Vaasa Liberal Adult Education Institute Alma: Language studies help the Ukrainians get integrated in the everyday life in Finland
During the spring of 2023, EPALE Finland will publish local good practices regarding the participation of refugees from Ukraine in adult learning activities in different parts of Finland. With this article, you will get to know the Alma Adult Education Centre´s activities to support refugees from Ukraine.
Alma Adult Education Centre is closely involved in the integration process of the young and adult Ukrainians by teaching them Finnish. The courses were launched rapidly in spring 2022 and have kept going ever since.
Text and photo: Tarja Gromov
Ukrainalaiset pääsevät kieliopinnoilla kiinni suomalaiseen arkeen
Alma Adult Education Centre is closely involved in the integration process of the young and adult Ukrainians by teaching them Finnish. The courses were launched rapidly in spring 2022 and have kept going ever since.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been going on for a year now. Since the spring of 2022, Finland has received tens of thousands of Ukrainians who have fled the prolonged state of war in their country. Vaasa has received about 800 Ukrainians.
Alma Adult Education Centre is well-versed in immigrant education. The courses are led by a small and efficient group of teachers: Marika Boström, Sari Isokangas, Kati Källman, and Anja Sjöholm.
– By now we have already carried out seven courses with altogether 90 participants. The participants are between 15 and 65 years of age, and most of them are women, says the leading headmaster Sannasirkku Autio.
Inventive combination of teaching methods
The teachers quickly noticed that the participants’ English skills were relatively weak.
– Most Ukrainians speak Russian. Therefore, my ability to speak Russian has been an asset in the coordination of teaching and as an assisting language in general, says the language teacher and planner Marika Boström.
Learning cultures also differ greatly. The Ukrainians have been accustomed to an authoritarian and performance-centred teaching style, where the teacher leads the situation and lectures to the listeners. In this model, the learner is a passive recipient of information.
At the beginning, the course participants were not at all accustomed to the Finnish methods, such as pair discussions and group work.
The teachers of Alma have consistently and inventively made use of all different kinds of teaching methods, including cooking and hiking. Such methods are the way to increase the everyday vocabulary without the learner even noticing the effort.
– At first, the course participants did not even consider these activities studying, but it did not take long for the practice to prove them wrong, smiles the language teacher and planner Kati Källman.
Courses on Finnish and English
The Ukrainians’ motivation to learn Finnish and get into the working life as quickly as possible has been remarkable.
– Knowing English improves the applicant’s chances on getting employed, so we have launched two basic courses on English, describes the language teacher and planner Sari Isokangas.
Teaching a language is also teaching about the society and the social operations within that culture.
– We study in quite a tight schedule. We meet thrice a week, so we have good time to talk about the everyday life and phenomena in Vaasa and Finland, says Anja Sjöholm, pleased with the development and successes that have been achieved in a short time.
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The author Tarja Gromov works as a communication and project coordinator at Alma Adult Education Centre. The article originally appeared in Vaasa's city newspaper Vaasa-lehti (page 20).
Comments
More than learning a language!
It is very encouraging to read about a non-formal language learning experience where learning takes place through everyday activities and socialization. I believe that this form of learning provides much more than understanding a foreign language - it helps to adapt into a foreign environment and feel part of a community. In addition, two-way learning takes place - both teachers and learnens learn.
Dairi Õun
Student of Andragogy at Tallinn University
It was really interesting…
It was really interesting and inspirational to read about the learning experiences and how active learning methods can empower learner regardless of age. Learning becomes as a natural way of being where sometimes learners don´t even realize that they are acquiring new knowledge and skills.
Future possibilities
While reading the article, a thought came to mind. What if, once Ukrainians have the chance to return to their homes, take all these new ways of teaching with them and spread around the word of different teaching methods and theories. These people take with them the experiences they have gatherd. They could hold the power to shape Ukrain's educational field into a more active one. And contribute to lifelong learning. As the country needs to be built up from the ground every individual who has new perspectives can be a massive impact on improving the country's regrowth.
Eva-Kristina Vatsfeldt, Aleksei Trofimov and Maria Maqueda
1st year student of the Bachelor of Andragogy at Tallinn University and 3rd year student of Early Childhood Education at Universidad Complutense de Madrid
On future possibilities
Thank you for sharing this idea on the future of adult learning via refugees coming back to Ukraine. We hope to be able to spread it further. It's a really prescious thought that a mixture of learning/teaching models and methods will one day land back in Ukraine, and help in building a new kind of an AL field in the country, that also other European countries can then learn from. Would you be interested in building on this thought as part of EPALEs 2023 Community Stories Iniative?
The 2023 Community Stories Initiative | EPALE (europa.eu)
Regards,
Jenni / EPALE Finland
Feedback on the article
Reading the article, I recognized myself as a teacher. I also work in a school where all Ukrainian students from one municipality are gathered. I am also in favor of immediately starting to learn the language of the country where they will temporarily live, because we do not know how long this situation will last. It is also a familiar situation that Ukrainians only know Russian and not English. I am very grateful for the fact that I found out how Ukrainian students study in Ukraine - in a passive form. At our school, there are two types of attitude. Whether they want to stay in this country and are motivated to learn the language of our country. Another option is that they refuse to learn the language of our country because they want to go back to Ukraine as soon as possible. Thanks a lot for sharing your experience!
Astrid Rosenberg
1st year student of the Bachelor of Andragogy at Tallinn University
Thank you for your feedback
Thank you for your feedback!
It has been very important to hear and read experiences from education organisations in other countries.
The challenges seem to be similar but what comes through the most is the resilience of our Ukrainian students to adapt not only to a new culture but to learn a new language. It has been a humbling experience for our teachers as well, a task that they have took upon proudly. We probably all can agree that learning also English is an important skill for Ukrainians when rebuilding the country together with international supporters and partners in the future.
Tarja Gromov, author
(via EPALE Finland)