A case study on the relationship of education policy and practice in regard to migration

Abstract

Literature suggests that students with migrant backgrounds are exposed to vulnerable positions in education. Finland is a country with a rising migrant rate. Thus, this study focuses on exploring the relationship between education policies and grassroot level practices regarding migrant students on a school at a municipal setting in Central Finland.

This case study includes two sets of data collection. The first data set consisted of policy documents identifying the provisions for migrant students in the Finnish education system. These were analysed with systematic key word search and content analysis. The second data set consisted of 360-degree interviews from people in various positions on the local and school level. The interviews were analysed with content analysis to gather information from the grassroot level about the practices for the inclusion of migrant students and the challenges faced in the process. Finally, the findings of these two sets of data were combined to identify gaps between policy and practice and present development proposals for handling migration in the Finnish education system.

This research found that policy level education in Finland is not defining enough, if at all, education for migrants, while spotted that policy level initiatives and omissions are maintaining the opportunity gap against migrant pupils and support problematic phenomena, such as racism on school grounds. On the grassroot level education, interviews displayed a variety of initiatives towards inclusion and equal confrontation of migrant students highlighting though the diverse experiences students can have, as initiatives are solely depending on educators ideologies and not on clear policy guidelines.