Tavastia Way of Finnish Language Support during Vocational Studies. Tiina Alhainen Coordinator of Multicultural Issues Tavastia Education Consortium

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1 Tavastia Way of Finnish Language Support during Vocational Studies Tiina Alhainen Coordinator of Multicultural Issues Tavastia Education Consortium

2 Background - Needs of New Practices in the Tavastia Operating Area Low growth of the population in Häme area Larger amount of asylum seekers and reception centres Availability of competent labor has to be ensured Integration into society Staying in the region as competent and as well-prepared for working life as possible Models of integrating Finnish language learning & vocational studies 2

3 The Importance of Network and Cooperation Tavastia Vocational College The Finnish Red Cross reception center in Lammi Hämeenlinnan Asunnot Oy / City of Hämeenlinna Local NGOs; Häme Settlement Association Upper Secondary School of Lammi The Employment Authorities Municipality authorities Local people 3

4 Learning Environment: practical property maintenance tasks, cleaning services, construction engineering repairs 4

5 Easy to Find out What to Do in Concrete to Make Immigrants Living Conditions More Convenient 5

6 What to Do? For many immigrants with lower education background, completing the entire qualification in one go is a challenge. The NAO/AOV funding made it possible to organize the training periods to allow the student to start by completing a part of the qualification while improving their language skills and other competencies required to complete the qualification. Vocational qualification in property maintenance was the partial qualification that was best suited for the programme, as it was practical and interesting to many immigrants and would provide a short route to working life. 6

7 About the Study Programme Education module from 3 to 4 months. One half of the contents of the preparatory training consisted of professional and working-life oriented Finnish language studies and studies related to Finnish society and working life. The other half comprised guided practical learning conducted at work related to the maintenance of outdoor areas, construction engineering repairs and cleaning services, with the aim of preparing the student for completing a part of the qualification. 7

8 Carrying out the Study Programme Many applicants 5 groups The students were selected from applicants qualified for the NAO/AOV funding, primarily on the basis of their employment and education plans, previous work experience and education, as well as their suitability for the field and their Finnish language skill level. Some could compensate for their fairly weak Finnish skills by their professional technical skills acquired through prior work experience, as well as their strong motivation for finding employment and having an education suitable for property maintenance work in the Finnish labor market. For some, the personalization of the application phase and the charting of wishes and previously acquired skills in the interview resulted in the applicant discovering more suitable study programmes. 8

9 About Teaching Team consisting of a vocational teacher, an S2 Finnish language teacher, and a vocational instructor. The vocational content and the integration-related content were combined to form a working lifeoriented whole. The linguistic awareness of the vocational teachers improved, and they discovered different new ways to guide language acquisition while teaching the vocational contents. 9

10 About Active, Practical Way of Learning Most of the studies were conducted in a property that was well-suited for functional learning, enabling guided activities such as cleaning the corridor, washing the windows, painting, installing fire alarms, repair work and snow clearing. Many tasks, including outdoor area maintenance and the installation of lamps and fire alarms, have been learned at the Mainiemi emergency accommodation unit. In a small village center, it has taken some effort to find suitable work placement locations that would allow the tasks to be learned to the extent required for completing the qualification. 10

11 Learning by Doing Together 11

12 Many Things to Be Happy for Students had great enthusiasm for manual work, improving their own living conditions and working. The Finnish language studies were linked to the vocational studies. Tools utilized in the Finnish language studies included pictures, drama, linking vocabulary to vocational content, verbal communication tasks, games, functional exercises and introduction visits. It was essential that the Finnish language studies and the development of professional competencies were clearly linked. 12

13 Facebook Supporting Learning Pictures, videos Group support Converzation in Finnish Notebook Links Translation apps Easy to use 13

14 But also Challenges The difficulty of completing parts of the qualifications remains a subject that requires developing. Filling the documents and understanding the process needed for completing the qualifications Finnish language skills required for the examination situation There is needed longer duration than that of the programmes now carried out 14

15 What Did We Learn? Importance of intense collaboration between teachers Vocational teacher s understanding of linguistic and multicultural awareness Language teacher s understanding of the qualification and language skills required Work life and network based way of planning and carrying education programmes Ways to support the group process in the multicultural and linqual groups Ways to create safe and secure environment to learn even by making mistakes 15

16 Trials as a Way of Getting Prepared for the Reform Real, extensive personalization in competence based education and proper intensive guidance Teacher collaboration and the integration of the contents of the studies Orientation towards working life, learning in working life-based learning environment 16

17 Thank You Contact info Tiina Alhainen Tavastia Vocational College / Tavastia Education Consortium Tiina.alhainen@kktavastia.fi ites/epale/files/support_duri ng_studies_professional_finn ish_language_support_for_fo reigners.pdf amonenmoista.blogspot.fi/ 17