Send message to Author

Paper short abstract

The paper discusses the views and everyday experiences of 9-15-year-olds in an international school in Finland. It elaborates on the contradictions when an international school follows a national curriculum and describes the diversity among the pupils, and the ruptures in their educational paths.

Paper long abstract

Increasing numbers of skilled professionals move abroad for career reasons. Often, they are accompanied by their spouse and children. Finland, like many other countries, welcomes such migrants. Children’s education is, however, often forgotten when policies are formed to attract skilled professionals. In my study, I conducted ethnographic fieldwork in a municipal international school in Finland investigating the views and everyday experiences of pupils aged 9-15 years old. In this presentation, I elaborate on the contradictions within an international school that follows a national curriculum. I argue that many families seem to share the ethos of international schools raising the future global elite but this ethos is somewhat contradictory in a free municipal school. In particular, there are challenges with secondary education within the Finnish context. Therefore, I also discuss the ruptures in children’s educational paths that their families’ transnational mobilities cause, and the consequences of those. I also discuss the significance of class and nationality among the pupils; some parents were skilled international professionals while others were asylum seekers or blue-collar migrants and the majority were actually (upper-middle class) Finns. I therefore ask, for whom the international schools in Finland are really meant and what the consequences of the diversity among pupils are. The presentation is based on an extensive ethnographic research including interviews, participant observation and visual methods.