Curriculum to Classroom − Civics in Finnish Integration Courses

At a structural level, Finland has a multiculturalist approach to ethnic and linguistic diversity. Combining this with an immigrant incorporation policy where the introductory programme includes obligatory elements and a sanction mechanism, the result is supposed to be “integration” of newcomers. Not surprisingly, implementation lags behind the aims. Due to this discrepancy, I argue that rich qualitative interpretations of the grass roots level of the “integration work” are needed in the discussion about convergence and national models. Interpretive and discursive policy analysis helps to nuance the picture based on indicator-based research. Through a qualitative case study of the “integration courses” in the Helsinki metropolitan area, my paper intends to evaluate what kind of discursive constructions of good citizenship circulate in the practitioners’ sphere of immigrant incorporation. If Finnish policies are part of a European civic turn, how does the “civic” element filter to the class room level (or does it)? As Finland in the Nordic context features as a country of slightly passive political culture, what shape do the republican values of participation take here? In thematic interviews with Finnish officials and language/civics teachers, I explore especially their notions of citizenship beyond labour-market participation. What kind of space does democracy occupy in their teaching? What kind of political subjectivities do the teachers envision for their course participants? At the end of the paper, I will reflect upon how the discursive constructions of the officials and teachers can be contextualized at different levels.