I am doing a PhD on the work of teachers of their own mother tongue. Native language teaching is a form of education funded by the Finnish National Agency of Education, where children, whose native language is other than Finnish or Swedish, have the opportunity to receive two hours of instruction in their mother tongue per week. At present, mother tongue teaching in the school context is mainly provided in Finland and other Nordic countries and in German-speaking Europe.
In my dissertation research, I highlight the perspective of minority teachers, their professional competence, and their experience of inclusion. However, teachers are not seen through the lens of minority perspectives, but as professionals whose expertise benefits students, school communities and the whole society.
Much of the previous research on linguistic and cultural diversity has been conducted from a majority perspective. Teachers are still seen as a rather homogeneous group, not personally affected by linguistic and cultural diversity. Teachers belonging to linguistic and cultural minorities are therefore invisible. The role of minority teachers has been identified as important for the school integration and academic achievement of linguistic and cultural minority pupils, but their own experiences of inclusion have received little attention in the past.
The first part of my dissertation was published in the journal Kasvatus on 25 October 2022 (only in Finnish). In the article, I examine the status, roles, and inclusion of mother tongue teachers in the school community and show that minority teachers are not equal in the workplace, but also face prejudice and even inequitable treatment.
The other two sub-studies are based on extensive interview data (N=20) collected in November 2021 and transcribed at word level. Based on an abductive analysis of the data, I am working on two articles, the first of which has been submitted for review to an international book in September 2022 and deals with the capacity of native language teachers to implement linguistically and culturally responsible pedagogies. In the last article, I will examine mother tongue teachers as social actors. This article will be submitted for peer review by February 2023.
Linguistically and culturally responsive pedagogy promotes readiness to learn, the ability to work with people from diverse backgrounds, and an understanding of the impact of social factors on people’s activities and opportunities. Recognising, making visible and supporting the competences of students and teachers from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds is necessary to promote equal opportunities for all members of the school community to feel included and to succeed in their work or studies. Mother tongue teaching can therefore be seen as an essential part of a linguistically and culturally responsible pedagogy. The results of my research will help to develop the qualification criteria and training pathway for mother-tongue teachers, and to make better use of their skills to support pupils and the whole school community.