a labour market training scheme available to unemployed adult migrants who seek to become more proficient in Swedish. Åland occupies a unique position within Finland because it represents a semi-autonomous, de-militarized, unilingually Swedish geographic region located in the Baltic Sea in close proximity to the Swedish mainland. This entails that the federal parliament of Åland has far-reaching powers in domestic spheres governing the social life of its inhabitants including decisions shaping the education and integration of migrant newcomers to the islands. Medis has been an integral part of Mariehamn’s and surrounding counties’ social and educational life since 1947. Like Arbis, it offers a varied selection of adult education courses and despite the school’s more limited space and resources, the Civic Institute extends residents “opportunities for general education and meaningful employment in their free time in close a connection to their home town”

(Medis, Medborgarinstitutet 2018).

Swedish language integration programs at Medis, have long roots dating back to 1992. Curricular guidelines are based partially on those specified by the National Board of Education (Utbildningsstyrelsen,1/011/2012) and the Act on the Promotion of Immigrant Integration (1386/2010) but also on those drafted by the Ålandic government’s educational agency (utbildningsbyrån). Their aim is to support adult migrant students in developing linguistic, social and cultural skills allowing them to manage

“real life” situations in their new home and enabling them to procure

employment and/or access to further education (Ålands landskapsregering, utbildningsbyrån 2017).

In describing SFI’s learning environment, the curriculum emphasizes a

“knowledge-based approach” claiming to capitalize on students’ past working and life experiences and linguistic skills in order to help them achieve their goals. It also addresses the importance of an emotionally supportive social environment including the essential role played by its leadership culture in motivating staff and students. Priorities of challenging prejudice, constructive conflict resolution and building tolerance in cooperation with others in creating a “multicultural environment” are also promoted (Ålands landskapsregering, utbildningsbyrån 2017). These, interestingly enough, were not as foregrounded in either NorQuest’s or Arbis’ learning guidelines. There is further a specific recognition that, in addition to the classroom, the surrounding community is a crucial component of this learning environment. Language acquisition and practice in a “natural context” meant to encourage students to utilize their language skills and experience in a variety of everyday situations is to be fostered by including excursions, study visits, and working life periods in the curriculum. Medis’s physical environment, being housed in a smaller building from the late 1940’s, constituted an intimate space somewhat akin to that of Westmount campus. Classrooms were bright and relatively spacious though given the larger student groups, seemed rather confined at times. A notable bonus was a student kitchen equipped with stoves and microwaves located in an adjoining building that doubled as a student meeting place. There was also a small café where alimentation could be purchased (Medis kursprogram 2014). In the deficit column, however, was the lack of any common room or office space for staff who either had to visit each other’s classrooms or congregate in groups in the courtyard during breaks, making confidential discussions unconducive. This detracted not only from teacher well-being but also from the curricular aim of building a mutually supportive learning environment. Another downside of space being at a premium was that the IT room was unable to accommodate an entire class and therefore underutilized.

In order to qualify for SFI program eligibility, applicants had to have permanent resident status on Åland, which included being covered by the

Finnish social security system (FPA) and registered as job seekers at AMS, the Åland Labour Market and Study Service Authority (Westerholm 2013).

During my fieldwork period, course admission was granted by AMS in cooperation with Medis where representatives assessed and interviewed prospective students.²¹ The job seeker criteria for eligibility represents a distinct difference between Medis SFI and the other two case studies. At Arbis those receiving labour market support and referred by AN-byrån had to be unemployed, yet according to fria bildningen’s principles, other categories of migrants (stay-at-home mothers, seniors, students etc.) could also join SFI. NorQuest LINC’s scope was broadest of all in being available to all adult migrants with permanent residence permits for an unlimited time until one attained citizenship. Medis SFI was thus much more limited in scope and was envisioned primarily to be a labour market training scheme. Ironically, prospective students who were employed were forced to quit in order to access the integration education program. The initial eligibility survey assesses the migrant's prerequisites for employment, studies and language training needs. This included a level test to determine into which study path the student will be streamed. Components evaluating reading and writing skills, current Swedish proficiency, previous education and work experience, study skills, as well as one’s own wishes for future work and education were included in the test. Based on this survey, an integration plan was devised, including necessary support measures.

Upon admission, the educational organizer is obliged to draft a needs-based personal study plan for each student with their input, which lays the foundation for studies. Its implementation is to be periodically benchmarked in individual or group tutoring sessions, which also serve to identify vulnerable students and their special needs. The aim of tutoring according to the curriculum is to support students’ self-determination and their life and career choices, however, the details and staff responsibilities in this process were rather diffuse. Given that Medis SFI suffered from the same staff precarity as Arbis with part-time teachers who are paid according to hours taught, it remained unclear as to how the considerable investments of time and organization in a personally-tailored tutoring regime were to be

21 This responsibility has since entirely reverted to AMS (Ålands landskapsregering, utbildningsbyrån 2017).

shared. In conformity with similar SFI programs such as Arbis, Medis SFI is a predominantly language-acquisition-based education with a focus on reading, writing, listening and speaking competences up to a B1.1 level (Council of Europe 2001). Curricular boundaries are largely prescribed by the rhythm and chapter progression of language and grammar textbooks originating from Sweden. During the course of my fieldwork in 2016-17, no Finland-Swedish language learning resources existed though there was a bilingual Finnish web-based learning module entitled Kotisuomessa.fi that was underutilized²². Medis SFI consists of a 50-70 study week program depending upon on the particular study path. This corresponds to a 35-hour weekly time investment by students. Full-time attendance is compulsory and regularly checked, a precondition of the labour market support agreement. Curricular studies encompass the following components, which vary according to the study paths in which students are enrolled; Swedish and communicative skills including IT (30 -70 study weeks.), working life and social skills (15 study weeks), and tutoring (5 study weeks).

Medis SFI offers three distinct study paths. Study path 1 is intended for adults who have limited or no schooling (0-5 years). This path included illiterate students to whom a preparatory course, entitled, Education in Basic Literacy (spanning 30 study weeks) is offered prior to commencing with Beginners Swedish studies (A1 & A2 levels). This represented a qualitative difference when compared with Arbis SFI where such a path was not included in the curriculum, perhaps reflecting differences in student profiles as well as resource priorities. At Medis, a greater number of recent cohorts of migrant students lacked formal schooling backgrounds and created a need for the development of a literacy-focused study path to allow these students to even be able to access introductory integration education programs. Study path 1 included migrants who were unfamiliar with the Latin alphabet, those with learning difficulties and those who had been

22 In 2018, the first specifically Finland-Swedish instructional materials were introduced.

These consisted of a published textbook, Vi ses! Nybörjarsvenska (See you! Beginners Swedish) and an App, SFI (Svenska i Finland) (Swedish in Finland) that could be downloaded from Google Play or the App Store.

diagnosed as special needs students due to disability or comparable reasons and thus required extra support. Study path 2 is targeted at migrants who completed primary schooling (6-9 years) and persons with vocational educations who have none or insufficient knowledge of the Latin alphabet.

It too includes a shorter introductory prep-course of 10 weeks before moving on to language studies at A1 & A2 levels (30 study weeks.) and the B1.1 level (20 study weeks.). Study path 3 represents the standard SFI education for those adult migrants who have completed more than nine years of schooling, including those with post-secondary educations.

Familiarity with the Latin alphabet and a capacity for independent studies are prerequisites. In the choice of path, the student's personal study plan is taken into consideration and path changes are possible if they are deemed to better support learning. Such decisions are made jointly by students and administrators in collaboration with AMS (Ålands landskapsregering, utbildningsbyrån 2017).

In addition to developing Swedish language proficiencies, each study path also includes a working life skills component in two periods of practice placements consisting of no less than 7 weeks. These work experience stints could be completed at several different workplaces. During my fieldwork, practice placements were arranged in cooperation with Kompassen, an information point and integration project financed by the city of Mariehamn. It employed a former SFI student who acted as a liaison between migrants and employers by interviewing SFI students in order to ascertain their placement wishes and then contacting labour market actors to organize suitable internships. This liaison also negotiated with working life tutors and visited placements but was uninvolved in evaluations while SFI staff were uninvolved in practice tutoring or supervision. This arrangement stands in sharp contrast to Arbis SFI and the specialized Work Volunteer Program at NorQuest College where staff tutors were integrally involved in securing, supervising and evaluating internships, which subsequently integrated the latter much more effectively within the program. Medis practice placement aims include allowing students to identify their own professional skills, familiarize themselves with Ålandic working culture, occupational health and safety regulations as well as employees’ position rights and obligations within the labour market.

However, the most important criterion entailed placements offering

opportunities for language practice. This imperative superseded student’s wishes for a seamless fit between previous professional experience and a related internship and had been at the root of earlier disagreements about placement aims.

Medis SFI also included cultural and societal competence among its curricular objectives, something which it shared with this study’s other case studies. The emphasis here lay in interpreting and comparing customs, values, norms and attitudes prevalent in the students’ own culture with Ålandic culture. The focus thereby rested on students developing skills in intercultural interaction (Ålands landskapsregering, utbildningsbyrån 2017).

A noticeable omission in the curriculum is the recognition of the reciprocal nature of intercultural learning and Medis’ as well as the host society’s own responsibilities in this mutual process.

With regards to my fieldwork at Medis, I had travelled to Åland in May of 2016 in order to visit the Civic Institute after having been in contact with its vice-rector and chief SFI planner. She had agreed to a preliminary interview during which we discussed my research plans and set the parameters for my fieldwork later that year. I was also fortunate to be able to interview two other senior teachers and gather first impressions. Upon returning in October, I organized introductory sessions with both staff and students and commenced with interviews and participant observations until December, returning in February of 2017 for dissemination discussions with all participants. Of the 14 in-depth staff interviews I conducted, two were with administrators or support staff, one with an integration coordinator from the Ålandic government while the rest comprised discussions with educators. The participating teachers were all white, raised on Åland and were, with one exception, female. A precarity similar to that at Arbis existed here as well with the majority of teachers being employed in part-time contracts which terminated at the end of every school year in April and were renewed upon its resumption in September. For most of the pedagogues, however, instructing in the SFI program was their only teaching responsibility. Many had simply “tumbled into” teaching migrants for a variety of reasons and none had specialized educational training in teaching Swedish as a foreign language. In fact, few had pedagogical qualifications, something which also characterized Arbis SFI staff.

Difficulties in staff recruitment were directly related to job precarity, its low-status and limited work-related benefits. At NorQuest LINC, by contrast, criteria for employment specified not only teacher education but also special TESOL (Teaching English as a Second or Other Language) certificates.

In 2016-17, Medis’ student population numbered roughly 90 adult migrant learners studying in five separate groups including an accelerated and a slower A1 beginner’s group. During my period of participant observation, I followed the daily routines of two student classes which studied at A2 and B1 language benchmark levels. In the A2 group, eight of the 24 students had Thai backgrounds and represented the largest ethnic group. Other countries of student origin included Romania, Russia, Latvia, and Syria. The class consisted of 21 female and 3 male students with varying educational and professional histories, Swedish language proficiencies and time spent on Åland. It included newly arrived refugees as well as those who had worked several years in the Ålandic labour market in pay, low-status jobs before applying for SFI. Many were in their twenties and early thirties and had started families on the island, although a small number was older, having followed their children abroad. The B1 group mirrored the multi-faceted constitution of the A2 class and numbered 18 students.

Countries of origin included Russia, Germany, Serbia, Finland, Ethiopia, Thailand, and the Baltic states. In contrast though, most of these learners came from more professional backgrounds and had expectations of being able to access similar future employment on Åland. Another difference was that student ethnic origins were more evenly distributed without the large concentration of one ethnic group as in A2. An observable commonality which linked all three case studies seemed to be that despite introductory language assessments and language level tailored classes, a wide range of linguistic competencies, learning styles and learning histories characterized each group which gave rise to similar challenges. My participant observations at Medis SFI culminated in 6 group interviews with 25 students from both classes. Of those, 20 were females and 5 males. The majority had roots on Åland and sought to make the islands their home.

There was also little of the life goal pragmatism regarding country of residence which characterized interviews with migrant students at Arbis whose ambitions for self-fulfillment were less circumscribed by national

boundaries. Thus, NorQuest LINC, Arbis SFI and Medis SFI could be said to incorporate compatible yet also incompatible elements which at once bound them together while distinguishing them. A common denominator, though, represented the motivation and dedication exhibited by staff and students involved in the program.

5 METHODOLOGY

5.1 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

This research represents a multiple case study of integration educations for adult migrants enrolled in the national integration education programs of Swedish for Immigrants (SFI) in Finland and Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) in Canada. Describing how social inclusion is envisaged and practically implemented in these programs aiming to

“integrate” adult migrant students into society, being cognizant of the multifarious linguistic, cultural and political environments in which they are embedded, represents the thesis’ main research focus. I look critically at the programs’ aims and foundational ideologies, implementations and how those who work and participate in the educations experience them. Anti-oppressive methodologies inform my research approach including my positionality as a researcher. The study rested upon the following exploratory research questions:

1. How is social inclusion conceived, contested and practically operationalized within LINC and SFI integration educations?

2. What are the experiences of social inclusion of those who work in implementing the integration education programs and those who participate in them?

3. What possibilities and limitations exist in incorporating principles of critical social inclusion into different educational, social &

linguistic environments? How do these position migrant learners?

The research questions explore the myriad of ways in which inclusion is negotiated within and beyond school walls, as well the factors that work to inhibit or enable its realization. As such, they target personal, cultural and structural levels while endeavouring to foreground participants’

experiences and voices. It is this cornerstone of anti-oppressive research paradigms, namely the imperative to accurately reflect program

participant’s experiences and maximize their engagement, that I sought to incorporate into my research design.

5.2 AIMS OF CRITICAL QUALITATIVE