Paper short abstract:

The paper elaborates on how 9-11-year-old children navigate their way among the rules and practices in a Finnish international school. It discusses the children's positions of power, powerlessness and their agency. The paper is based on an extensive ethnographic study.

Paper long abstract:

Finland, among many other countries, wants to attract skilled professionals from abroad. Very often, these expatriates stay in the country temporarily, and they are accompanied by their children and spouses. This paper focuses on 9-11-year-old expatriate children’s views and experiences in Finland. There are several international schools in Finland but unlike in many other parts of the world, most of them are public schools; they are free, and they follow the Finnish curriculum although the language of tuition is English. In this paper, I discuss how expatriate children view the Finnish schools, how they get adjusted there and how they navigate their way among the rules and practices there. I also ask what kind of agency the children have. I argue that on the one hand, the children enjoy the greater freedom that they have in Finland compared with some previous places where they have lived. At the same time, the Finnish emphasis on children’s independence can be a challenge for some children. Moreover, the academic requirements and the variety of subjects are different.

The paper is based on an extensive ethnographic study among children in an international school in a Finnish town. With empirical examples, I elaborate on how the children negotiate and navigate various rules and practices in their everyday lives in a Finnish international school. I also discuss the children’s positions of power and powerlessness as well as their agency. In addition, I reflect upon the challenges when a child moves from one school system to another.