Teachers’ perceptions of multicultural education and their competence to teach children from different cultural backgr ounds Salla Määttä Pro Gradu… [609128]

– EXPERIENCE MATTERS –
Teachers’ perceptions of multicultural education and their
competence to teach children from different cultural backgr ounds
Salla Määttä
Pro Gradu -Thesis
Department of Educational Sciences/
Special Education
Department of Communication /
Intercultural Communication
University of Jyväskylä
Spring 2008

JYVÄSKYLÄN YLIOPISTO
Tiedekunta – Faculty
FACULTY OF EDUCATION
FACULTY OF HUMANITIES Laitos – Department
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL
SCIENCES
DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATION
Tekijä – Author
Salla Määttä
Työn nimi – Title
– EXPERIENCE MATTERS –
Teachers’ perceptions of multicultural education an d their competence to teach children from different
cultural backgrounds
Oppiaine – Subject
Special Education, Intercultural Communication Työn laji – Level
Pro Gradu -Thesis
Aika – Month and year
April 2008 Sivumäärä – Number of pages
90, 7 appendices
Tiivistelmä – Abstract
The purpose of this study was to find out how teach ers in basic education perceive multicultural education
and how they see their competence to teach children from different cultural backgrounds. It was studie d
how gender, age, teaching experience, experience in teaching immigrant children and possible living
abroad experience affected teachers’ opini ons of their competence. The aspect of special educ ation was
taken into account by studying how teachers saw the need for special education for their multicultural
pupils. Also the significance of their education in working with immigrant children was viewed.
The total of 143 teachers took part in the research . The respondents worked as class teachers or subje ct
teachers in Finnish primary schools and they were s tudying in a one year further education programme t o
become special education teachers. This i s a quantitative study and the data were collected during the
spring of 2004 and the spring of 2007.
The findings indicate that the most important thing affecting teachers’ competence is their experience in
teaching immigrant children. The teachers with experience in teaching immigrant children felt more
competent than the ones without experience. However , the teachers did not feel very competent to teach
children from different cultural backgrounds. Age o r teaching experience did not have any impact on t heir
feeling of competence. Part time special education was seen as an important form of education for
immigrant children. The teachers were critical of t heir own teacher education. They believed that their
education had not given them tools to work with c ulturally diverse children. However, they believed that
qualifying special education programme had prepared them more than their background education to work
with children from different cultural backgrounds.
This research showed that teachers need more knowle dge of multicultural education and teaching
immigrants, which should be taken into account alre ady in teacher education. There appears to be a nee d
for knowledge of special education and of practical skills of handling a culturally diverse classroom.
Asiasanat – Keywords
Multicultural education, Intercultural Competence, Immigrant, Teacher
Säilytyspaikka – Depository
University of Jyväskylä/Tourula, Department of Educ ational Sciences/Special Education
Muita tietoja – Additional information

JYVÄSKYLÄN YLIOPISTO
Tiedekunta – Faculty
KASVATUSTIETEIDEN TIEDEKUNTA
HUMANISTINEN TIEDEKUNTA Laitos – Department
KASVATUSTIETEIDEN LAITOS
VIESTINTÄTIETEIDEN LAITOS
Tekijä – Author
Salla Määttä
Työn nimi – Title
– EXPERIENCE MATTERS –
Teachers’ perceptions of multicultural education an d their competence to teach children from different
cultural backgrounds
Oppiaine – Subject
Erityispedagogiikka, Kulttuurienvälinen viestintä Työn laji – Level
Pro Gradu -tutkielma
Aika – Month and year
Huhtikuu 2008 Sivumäärä – Number of pages
90, 7 liitettä
Tiivistelmä – Abstract
Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli selvittää kuink a perusopetuksessa työskentelevät opettajat kokevat
monikulttuurisen kasvatuksen, ja miten he kokevat o man kompetenssinsa opettaa eri kultt uureista tulevia
lapsia. Tutkimuksessa selvitettiin kuinka sukupuoli , ikä, opetuskokemus, kokemus maahanmuuttajien
opetuksesta ja mahdollinen ulkomailla asuminen vaik uttivat opettajien näkemykseen omasta
kompetenssistaan. Erityisopetus otettiin huomioon t utkimalla, miten opettajat näkivät erityisopetuksen
tarpeen toisesta kulttuurista tulevilla oppilailla. Tarkastelun kohteena oli myös opettajakoulutuksen
merkitys maahanmuuttajalasten kanssa työskenneltäes sä.
Tutkimukseen osallistui 143 opettajaa. Vastaaj at työskentelivät luokanopettajina tai aineenopetta jina
suomalaisissa peruskouluissa ja he opiskelivat vuod en kestävissä erillisissä erityisopettajan opinnois sa
saadakseen erityisopettajan pätevyyden. Tämä on kva ntitatiivinen tutkimus, ja aineisto kerättii n keväällä
2004 ja keväällä 2007.
Tulokset osoittavat, että tärkein kompetenssiin vai kuttava tekijä on kokemus maahanmuuttajien
opettamisesta. Opettajat, joilla oli kokemusta maah anmuuttajien opettamisesta, kokivat kompetenssinsa
paremmaksi kuin ne opett ajat, joilla ei ollut kokemusta. Kuitenkaan opettaj at eivät tunteneet olevansa
kompetentteja opettamaan toisista kulttuureista tul evia lapsia. Ikä tai opetuskokemus ei vaikuttanut
kompetenssikokemukseen. Osa-aikainen erityisopetus nähtiin tärkeänä opetukse n muotona
maahanmuuttajalapsilla. Opettajat olivat kriittisiä oman opettajakoulutuksensa suhteen. He olivat sitä
mieltä, että opettajakoulutus ei ollut antanut väli neitä työskennellä eri kulttuuritaustaisten lasten kanssa.
Sen sijaan heidän mielestään erit yisopettajakoulutus oli valmentanut heitä enemmän k uin heidän
pohjakoulutuksensa työskentelemään eri kulttuureist a tulevien lasten kanssa.
Tämä tutkimus osoitti, että opettajat tarvitsevat l isää tietoa monikulttuurisesta kasvatuksesta ja
maahanmuuttajien opettamisesta. Nämä asiat tulisi huomioida jo opet tajakoulutuksessa. Lisäksi tarvitaan
tietoa erityispedagogiikasta sekä käytännön taidois ta opetettaessa monikulttuurista luokkaa.
Asiasanat – Keywords
Monikulttuurinen kasvatus, kulttuurienvälinen kompe tenssi, maahanmuuttaja, opettaja
Säilytyspaikka – Depository
Jyväskylän yliopisto/Tourula, Kasvatustieteiden lai tos/Erityispedagogiikka
Muita tietoja – Additional information

CONTENTS
1 INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………………………… 6
2 MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION …………………………………………………………… 8
2.1 Definitions of Terms ……………………………………………………………………………… 8
2.2 Insights to Multicultural Education in Finland ………………………………………… 13
2.3 Cultural Diversity and Facing Difference……………………………………………….. 14
3 COMPETENCE IN MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION ………………………….. 18
3.1 Pedagogical Competence ……………………………………………………………………… 20
3.1.1 Culturally Responsive Teaching ……………………………………………………… 22
3.1.2 Working with the Children’s Family ……………………………………………….. 24
3.2 Intercultural Competence……………………………………………………………………… 25
3.3 Communication Competence………………………………………………………………… 27
3.4 Need for Special Education…………………………………………………………………… 28
4 METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORKS ………………………………………………… 31
4.1 Research Questions ……………………………………………………………………………… 31
4.2 The Sample…………………………………………………………………………………………. 32
4.3 Data Collection……………………………………………………………………………………. 36
4.4 Data Analysis ……………………………………………………………………………………… 37
4.5 Reliability and Validity of the Study ……………………………………………………… 38
5 RESULTS ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 43
5.1 Teacher’s Competence…………………………………………………………………………. 43
5.2 Demographic Variables’ Connection to the Competence of Teachers ………… 45
5.3 Experience in Teaching Immigrant Children Affecting Te achers’ Views on
Multicultural Education …………………………………………………………………………….. 48
5.4 The Form of Education for Immigrant Children………………………………………. 49
5.5 Immigrant Children’s Need for Special Education…………………………………… 51
5.6 The Significance of Teacher Education ………………………………………………….. 52
6 DISCUSSION ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 54
6.1 Teachers’ Competence…………………………………………………………………………. 54
6.2 Teachers’ Views on Multicultural Education ………………………………………….. 58
6.3 Immigrant Children in the Need for Special Education?…………………………… 6 0
6.4 Meaning of Teacher Education to the Feeling of Compete nce…………………… 61

7 CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………………………………… 63
7.1 Reviewing the Research Method …………………………………………………………… 66
7.2 Ideas for Future Research……………………………………………………………………… 67
REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………………………… 69
APPENDICES ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 75
Appendix 1: A covering letter for the teachers ………………………………………. 76
Appendix 2: The questionnaire for the teachers in Finnish ……………………… 77
Appendix 3: The questionnaire for the teachers in English ……………………… 83
Appendix 4: The significance of gender to the teachers’ co mpetence……….. 89
Appendix 5: The significance of education to the teachers’ competence…… 89
Appendix 6: The significance of experience in teaching imm igrant children to
the teachers’ opinions of immigrant children’s need for sp ecial education… 90
Appendix 7: The significance of experience in teaching imm igrant children to
the teachers’ opinion of the benefit of their education…………………………….. 90

1 INTRODUCTION
Demographic diversity in the society has increased during the last years; there are
more people immigrating to Finland than before. It is a challenge for the education
system and teachers because more often teachers are facing the challenges of
multiculturalism. According to the Finnish Immigrati on Service the amount of
immigrants in Finland has grown since 1990 when the re were 26 300 foreign citizens
living in Finland. By the year 2007 the number of fo reigners in our country was
132 600 (Finnish Immigration Service 2008). This nota ble growth of the amount of
immigrants raises a question whether our schools an d teachers are ready for this
change; are teachers competent enough to teach chil dren from different cultural
backgrounds.
In today’s Finland multiculturalism is an interesti ng issue because the Finnish
population is quite homogeneous. Teachers’ attitudes towards and perceptions of
multicultural education have been studied before (f or example Miettinen & Pitkänen
1999; Vassilchenko & Trasberg 2000), but teachers’ c ompetence is still quite a new
area of study in Finland. Intercultural competence i tself has been studied, (for
instance Lustig & Koester 1996; Byram, Nichols & Ste vens 2001; Mushi 2004), but
the fact how teachers themselves see their competen ce, is quite an unknown area.
According to Matinheikki-Kokko (1997, 17–18), people working with immigrants
have hoped for more knowledge about culture and att itudes, and help for everyday

7
work and practices. Also Jokikokko (2005, 78) found out that Finnish teachers want
more knowledge in the areas of multicultural and pedagogic al skills.
Special education has a significant role in the edu cation of immigrants. According to
Obiakor (2007, 154) special education is necessary f or immigrants when Gay (2002,
613) claims that there is a chance of misplacing chi ldren in special education because
of the lack of knowledge of their culture. However, Jokikokko (2005, 78) points out
that teachers believe they need more knowledge of s pecial education to be able to
recognise the causes of delays. In addition to speci al education, teacher education
affects teacher’s competence. Garcia & Lopez (2005, 434) argue that the most
important thing is to educate teachers to confront critical issues that are associated
with migration. There seems to be a need for emphasi sing multicultural issues in
teacher education.
The purpose of this study is to find out how teache rs in basic education see their
competence to teach children from different cultura l backgrounds. The aspects of
special education are taken into account when discu ssing the education of
immigrants as well as the benefit which the teacher s have gained from their
education. This is a quantitative study and the data were collected with a
questionnaire during the spring of 2004 and the spr ing of 2007. The respondents
worked as class teachers or subject teachers in Fin nish primary schools and they
were studying in a further education programme, whic h lasts one year, to become
special education teachers.
In the following chapters I will concentrate on mul ticultural education and especially
on competence in multicultural education. The method ological frameworks will be
presented and it will be followed by the results, discussio n and conclusion.

8
2 MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION
2.1 Definitions of Terms
In this chapter the basic and important terms of th is study will be defined. First there
will be discussion about multicultural education an d intercultural education and their
different aspects. The terms child, pupil, student and immigrant are present
throughout this study and that is why their meaning s are defined. Also the concept of
culture will be discussed.
Multicultural and Intercultural Education
Multicultural education is quite complex to define since there is no universally
accepted definition for it. Multicultural education can be broadly defined as
education, which is usually formal, and in which two or more cultures are involved.
(Ekstrand 1994, 3960.) Multicultural education involv es the educational policies and
practices which are linked to school's goals in ord er to meet the separate educational
needs of various groups of pupils. It is important t o consider the cultures and
traditions of these groups. It requires that minorit ies learn about majorities and other
minorities and majorities learn about minorities. L earning here means learning about
culture and traditions. (Eide 1998, 60–61; Talib 2006 , 141.) Flourishing cultural
diversity and social equality is thus a goal for multicultur alism (Talib 2006, 141).

9
Gollnick & Chinn (2002, 5) define multicultural educ ation as a strategy in which
pupils’ cultural backgrounds are used in order to d evelop effective school
environments and classroom instruction. In a formal school setting it should support
diversity, equality, social justice, and democracy. Al so extending the concept of
culture is supported. (Gollnick & Chinn 2002, 5.) Educa tion is not only a way for
immigrants to make sense of the local culture but i t also offers skills and insights to
individuals to survive in the changing world (Chen & Starosta 2005, 225). There is
need for multicultural education since multicultura l policies should support the
existence of different kinds of groups, not just to lerate them (Sihvola 2004, 235).
Mushi (2004, 183) understands multicultural educatio n as “learner activities and
experiences that are organised in ways which facili tate effective learning for every
learner to the best of her/his potential”. This is a wide definition and with it we can
think every learning situation to be multicultural. In the concept of multicultural
education Nieto (2002, 186–187) concentrates on the social aspect of education. She
emphasises critical pedagogy as a ground for multic ultural education. According to
her, multicultural education is a process rejecting discrimination of any kind in
schools and society.
The terminology concerning multicultural education is not uniform. The terms
“intercultural education”, “interethnic education”, “transcultural education”,
multiethnic education”, and “cross-cultural educatio n” are also used. However, the
terms “multicultural education” and “intercultural education” are much more
common than the other ones. (Ekstrand 1994, 3960.) The difference between
“multicultural education” and “intercultural educat ion” is not quite clear even though
there are some differences pointed out in literatur e. Intercultural education stresses
more the interaction process with mutual contacts b etween people representing
different groups (Lahdenperä 2006, 68; Eide 1998, 60– 61; Talib 2006, 141). People
will learn to interact constructively with each oth er and thus they will have an
influence on each other. Intercultural education em phasises the fact that also the
majority should educate its own people in multicult uralism. (Eide 1998, 60–61; Talib
2006, 141.) Intercultural education is thus more dema nding than multicultural
education because in order to succeed; respect, mut ual tolerance and cooperation
must be developed. Multicultural education does not go so far (Eide 1998, 60–61).
According to Talib (2006, 141) intercultural educati on is more frequently used in the

10
European context while multicultural education is more of ten used in North America.
Banks (2005, 143), on the contrary, claims that mult icultural education is more
broadly conceptualised than intercultural education addressing, for example, societal
inequities and racism.
In this study I will use the term multicultural edu cation since it seems to be the most
common term in literature. I have used both European and American literature but I
decided to use only one term in order to have clarity in the stu dy.
Child, Pupil, Student
The terms used in the literature differ a little de pending, for example, on the origin of
the literature. In this study the term child means a person in primary school, which
means they are between 7 years and 16 years old. The respondents were teaching
children between these ages. Also the word pupil is used meaning the individuals of
the same ages, between 7 years and 16 years being in primary school. Both of these
terms are used because using only one of them is no t always functional. The term
student refers to people studying at secondary schools and at the uni versity.
Immigrant
In this study an immigrant is defined as a person w ho is born outside of Finland and
has moved to Finland and whose mother tongue is som ething else but Finnish,
Swedish or Sami language. The definition of an immig rant includes refugees,
applicants for asylum and other foreign citizens. Ac cording to the Finnish
Immigration Service, an immigrant is a person moving from one country to another
because of different reasons. According to the Finni sh National Board of Education
the term immigrant includes refugees, migrants, remi grants and other foreigners.
Also people born in Finland are considered to have an immigrant background if
one’s parents are born elsewhere.
Culture and Education
In order to understand the meaning of culture in ed ucation it is important to realise
what culture actually is. The definitions of cultur e can be well associated with the
context of education and taken into account in educ ational practices. There are many
definitions of culture in this chapter and their pu rpose is to increase the awareness of

11
the meaning of culture and its possible effects on education and more concisely on a
classroom.
One wide definition of culture is that culture is s omething that is common to every
member of a certain group. It is a system of self-ev ident truths and it separates
different groups from each other. It is perceived wh en it clashes with another system.
(Tiittula 1997, 33.) Erickson (2004, 31) defines cultu re to be personal, familial,
institutional, communal, societal, and global and cult ure is within us and all around
us. However, he adds that even the experts have not b een able to agree what culture
really is. Thus there is no overarching definition f or culture. (Erickson 2004, 34.)
Intangible, symbolic, and ideational aspects of cul ture are often emphasised by the
social scientists. (Banks 1999, 54.)
Culture can be seen as a set of fundamental ideas, e xperiences and practices of a
group, which transmits them through learning. Culture may refer to norms, attitudes,
and beliefs, which can be used to solve human probl ems. In addition, we can say that
culture is a system of expressive practices and mut ual meanings connected to our
behaviours. (Chen & Starosta 2005, 25–26; Lustig & Ko ester 1996, 32.) The
previous definition is strongly connected to educat ion because in a long-term
thinking children are the ones who are to solve pro blems in the future. There are
certain attitudes, norms and values which exist in s chools and which are transmitted
through learning. Even though critical thinking is emphasised in schools the culture
affects the learning processes.
Culture can also be defined as a learned programme of mind. It separates certain
groups of people from each other and it defines the behaviour, values and way of
thinking of people. (Talib 1999, 4.) Earlier Collier & Thomas (1988, 102) define
culture a historically transmitted system of symbol s, meanings, and norms. Forgas
(1988, 188) suggests that culture and cognition are inseparable and culture exist in
the minds of individuals, being individual interpre tations and perceptions which are
shared by many individuals. Kim & Ruben (1988, 305) e mphasise that the
foundation of culture is a social group where peopl e share collective life patterns.
People’s actions and experiences make the existing culture (Miettinen 2001, 6).
Ekstrand (1994, 3964) offers another point about cul ture. In addition to emphasising

12
what unites the members of the group, he also points out the fact that there is
something distinguishing them from other groups. Wha t is typical for the culture
does not necessarily mean it is frequent. Something infrequent can be typical for the
culture if it does not exist in any other culture. ( Ekstrand 1994, 3964.) Mushi (2004,
182) separates four levels of culture. On the fourth level we can see behaviours and
skills. The third level includes knowledge, beliefs a nd values. The second level is not
so directly observable by including intellectual cr eativity for coping with level one.
The first level consists of physical, historical, geo graphical, social, political and
emotional conditions. (Mushi 2004, 182.) This definiti on is quite wide and gathers
together many aspects of life.
Every person has learnt a cultural image through so cialisation and it is part of one’s
identity. Important factors in this cultural image a re the familiar environment, mother
tongue and the cultural standards defined by one’s own culture. These ideas are the
foundations for multicultural education and multicu ltural learning. To be able to
understand and evaluate oneself and others in a mul ticultural environment demands
the ability to move to the area between familiar, an d unknown and different.
Multicultural learning is essentially based on the intensification of one’s own cultural
image. (Kaikkonen 1999, 17–18, 26.) Also Chen & Starost a (2005, 227) point out
that multicultural education should function in ord er to help pupils discover their
own original culture, too. Banks (1999, 2–3) and Verm a (2005, 55) continue with the
idea of multicultural education helping individuals to achieve better self-
understanding. A clarified sense of self is importan t since the structures of self have
an impact on the interpretations of reality (Talib 2006, 149). Self-understanding
relates to identity and teachers have a big impact on children’s identity development;
this is quite a big challenge for teachers. How to h elp an individual from a different
culture, which might be unfamiliar to a teacher, to m aintain his or her own culture?
And how to help one adapt to Finnish culture and at the same time have clarity in
one’s identity?
Internationalization demands the ability to observe one’s own culture with the eyes
of a stranger. What might an immigrant find differen t, weird, wrong or wonderful?
When observing our own behaviour and background fro m the other cultural
perspectives we can get a better view of our own cu lture and behaviour. (Banks 1999,

13
1–2; Pollari 1999, 153–154.) Multicultural education includes maintaining one’s own
culture and respecting culturally diverse values by providing pupils with the skills,
knowledge, and attitudes, which are needed to function in the mainstream culture and
also in the other cultures. Thus it assists pupils t o work successfully together with
people from their own culture and with people from other cultures. (Chen & Starosta
2005, 227; Banks 1999, 2–3.)
It should be taken into account that in one culture there is variation between
individuals, not everyone is the same. This is signif icant for teachers to understand
because there might be a possibility that they defi ne a child through culture more
than they should. However, Erickson (2004, 33) sugge st that everyone is cultural and
everyone is multicultural since in every person and in every group there is cultural
diversity. We often interpret cultural difference as an indi vidual difference. (Erickson
2004, 32–33.) Therefore, both aspects are worth consi dering in education. Being able
to understand that culture makes a difference in le arning is essential in multicultural
education.
2.2 Insights to Multicultural Education in Finland
There has been a change in Finnish society during t he last decade, which also has
had an effect on the education system. At the end of the 1980s there were only about
17 000 foreign citizens living in Finland (Matinhei kki-Kokko 1997, 10). In the 1980s
Finland was already considered to be quite an advan ced country concerning
multicultural issues. Even though this term was not used, working with refugees
aimed at equality and also maintaining one’s own cultur al identity and mother tongue.
The employment situation of the immigrants is one o f the biggest challenges in
Finland as well as their education. Also psychosocial adapt ation and the development
of good ethnical relationships are seen as challeng es. These areas need work since
immigration policy is aiming at immigrants’ integra tion to society. (Matinheikki-
Kokko 1999, 31–32.) Also Patrikainen (1999, 13) points out that the policy is to
integrate immigrant children to the Finnish school culture and at the same time to
give them a possibility to maintain their own cultu ral identity, not to assimilate them
to the mainstream culture. According to Talib (2006, 143) during the last decade
there has been progress in the field of multicultur al education in Finland. Especially

14
in the Helsinki region multiculturalism really exis t in everyday life since teachers
have worked with multiethnic children for a long ti me. (Talib 2006, 143.) In addition
to Helsinki, also other regions surrounding big citi es face the challenges of
multicultural education because the amount of immigrant pu pils can be quite big.
Although there have always been diverse children in the classes, teachers’
intercultural competence was not really discussed u ntil the end of the 1980s when
new groups of immigrants arrived in Finland (Jokiko kko 2005, 70). There were
26 300 foreign citizens in Finland in 1990. By the ye ar 2007 the number of
foreigners was 132 600. (Finnish Immigration Service 2008.) Therefore the amount
of immigrants has grown notably since the beginning of the 1990’s. The Finnish
National Board of Education tells us that in 2006 a bout 3 % of all pupils were
immigrant ones. However, in the big cities the amount of immigrant pupils can be
much higher, even 60 % in certain schools. This means there is a risk that in schools
exist intolerance and racism.
2.3 Cultural Diversity and Facing Difference
Different cultures and situations are present in da ily life in its every aspect, also in a
teachers’ everyday work. To be able to take differen ces into consideration is
demanding for the teachers and also for the whole e ducation system. Diversity and
multicultural education usually focus on the same t hing (Nieto 2002, 183). Accepting
every child as a valuable individual is a foundatio n for multicultural education and a
significant goal for teachers (Jokikokko 2005, 73; Koppinen 1999, 70). However,
there can be a danger involved in too much individu alisation. It might lead to
underestimating and forgetting or even denying cult ural differences. It is also
possible that a teacher does not want to acknowledg e cultural differences if one
thinks everyone should be treated in the same way. (Gay 2000, 21; Jokikokko 2005,
73; Miettinen & Pitkänen 1999, 20–21.) On the other h and, some teachers may
emphasise cultural differences too much, which perha ps means that the teachers do
not think about some characteristics as individual characteristics but as cultural ones,
instead (Miettinen & Pitkänen 1999, 20–21). Even tho ugh there is a thought about
every child being an individual, in the countries wh ere population is quite
homogenous, multicultural education often means educ ating the citizens of the

15
“home country” towards multiculturalism even though multicultural education as a
concept means that people from different cultures c onverge. (Kaikkonen 1999, 17–
18, 26.)
Equality is one of the Finnish school system’s sign ificant goals. During the 1980s the
universalistic approach was considered to be the ri ght one in the school policy. This
meant that equality was seen as similarity between children, which also meant that,
for instance, immigrants and ethnical minorities wer e made to assimilate into the
society so that they would adopt the Finnish habits and lifestyle. This idea of
assimilation can be called singularity. Everything d ifferent is being rejected. A
pluralistic approach on the other hand, aims at equa l opportunities and accepting
cultural diversity. (Miettinen & Pitkänen 1999, 6.) Th ere is sometimes an unclear
limit between assimilation and integration. This mig ht also be due to the different
aspect people have of the matter. Some assimilation is needed to be able to function
in society but accepting cultural diversity is important.
Multicultural education demands activity from the t eachers. It is important to realise
one’s own cultural background and attitudes and ref lect them critically when facing
differences at work. (Byram et al. 2001, 7; Fennes & H apgood 1997, 62; Sue & Sue
1990, 166; Talib 1999, 171; Jokikokko 2005, 75; Lerkka nen 1999, 165; Honkala
1999, 45.) Talib (2006, 143) underlines that in addit ion to being conscious of
differences, teachers should learn to accept them. Te achers, as any other human
beings, may have unconscious prejudices. Also pupils should be given guidance how
to analyse critically one’s own culture. When both t he teachers and the pupils are
aware of their own cultural backgrounds, there is a place for real communication and
interaction without trying to change people’s values but to become conscious of them.
(Byram et al. 2001, 7; Talib 1999, 171–172.) When facin g a new situation and
developing multicultural learning most people prefe r to continue in their old cultural
ways without being ready to face the different and unfamiliar. Managing effectively
new intercultural circumstances demands understandi ng, openness and orientation
which go beyond one’s cultural perspective. Becoming intercultural and being able
to work efficiently in an intercultural environment demands work. (Fennes &
Hapgood 1997, 37; Kim & Ruben 1988, 300.)

16
Teachers and pupils from different cultures may hav e different expectations about
competent behaviour in the classroom: structures in the classroom, the best ways to
learn, regulations and also the importation of educa tion itself (Lustig & Koester 1996,
286). If the pupils have learnt to respect the diffe rences in beliefs, values, and
worldviews, they can more effectively promote multic ultural society beyond the
classroom (Chen & Starosta 2005, 226). This is the go al for multicultural education
because it should go further than just the school environme nt.
Teachers’ Attitudes towards Multicultural Education Issu es
Teachers’ attitudes have an impact on the pupils an d their school work. Teachers do
not think how their work affects children with an i mmigrant background. They rather
emphasise the practical difficulties in their work and how they may affect the
learning of Finnish children. The reason for this is that teachers do not have training
or guidance to face multicultural situations, and th ey are facing their own culture
shock when facing immigrants. (Talib 2006, 143.) Even if teachers see diversity as a
positive thing, which enriches the school, children’s different cultural backgrounds
are often seen as a problem.
Miettinen & Pitkänen studied teachers’ attitudes to wards multicultural education and
based their research on a national survey conducted by Pitkänen and Kouki in 1999.
The sample was selected from the OAJ’s (Trade Union of Education in Finland)
member register. A total of 789 Finnish speaking te achers and 124 Swedish speaking
teachers returned the questionnaire. The respondents ’ age ranged between 20 and 63
years. One third of the respondents thought that the fact of having immigrant
children in the classroom will increase the toleran ce of cultural diversity. However,
at the same time a remarkable majority of the teach ers believed that having a
multicultural class also causes different kind of p roblems, for instance, prejudices
and racism. Bullying occurred also quite often and w as mainly directed against
immigrant children. Despite these problems, the teach ers were hopeful and thought
that with time the situation in the classrooms woul d become more peaceful and in the
end lead to the growth of tolerance and difference. (Miettinen & Pitkänen 1999, 19–
20.)

17
Many of the teachers who took part in the survey co nducted by Miettinen & Pitkänen
(1999) defined immigrant children in the same way a s Finnish children, as
individuals based on their own values and norms. Th is can be seen, for instance, in
their attitudes towards children’s work at school. T eachers emphasised adaptation,
motivation, positive attitudes towards school, and be ing hard-working, which all are
important values of the Finnish school system. Howev er, negative characteristics,
which were, for example, laziness, rudeness, impassivit y and dishonesty, were also
linked to immigrant children, especially to children from Russia and Somalia. These
stereotypes were noticed to make many teachers take up a certain attitude towards
immigrant children. Both positive and negative chara cteristics were often linked to
the nationality. In addition, it was noticed to be co mmon to regard immigrants from
different countries as one group. (Miettinen & Pitkänen 19 99, 20–21.)
Teachers’ and teacher students’ readiness and willi ngness to teach a multicultural
class were studied by Vassilchenko & Trasberg (2000 ) in Estonia. It was found that
they saw a need for a more competent approach to pr oviding education for children
from different cultural backgrounds. Half of the stu dents thought that the current
school system in Estonia was oriented towards one c ulture only, and that they would
want more courses about multicultural education in their teacher training. However,
84 % of the students answered that multicultural ed ucation courses should be
optional, not obligatory. 63 % of the students thoug ht that multicultural education
issues should be integrated into all courses while the others believed that a separate
subject would be more useful. These students wanted more knowledge especially
about effective intercultural communication in a mu lticultural classroom and about
teaching strategies, which would allow flexibility i n their reaction to different
cultural relations in the classroom. Also cooperatio n with the parents whose children
speak a language other than Estonian was seen as an important activity.
(Vassilchenko & Trasberg 2000, 73–75.) Even though c ultural diversity might be
accepted and understood it seems that teachers do n ot feel comfortable about it and
are unsure about their own abilities to face a mult icultural class. In the following
chapter the areas of competence will be more closely disc ussed.

18
3 COMPETENCE IN MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION
In this chapter the different areas of competence w ill be discussed. Before
concentrating on the concept of competence, insight s of multicultural teacher
education will be presented.
When discussing multicultural education and teacher s’ perspectives, the role of
teacher education becomes an issue. As society chang es so do the requirements of
teachers. Teachers face needs from the pupils, their parents and society. Thus also
the requirements of teacher education face a new ch allenge in order to be able to
meet the needs of the school system.
Teachers are expected to adapt themselves to social change and for this they need
skills. It is difficult to plan a teacher training c urriculum which would meet these
needs. (Tuomi 2004, 295.) Developing teachers’ multicu ltural know-how is mostly
based on teacher education and updating education f or teachers. Short courses are
sometimes even seen to be disadvantageous because t hey can confirm the prejudices
against other cultures and stereotyped thinking of teacher students. (Talib, Löfström
& Meri 2004, 148.) Leeman & Ledoux (2005, 588) found o ut in their study that
teachers need to improve their knowledge of the the oretical background for
multicultural education. There should be a framework allowing a differentiated and
dynamic understanding of cultural identity in a spe cific social context. There seemed
to be a lack of cultural views as a process, in whic h cultural orientation and

19
individual experiences would be connected with the influence of family and ethnic
groups. (Leeman & Ledoux 2005, 588.)
Multicultural teacher education should give teacher s varied views and professional
abilities about multicultural learning and teaching , which would help these teachers
work successfully (Koppinen 1999, 149). Talib (2006, 1 42) simply says that
multicultural teacher education should concentrate on training culturally competent
teachers. One mission of teacher education is to hel p students to find out what they
have to work for when working in a multicultural en vironment (Matinheikki-Kokko
1999, 41). Also Valentín (2006, 196) emphasises the ro le of the teacher education
programme as one preparing students to be competent when facing the challenges of
diverse classroom settings. He sees that through the teacher education programme
one has a possibility to develop one’s understandin g of diversity. Garcia & Lopez
(2005, 434) argue that the most important thing is t o educate teachers to confront
critical issues being associated with migration. Thi s is significant if the teaching
practice is to address cultural diversity in the mo st theoretical, ethical, desirable, and
practical way. (Garcia & Lopez (2005, 434.) Müller (2 001, 58) sees a problem in
multicultural teacher training since according to h im it seems to be concentrating
more on teaching methods and techniques while the c onditions causing
discrimination are not taken into consideration.
Koppinen (1999, 149–150) describes that multicultura l teacher education should
include the following areas: Firstly, personal growt h and development, which would
include understanding and supporting learning, secon dly, language and
communication studies, which should be wider than in normal teacher education and
include cultural aspects, thirdly, cultural knowledge and –research, fourthly, studies
of the subjects which must be taught and fifthly pe dagogical studies which would
include versatile practice in a multicultural learn ing environment. In addition
Koppinen (1999, 150) suggests that students in multi cultural teacher education
programme should be creative individuals, who have g ood language skills and who
are from different cultural backgrounds.

20
3.1 Pedagogical Competence
Nowadays schools are becoming more and more multicu ltural. In the Finnish school
system there is not any special educational or prof essional competence required from
a teacher when teaching immigrants. However, accordi ng to Matinheikki-Kokko
(1997, 17–18) people working with immigrants, for exa mple teachers, have hoped
for knowledge of culture and attitudes. They also wi sh for help and guidance for
everyday work and practices. If the education can be connected with the environment
and the employee gets feedback from one’s work, int ercultural awareness grows and
is more easily taken into account in practice. (Matinheikki -Kokko 1997, 17–18.)
Schools are expected to create a safe and effective learning environment for children
where learning academic skills and social skills ar e emphasised. Schools are facing a
challenge to create pedagogical environments which take notice of numerous
individual backgrounds. (Gay 2000, 21; Husu 2006, 85.) The daily routines in
schools and also the curriculum give an idea of how prepared the schools are to
change their practices in order to work with childr en from different cultures. Schools
show what kind of behaviour and values are expected from the immigrant children
and if they are expected to learn the traditions th at are followed in Finnish schools
and the language used. These factors have an impact on the cultural values of Finnish
schools and immigrant children’s success at school. (Matin heikki-Kokko 1999, 30.)
Matinheikki-Kokko (1999, 40) separates three dimensi ons of teachers’ competence:
Firstly, there is the teacher’s ability to recognise one’s own cultural values, secondly,
being able to evaluate teaching from the viewpoint of an individual coming from
another culture, and thirdly, being able to choose su itable teaching methods for
pupils so that the cultural and social environment are taken into account. All of these
abilities are required when teaching, not just when teaching immigrants.
(Matinheikki-Kokko 1999, 40.) But with immigrant chil dren these abilities could be
emphasised.
Mushi (2004, 184), on the other hand, emphasises more the practical ways of
handling the classroom. The skills emphasise teacher s’ abilities to select materials
and to develop pedagogical approaches that give eve ry child a chance to learn and to

21
be heard and understood. It is important that the te acher treats the child as an
individual and shows interest in her or his cultura l background and what it can offer
to the classroom. (Mushi 2004, 183–184.) The teacher’s positive relationship with
his or her pupils and creating a positive classroom atmosphere can be seen as aspects
of pedagogical competence. According to McNeal’s (20 05, 415) research a positive
relationship and trust between the teacher and the children provide a good ground for
the infusion of multicultural education and childre n’s willingness to participate in the
classroom. The teacher should have an ability to inf luence the classroom atmosphere
so that every child can learn to the best of her or his abilities (Mushi 2004, 183–184;
Perez & Judson 2007, 20; Richards, Brown & Forde 2007, 64; Valen tín 2006, 196).
The role of the teacher of immigrants is interesting since te aching is expected to meet
their needs. Certain standard solutions are often u sed in immigrants’ other areas of
lives but the school is expected to work for differ entiating teaching. The teacher
should be able to understand immigrants’ cultural b asis and at the same time to know
how to guide their children to the Finnish school s ystem and culture. Teachers are
expected to work for immigrants’ integration and to share m ulticultural values for the
Finnish society. (Matinheikki-Kokko 1999, 40.) Multicu ltural education demands
that the whole schools become culturally competent educational systems, which
means there is a need for support from the school a dministrators. (Brown 2007, 61.)
Fennes & Hapgood (1997, 38) and Talib et al. (2004, 83) realise the educational
problems where society has an impact on teachers’ w ork. It is impossible for
education to make up for the shortcomings of societ ies and political structures.
Fennes & Hapgood (1997, 38–39) also see it as a prob lem and a possible ground for
disappointment and frustration if the limitations of educa tion are not understood.
Fear and uncertainty affect the feeling of competen ce. The processes connected with
one’s own personal development, changing teaching si tuations and wide changes in
society and school increase the feeling of uncertai nty. (Niemi 1993, 33.) According
to Talib (1999, 170) teachers may experience fear an d uncertainty when teaching
children from different cultural backgrounds. Recogn ising one’s own strengths and
the content of work would help teachers to notice w hen the child or the whole family
need help from other professionals. Having self-resp ect helps the teacher to find
further help for the child or his or her family wit hout having feelings of not being

22
good enough as a teacher. (Agge 1999, 83.) In the clas sroom teachers will plan and
implement their teaching within their levels of cul tural competence and self-identity
development. However, this level is not stable becaus e people are in different stages
in their development. Teachers can develop their com petence and identity and thus
become multiculturally more competent in their professi on. (Mushi 2004, 186.)
Even though there are many scholars suggesting that teachers need more awareness
of pedagogical competence and they do not know how to handle a multicultural
group, it is not proposed what pedagogical competence means in practice in teachers’
work. Ideas of accepting cultural diversity are pres ented but there is a lack of
information how teachers see their competence and w hat they believe to be part of it.
The special areas of competence which teachers need are not defined and that is a
challenge for the future research: What are the ped agogical skills teachers need when
teaching a multicultural class.
3.1.1 Culturally Responsive Teaching
The concept of culturally responsive teaching is in cluded here because it is strongly
related to multicultural education. It takes into co nsideration cultural diversity in the
classroom and uses cultural differences in the scho ol work so that the pupils in the
class will benefit from them.
Gay (2000, 29) defines culturally responsive teachin g as making learning relevant
and effective for ethically diverse pupils by using the cultural knowledge, previous
experiences, and performance styles. Culturally respo nsive teaching is
multidimensional because it takes into account the curriculum content, learning
context, pupil-teacher relationships, classroom clima te, instructional techniques, and
performance assessments and thus also enables pupil s to be more successful learners.
(Gay 2000, 30–31.) Gay is one of the scholars who are oriented with culturally
responsive teaching. Her ideas are supported by rese arch but there is a place for
criticism too. Her ideas are often based on the sepa ration of races, differences
between black and white people. This is an important aspect of multicultural
education and especially in the United States the r acial issue is emphasised. However,
it should be kept in mind that multicultural educat ion goes beyond the race. When

23
emphasising the race too much it is possible that i t eclipses other aspects of
multicultural education. Still, culturally responsiv e teaching is an essential aspect of
multicultural education.
Montgomery (2001, 4) suggests that culturally respon sive classrooms acknowledge
the presence of culturally diverse children and the ir need to relate to each other and
the subject matter and the tasks they are asked to perform. Thus classroom
atmosphere is one factor in culturally responsive t eaching. According to Gay (2002,
621) in the classrooms where the atmosphere is cari ng, teachers are diligent and
creative in order to create a classroom environment where every child can learn and
achieve the best of their ability. This includes rem oving the threats of stereotypes
from the climate of the classroom. Classroom atmosph ere should thus support
learning and living in an environment where ethnic prejudices do not exist. (Gay
2002, 621–622.) The negative attitudes of teachers ar e obstacles to culturally
responsive teaching as well as confusing disability with diversity (Gay 2002, 614).
According to Richards et al. (2007, 64) culturally responsi ve pedagogy includes three
dimensions: institutional, personal and instructiona l. The institutional dimension
means reflecting the administration and its values and policies. The personal
dimension refers to the emotional and cognitive pro cesses, for example, reflection
about attitudes, which teachers have to engage thems elves in order to become
culturally responsive. In addition to self-reflecti on exploration is important. This
includes exploring one’s personal history and exper iences. Also pupils’ and their
families’ history and current experiences should be explored. In addition to
understanding of self and others, knowledge brings a ppreciation for difference. The
instructional dimension means forming the basis of instruction which includes
materials, strategies and activities. There is a chan ce that materials and strategies do
not meet with pupils’ needs. There might appear unde rachieving or perhaps dropping
the school completely. Culturally responsive pedagog y uses cultural differences in
instruction and works in order to benefit from them . When teaching reflects the
practices and values of only one group, there are no opportunities to learn. (Richards
et al. 2007, 64–68.) Culturally responsive teaching is thus an idea which reflects to
teaching where different cultures are taken into ac count. It is an important aspect of

24
multicultural teaching but it should be kept in min d that there are also other factors
affecting teaching, not just culture.
3.1.2 Working with the Children’s Family
Integrating the culture of children into the curric ulum and developing a supportive
environment for learning is a challenge for a teach er. If a teacher is not able to do
this, differences between home and school cultures m ay cause dissonance. Cultural
factors as well as intellectual and physical factor s affect learning. Failing to
understand this causes difficulties when helping ch ildren to learn. (Gollnick & Chinn
2002, 5.) Sobel & Kugler (2007, 63) see engaging immig rant parents as a challenge
for teachers but at the same time they see it as a necessity. According to Jokikokko
(2005, 78) the ability to interact with children’s p arents is seen as one area of
professional competence. In her research this was se en as an important issue
especially when there is no common language or when parents’ perspectives and
values differ from those of the school and teachers . Richards et al. (2007, 65)
emphasise that teachers’ values have an impact on t heir relationships with children
and their families. Teachers do not always understan d the fact that their values might
reflect prejudices towards certain groups. If teache rs are able to let go of the biases,
there is a chance for an atmosphere of acceptance a nd trust, both for children and
their families. This may lead to children’s success in schoolwork. (Richards et al.
2007, 65.) Even though cooperation with the family is seen as important, it is
difficult to approach an immigrant family. It is eas ier if there is a concrete issue to
discuss. Discussing different matters is important e ven though the encountering
might be hard and emotional. Discussions and working with the family demand time
and there must be room for honesty and openness in those discussions. (Kaisaari
1999, 80–81; Agge 1999, 86.)
Different expectations affect cooperation with the family. People from different
cultures may be used to very different school cultu res where for example teaching
methods are very different, and this may cause misun derstandings between teachers,
children and their families. (Agge 1999, 83; Patrikai nen 1999, 15.) Patrikainen (1999,
15) writes that with an immigrant child the coopera tion between the school and
parents must be intensive, if possible the school co uld be supporting the whole

25
family in the adaptation process. Also Gay (2002, 621 ) and Montgomery (2001, 8)
suggest that working with the whole family is impor tant and part of the idea of
culturally responsive teaching. Bazron, Osher & Fleis chman (2005, 84) propose that
teachers should work together with families and be sensitive because immigrant
children go through a change between school and family cul ture. Montgomery (2001,
8) proposes that families should be informed about their child’s progress and
encourages the families to participate in school activitie s.
3.2 Intercultural Competence
There are many ways to determine what intercultural competence is. Talib (2005, 43)
says that a teacher’s multicultural professionalism includes increased self
understanding, empathy, a critical attitude towards w ork and realising different ways
of living. Collier & Thomas (1988, 108) think that in tercultural competence can be
defined as the “demonstrated ability to negotiate m utual meanings, rules, and
positive outcomes”. Competent people are able to mut ually agree and follow rules
for appropriate conduct. They can experience positiv e outcomes which include
confirmation of the identity. (Collier & Thomas 1988 , 108.) According to Jokikokko
(2005, 74), an essential part of intercultural compet ence is the ability to perceive
differences. Talib (2006, 140) continues that teach ers’ intercultural competence has
been considered as one of the most significant fact ors in preventing the
marginalisation of pupils.
Lustig & Koester (1996, 117) agree that there are th ree components which
intercultural competence depends on: knowledge, mot ivation and actions. Byram et
al. (2001, 5–6), on the other hand, separate three comp onents that belong to
intercultural competence: knowledge, skills and atti tudes. Very similar to the theory
of Byram et al. (2001) are Mushi’s (2004, 184) percep tions about intercultural
competences, she also emphasises knowledge, skills an d dispositions as a basis for
intercultural competence. Intercultural attitudes a nd dispositions mean openness and
curiosity. One should be able and ready to reconside r beliefs about other cultures and
about one’s own culture. This includes accepting th e fact that one’s own values and
beliefs are not the only possible ones and that the re are different world-views.
(Byram et al. 2001, 5–6; Mushi 2004, 184.)

26
Intercultural knowledge does not mean the knowledge about some other specific
culture but it means knowledge about how social gro ups and social identities
function and how they interact. It means the realisa tion of the fact that individuals
belonging to different cultures have different expe riences and expectations. (Byram
et al. 2001, 5–6; Mushi 2004, 184.) According to Byram et al. (2001, 5–6) even
though the teachers might not have had the possibil ity to experience the cultures their
pupils might represent, they can still have skills t o work with them. There should be
understanding about how difficulties and misunderst andings arise and how they
could be solved. Essential skills are those of compa rison, interpreting and relating
because then one can see the possibilities of misun derstandings. The skills of
discovery and interaction are needed because one ne eds to acquire knowledge of a
new culture and attach it to the old one. (Byram et al. 2001, 5–6 .)
Jokikokko (2005) studied newly graduated Finnish te achers’ conceptions about
diversity and intercultural competence. In her findi ngs she divides the conceptions of
intercultural competence into three different categ ories: intercultural competence as
an ethical orientation, intercultural competence as an efficacy orientation, and
intercultural competence as a pedagogical orientati on. The first, ethical orientation
emphasises being aware of one’s own values, prejudic es and attitudes. This also
means the correct way of thinking and acting in int ercultural situations. Ethical
orientation was also described by informants as a s pecific interpersonal characteristic,
which is essential for people facing difference. Eff iciency orientation means that one
is able to cope with different tasks in different s ituations even under stress. However,
teachers said that admitting the fact that there is a limit to one’s own efficiency is an
important skill. (Jokikokko 2005, 69–77.)
It has been pointed out before that teachers’ inter cultural competence includes
reflective thinking about oneself, one’s work and s urrounding society. In addition,
Talib (2006, 150) points out that teachers should un derstand that knowledge is
socially constructed. According to McLaren (1998, 174 ) it means that in social
interaction situations people’s minds construct the world symbolically. Culture,
context, customs, social class and history have an ef fect on that world. From the
teachers’ point of views this could mean that teach ers should think how socially

27
constructed knowledge provides a better understandi ng of the pupils’ world and how
it is constructed (McLaren 1998, 186).
Intercultural competence could be shortly defined a s ability to interact successfully
with people from different cultural backgrounds and take different cultures and
aspects connected to culture into consideration in differ ent situations.
3.3 Communication Competence
Intercultural communication competence is an essent ial part of the competence a
teacher needs at work. Communication can be verbal or nonverbal. Bennet (1998, 20)
believes that our habits are determined by our cult ure and thus in cross-cultural
situations there are differences in communication s tyles. Also the adaptation to other
cultures affects communication being the crux of in tercultural communication
(Bennet 1998, 24). This can be related to teachers’ w ork since when facing children
from different cultural backgrounds teachers’ might themselves have a culture shock
(Talib 2006, 143). Thus also teachers need to adapt t o the new situations and new
communication styles. According to Barnlund (1998, 4 5) children learn from the
surrounding what is appropriate behaviour and these messages are received mostly
unconsciously, which means that one’s own cultural a ssumptions are difficult to
recognise. Children in the classroom might thus have very different manners and
communication styles. This means that teachers shou ld have knowledge of
communication.
According to Lustig & Koester (1996, 55) social judg ement is a component that
belongs to the communication competence. It means how well a person interacts with
others. This always depends on the context and the i nterpersonal relationship
between people. The results of competent interperson al communication process are
regarded as appropriate. This means that they meet t he expectations and the demands
of the situation. The results of competent interpers onal communication are also the
forms of behaviour which are effective in achieving the wanted outcomes. (Lustig &
Koester 1996, 55.) However, how are the wanted outcome s determined? With
teachers’ work the wanted outcomes may be very diff erent. Is the goal to
communicate so that a child learns the communicatio n styles of the host culture or is

28
the goal for a teacher to adapt to the communicatio n style of a child from a different
culture? In a multicultural classroom everyone in t he class needs to adapt to different
communication styles even though the cultures may v ary. Therefore Lustig &
Koester (1996, 286) emphasise one’s own cultural pat terns and their impact on the
ability to communicate competently.
Communication is a dialogical process between pupil s and teacher. Dialogical
relationship was seen as an important part of inter cultural competence in Jokikokko’s
(2005) study. Dialogue seemed to be creating a safe environment where everyone
feels appreciated. It also made it possible for the teacher and the pupils to be
reflective upon their practice and to be critical. ( Jokikokko 2005, 76.)
Communication thus had an effect on the classroom atmospher e which was discussed
earlier.
3.4 Need for Special Education
Foreign children come to Finland from different cir cumstances and their cultural and
educational backgrounds are diverse. That is the rea son why the goals of their
education may be different. It should be considered that teaching would be suitable
for the child in that particular situation. (Rekola 1994, 5.) Special education relates to
the teaching of immigrants. Many immigrant children are considered to be in need of
special education. The basic idea of special educati on is that special educators are
willing to address the complexities of educating ch ildren as they are, not as they are
expected to be (Meyer, Bevan-Brown, Harry & Sapon-She vin 2004, 351). Obiakor
(2007, 154) writes that special education is necessa ry to achieve the best potential of
learners with exceptionalities. Children with an imm igrant background deserve
teachers, both general education teachers and specia l education teachers, who
understand the relationship between languages, cultu re, and learning (Obiakor 2007,
154). Also Miettinen & Pitkänen (1999, 6) agree that teaching a multicultural group
needs differentiated support in order to help immig rant children integrate into
Finnish society and to maintain their own cultural background at the same time.
However, Gay (2002, 613) says that there is a possibi lity that children are placed in
special education because so little is known of the ir culture. She continues that also
incorrect diagnoses cause problems with diverse chi ldren (Gay 2002, 616). Tyler,

29
Yzquierdo, Lopez-Reyna & Saunders Flippin (2004, 23) propose that diverse special
education teachers being aware of cultural differen ces would be likely to recognise
inappropriate referrals and placements of pupils wi th culturally and linguistically
diverse backgrounds. Green (2007, 12) and Perez & Ju dson (2007, 21) suggest that
special educators should find and use culturally res ponsive teaching methods in order
to meet the needs of diverse pupils.
Teachers in Jokikokko’s study constantly expressed that there is a need for more
knowledge in the areas of multicultural, pedagogical skills. Especially a knowledge
of special education was mentioned. Special educatio n was seen as important
because teachers wanted help in recognising the cau ses of delays, whether they are
due to cultural factors, language or learning disabi lities, for example. (Jokikokko
2005, 78.) Delays can be related to, for example, learn ing different subjects at school,
language development or emotional development. Accor ding to Jokikokko (2005, 78)
also the issue of differentiation concerned teacher s: how to individualise teaching in
a way that is meaningful and educative? Differentia tion was seen as necessary in
multicultural classrooms. Teachers felt, however, that they need more knowledge,
both scientific and professional, in order to provid e a better learning environment for
their pupils. (Jokikokko 2005, 78.)
Special education for immigrant children is not mea nt to be a way to separate them
from the education meant for every child. Special ed ucation is a way for an
immigrant child to have access to general education class with other pupils.
(Kortteinen 1999, 47.) Garcia & Lopez (2005, 434) emph asise that assimilating
immigrant children with special education classes i s insufficient and also probably an
inappropriate way of handling the situations with t hem. However, Miettinen &
Pitkänen (1999, 7) claim that special arrangements f or immigrant children usually
work, but there is a need for financial resources. Th us new pupils are often placed in
the same classes with Finnish pupils (Miettinen & P itkänen 1999, 7). Obiakor (2007,
154) suggests that special education is an importan t phenomenon which works when
special and general education teachers work togethe r challenging their own
perspectives when facing children from different cultura l backgrounds.

30
Jairrels, Brazil & Petrosko (1995) have discovered t hat special education teachers
felt significantly more competent to teach a multic ultural class than general
education teachers did. Teachers were asked questio ns about their own skills
concerning teaching multicultural pupils and they answer ed using a Likert-type scale.
The results were based on one study and it cannot b e used to prove that special
education teachers are more competent with multicul tural pupils than general
education teachers are. However, the study suggests t hat there may be differences.
(Jairrels 1999, 237.) Special education seems to be a n important part of immigrant
children’s school work and thus also part of the le arning process. Arranging
immigrant children’s education is a process where m any factors are to be considered.
There are different options available for their edu cation and different options are also
used. Finding the right one for each child is a chal lenge for teachers and the
education system.

31
4 METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORKS
The purpose of this study is to obtain information on teachers’ perspectives on
multicultural education and how they see their comp etence in teaching children from
different cultural backgrounds. In addition, I wanted to find out how teachers feel
about the need of special education for multicultur al pupils and how they perceive
the significance of their education when teaching c hildren from different cultural
backgrounds.
4.1 Research Questions
1. How do teachers see their competence in teaching children from a different
cultural background?
1.1 What are the connections between the demographic variables and the
teacher’s competence?
2. How do teachers see the need of special education for their multicultural
pupils?
2.1 What are the connections between the demographic variables and the
teachers’ opinions about their multicultural pupils ’ needs for special
education?
3. How do teachers see the significance of their edu cation in working with
immigrant children?

32
By using the above research questions, my goal was t o find out about teachers’
competence to teach children from different cultura l backgrounds. Based on
literature on the subject manner, there were some qu estions that I became interested
in. With the question of competence I wanted to find out how teachers perceive their
abilities with immigrant children in a classroom be cause, for example, Matinheikki-
Kokko (1997, 17–18) has pointed out that teachers wa nt more guidance for everyday
work and practices. In addition to how teachers perc eive their competence, I wanted
to find out how the demographic variables affect these areas of competence.
Special education is an important area of immigrant children’s education. Meyer et al.
(2004, 351) and Obiakor (2007, 154) agree that specia l education is necessary for
immigrant children. Jokikokko (2005, 78) says that te achers found special education
significant in teaching immigrants. That is why I wa nted to find out how the teachers
in this study see the need for special education fo r their multicultural pupils. Also the
significance of demographic variables to their perc eption about children’s need for
special education was included. Teaching immigrant c hildren is becoming an
everyday routine for many teachers, and that is why I wanted to find out what they
think about their education and how it has helped t hem to be ready to face culturally
diverse classrooms.
4.2 The Sample
The research subjects of this study were qualified class teachers and subject teachers
who were studying to become special education teach ers. All of those taking part this
study have a Master’s Degree in Education and work experience as teachers. The
qualification for a special education teacher is ac hieved during one academic year. In
this study two samples were collected on two separa te occasions. The first sample
was collected during the spring of 2004. This sample consisted of 74 teachers. The
group was chosen systematically. Typical of systemat ic samples is that the
respondents are selected by taking their availabili ty into consideration, using one’s
discretion or taking the researcher’s interest into account (Metsämuuronen 2003, 31).
All of these 74 teachers were students at the Unive rsity of Jyväskylä or at the
Continuing Education Centre in Jyväskylä. The chosen participants were from
multiple locations in Finland. All 74 teachers answe red the questionnaire during one

33
class. These teachers were selected because of their availability as well as the
contacts of the thesis supervisor.
The second sample was collected in April and May of 2007. The sample consisted of
222 teachers who were asked to fill in the question naire. This time 69 teachers
answered the questionnaire – only 31 % of the total . The degree programme leading
to special education qualification is offered at th ree universities: University of
Jyväskylä, University of Joensuu and University of H elsinki. The second sample
respondents were chosen from all three universities as well as from Jyväskylä’s
Continuing Education Centre. As with the previous sa mple, the participants are
originally from multiple locations in the country. Systematically chosen samples
were justifiable because I can assume that these te achers present well the group of
teachers studying to become special education teach ers. The number of the
respondents can be seen in the table 1.
TABLE 1. The number of the respondents
Location Frequency in
the sample 2004 Frequency in the
sample 2007 Frequency in
Total Percentage
Jyväskylä 74 52 126 88,1
Helsinki 8 8 5,6
Joensuu 9 9 6,3
Total 74 69 143 100,0
Demographic Variables of the Study
Gender
The respondents who took part in the research were mainly female. Only 7 % of the
respondents were male and thus 93 % were female. Eve n though there were only 10
males taking part in the research, the results were statistically analysed between men
and women. According to Kumpulainen & Saari (2005, 19 ) a total of 72 % of
primary school teachers in Finland were female in 2 005 and 89 % of the teachers
teaching immigrants were female.

34
TABLE 2. Gender of the respondents
Gender Frequency Percentage
Female 133 93,0
Male 10 7,0
Total 143 100,0
Age
The respondents who took part in the research were between 27 and 61 years old.
About 64 % of the respondents were under the age of 40. A total of 36 % of teachers
in primary schools in Finland were under 40 years o ld in 2005 (Kumpulainen &
Saari 2005, 19). The fact that teachers in this study are little younger than teachers in
general can be explained by the fact that they are still i n continuing education.
TABLE 3. The age distribution of the respondents (n=143)
Age, in years 27-30 31-35 36-40 41-45 46-50 51- Loss
Frequency 23 34 34 30 16 5 1
Percentage 16,1 23,8 23,8 21,0 11,2 3,5 0,7
Teacher education
The respondents were mainly class teachers but also subject teachers took part in the
research. The total of 79 % of the respondents was c lass teachers and 14 % were
subject teachers. There were 8 respondents who annou nced their education to be
something else. It is not known what these answers include. Two of the respondents
did not answer this question at all.
TABLE 4. Teachers’ background education
Frequency Percentage
Class teachers 113 79,0
Subject teachers 20 14,0
Other 8 5,6
Missing 2 1,4
Total 143 100,0

35
Experience in teaching
The teachers must have had teaching experience in o rder to continue their studies in
this qualifying special education programme. The te aching experience of the
respondents varied from 1 year to 36 years. Almost h alf of the teachers had 1 to 7
years of teaching experience. Therefore these teache rs are quite in the beginning of
their teaching career.
TABLE 5. Teaching experience of the respondents (n=143)
Teaching
experience 1-4
years 5-7
years 8-12
years 13-19
years 20-
years Loss
Frequency 35 34 27 25 17 5
Percentage 24,5 23,8 18,9 17,5 11,9 3,5
Experience in teaching immigrant children
Almost half of the respondents answered that they d id not have any experience in
teaching immigrant children. About 30 % had some exp erience and almost 20 % had
quite a lot of experience in teaching immigrant children.
TABLE 6. Respondents’ experience in teaching immigrant chi ldren (n=143)
Not at all 1-2 years 3-5 years Over 5 years Loss
Frequency 71 43 12 15 2
Percentage 49,7 30,1 8,4 10,5 1,4
Living abroad
Most of the respondents did not have any experience in living abroad. About 18 %
had some experience and 6 % had quite a lot of experience in liv ing abroad.
TABLE 7. Respondents’ experience in living abroad (n=143)
Living
abroad Not at all Less than
1 year 1-2 years 4 years Over 5
years Loss
Frequency 104 15 11 2 7 4
Percentage 72,7 10,5 7,7 1,4 4,9 2,8

36
4.3 Data Collection
The data were gathered in the spring of 2004 and th e spring of 2007 by a
questionnaire. In 2004 the teachers studying to beco me special education teachers
filled in the questionnaire during their special ed ucation lecture. The lecturers agreed
to give the questionnaires to be filled in during c lass and thus all 74 teachers who
were in the classroom answered the questionnaire. I n April of 2007 the questionnaire
was available on the Internet for the 222 teachers selected for the study. Teachers
studying at the University of Jyväskylä, in Jyväskyl ä’s Continuing Education Centre
and at the University of Helsinki were informed abo ut the questionnaire by e-mail.
For teachers studying in Joensuu the request to fil l in the questionnaire was sent via
an electronic platform they use. In this case the in formation did not go through by e-
mail and that might have had an effect on the low p ercentage of responses. The
teachers were also sent one reminder e-mail about the resea rch.
The research questionnaire was developed in the spr ing of 2004. It was based on the
questionnaire developed by Matinheikki-Kokko in 199 8. Matinheikki-Kokko used
the questionnaire at the University of Jyväskylä in order to find out class teacher
students’ views on multicultural education. In addit ion to Matinheikki-Kokko’s
questions additional questions were developed to su pport the research questions. The
instrument used in the questionnaire was a 6 step L ikert scale. (1=very unsure,
2=unsure, 3=quite unsure, 4=quite sure, 5=sure, 6=very sure). The Likert scale is
often used as an instrument when studying attitudes and motivation, when the
respondent evaluates his or her own subjective opin ion or feeling about a question or
an argument (Metsämuuronen 2003, 39). In addition, the teachers were asked for
basic background information, such as gender, age, edu cation, teaching experience,
experience in teaching children from a different cu ltural background, and their
possible experience in living abroad. In the end the re were also five open questions
and space provided for the teachers to write more a bout their experiences with
children from different cultural backgrounds. Howeve r, these open questions were
not analysed in this study to keep the size of the data suitable. Using mixed methods
was not meaningful because the open questions did n ot provide important additional
information to this study.

37
4.4 Data Analysis
The data were coded and analysed by using SPSS for Windows 14.0 –programme.
After coding Explorative Factor Analysis was used i n order to find the factors that
are charged to the same factor. Based on the Explora tive Factor Analysis and the
researcher’s own assessment six sum variables were created. The reliabilities of the
sum variables were calculated with Cronbach’s alpha . In addition, one question
describing strictly pedagogical competence was take n into the research as a
separately analysed variable. Frequency distribution s (f), percentage distributions
(%), means and standard deviations were calculated f rom the data. The connections
between demographic variables and competence were a nalysed with Independent-
Samples T-test (the connections of the gender and b ackground education to the new
variables). Oneway ANOVA and Tukey’s Post Hoc Test were conducted to analyse
the connections between demographic variables (age, teaching experience,
experience in teaching immigrant children and livin g abroad experience) and
competence. Tukey’s honest significant difference te st was used because according
to Metsämuuronen (2003, 650) it is a good conservative test which does not show the
differences too easily but is not as critical as Sh effe’s Post Hoc Test, which can be
even too critical. The study included variables that were not meaningful to be used to
create sum variables. Some questions outside the su m variables were analysed with
Independent-Samples T-test. It was used to find out the difference in teachers’
opinions about teaching immigrant children between teachers with experience and
teachers without experience in teaching immigrant childre n.
The teachers’ opinions about the form of education for immigrant children were
analysed with Chi-Square Test. Also the meaning of q ualifying education of special
education to the feeling of teachers’ competence co mpared to their background
education was analysed with Chi-Square Test. Indepen dent-Samples T-test was used
to analyse whether the experience in teaching immig rant children had an impact on
teachers’ opinion about the usefulness of their bac kground education and the
qualifying education of special education. The teach ers’ opinions about immigrant
children’s need for special education were analysed with frequency distributions (f),
percentage distributions (%), means and standard dev iations. Independent-Sample T-
test was conducted to find out if the experience in teaching immigrant children

38
affects the opinions of these teachers concerning t he need of special education for
immigrant children. The research questions and the a nalysing methods can be seen in
the table 8.
TABLE 8. Research questions and their analysing methods
Research question Analysing method
1. How do teachers see their competence in teaching
pupils from a different cultural background? Percentage distributions, means,
standard deviations
1.1. What are the effects of the demographic
variables regarding teacher’s competence? Independent-Samples T-test,
Oneway ANOVA, Tukey’s Post
Hoc Test
2. How do teachers see the need of special education
for their multicultural pupils? Percentage distributions, means,
standard deviations
2.1. What are the effects of the demographic
variables regarding teachers’ opinions about their
multicultural pupils’ needs for special education? Independent-Samples T-test,
Chi-Square Test
3. How do teachers see the significance of their
education in working with immigrant children? Percentage distributions, means,
standard deviations,
Independent-Samples T-test,
Chi-Square Test
4.5 Reliability and Validity of the Study
The reliability of a study is usually described wit h reliability and validity. These can
be examined both with an instrument specific way an d a research specific way
(Soininen 1997, 54).
Measurement Reliability
Measurement reliability means that a study can be d one again and it yields the same
results each time used, which means that the result s are not random (Hirsjärvi,
Remes & Sajavaara 2004, 216; Metsämuuronen 2003, 42–4 3; Ruane 2005, 67;
Soininen 1997, 55). In this study Cronbach’s alpha is used to assess the internal

39
consistency of the instrument. The alpha rates of th e sum variables can be considered
to be fairly good. The sum variables include only tw o items but this is arguable,
because due to the Factor Analysis and the research er’s own interpretations and
conclusions, these items describe well the new varia bles. The values of Cronbach’s
alpha are sufficient. The values of Cronbach’s alpha of the sum variables can be seen
in the table 9.
TABLE 9. The sum variables created from the data and their reli ability by
Cronbach’s alpha
Sum variable Items The number
of items Cronbach’s
alpha
Competence to understand children’s
adaptation to the new culture 12, 13 2 .68
Communication competence 14, 16 2 .70
Competence of valuing and understanding
children’s cultural background 5, 17 2 .57
Competence of creating positive social
atmosphere in the classroom 21, 22 2 .73
Readiness to work abroad 29, 30 2 .89
Readiness to work with the children’s
whole family 25, 26 2 .73
Measurement Validity
Validity indicates whether the research has been su ccessful in measuring what was
supposed to be measured (Heikkilä 1999, 178; Hirsjär vi et al. 2004, 216; Ruane 2005,
34). Validity can be separated into internal validit y and external validity. External
validity means the possibility to generalize the me asurement. (Frey, Botan & Kreps
2000, 109; Metsämuuronen 2003, 43; Ruane 2005, 41.) In ternal validity can be
divided in many ways but here it will be reviewed by using con tent validity.
The questionnaire was not used before as such. It wa s made on the base of
Matinheikki-Kokko’s questionnaire used at the Unive rsity of Jyväskylä in 1998.
Extra questions were added due to the researcher’s own consideration. The first

40
sample was collected in the spring of 2004 and the second sample in the spring of
2007. During the time between the samples and also a fter the spring 2007 there were
other factors that the researcher became interested in and this might cause deficiency
in the instrument.
Some of the questions in the questionnaire were not of interest in the final research
and they were left out from the analyzing process. Some respo ndents wrote that some
of the questions were confusing, for example questio n number 33: “I think that
Finland belongs to Finns”. Some of the respondents w ere of the opinion that this can
be interpreted in both negative and positive ways. T his was one of the questions
which were left out from the study.
The content validity was aimed to be guaranteed by designing the questionnaire for
teachers in a way that the questions would be clear and understandable for them.
Instructions for answering the questionnaire were s imple. The questionnaire on the
Internet was designed in a way that it was easy to answer. The teachers were asked
about their own experiences and feelings in the cla ssroom. It was clear that many of
the teachers would not have had any experience of c ultural diversity in the classroom,
while on the other hand many others would have had quite a lot of experience. It was
important that also the opinions of those teachers without any experience would be
found out in the study. Some of them without any exp erience wrote at the end of the
questionnaire when answering the open questions tha t the lack of experience in
cultural diversity in the classroom made it difficu lt for them to answer the questions.
This is probably the reason why some respondents di d not answer all the questions.
Some respondents wrote that these issues with multi cultural education are too much
emphasised and difficult to answer. This might be se en in the answers as attitudes
towards multiculturalism and as unanswered question s. Many of the teachers also
wrote that these issues are important even though s ome questions were difficult to
answer. Thus it seemed to be a fact that they had re ally thought about the answers.
Both experience and inexperience seemed to have cau sed some difficulties in
answering the questions. For some teachers without e xperience it was difficult to
answer because they thought they did not know enoug h about the issues. Others did
not have any problems in answering even though they did not have any experience.
For some teachers with experience it was difficult to answer because they thought

41
these issues are more complex and cannot be simplif ied, others were satisfied with
the questions.
Validity of the Research
Reviewing the validity of a research means that the study is reviewed based on how
adequate and useful information is found and how it can be generalized (Soininen
1997, 54). The two types of validity are important wh en reviewing the validity of the
research: internal validity and external validity. I nternal validity means the accuracy
of the conclusions drawn from the research and exte rnal validity means the
generalisability of the findings from the research (Frey et al. 2000, 109; Moberg &
Tuunainen 1989, 58, 64.)
The results are dependent on the time when the teac hers answered the questionnaire.
The first sample was collected by giving teachers t he questionnaire in the class. Thus
they did not have a possibility to choose the time of answering. At some other time
their answers might have been different. In the seco nd sample teachers were given a
web address where they were asked to answer the que stionnaire on the Internet. Thus
they could choose the time of answering themselves. However, also this means that
at some other time the answers might have been diff erent. This causes limitations to
the external validity of the research because it ca nnot be concluded that all the
teachers in Finland studying to become special educ ation teachers would answer the
questionnaire in the same way. In the second sample the answering percent was low,
31,0. It can also be questioned if the teachers who a nswered the questionnaire have
stronger opinions about multicultural education iss ues than the teachers who did not
answer.
Teachers’ hometowns are not known but it can be ass umed that the teachers are from
multiple locations in Finland since the Universitie s of Jyväskylä, Joensuu and
Helsinki are the three universities organising educ ation for teachers to have the
qualification for special education teachers, and it is known that teachers from all
over Finland apply for this further education. It ca n also be assumed that the sample
consists of teachers from big and small towns with various experience of culturally
diverse children in the classroom. Thus this increas es the validity of the research.
However, even though the teachers in the second samp le were reminded to answer

42
the questionnaire, the response rate was quite low. Careful conclusions from the
research can be made when considering teachers’ com petence to teach children from
a different cultural background.

43
5 RESULTS
The results of the research will be presented in the order of t he research questions.
5.1 Teacher’s Competence
The competence of the teachers was evaluated with a scale 1 to 6 where 6
represented the most positive idea of one’s competence.
The teachers did not feel very confident about thei r pedagogical competence, they
reported to be “quite unsure” about it. The mean in pedagogical competence was the
lowest in the different areas of competence. Teache rs felt quite sure about
understanding children’s adaptation to Finnish cult ure. However, the teachers were
more aware of the factors affecting the adaptation than of being able to help pupils
with their adaptation process.
The teachers felt quite neutral about their ability to communicate with their pupils.
The dispersion in both questions was quite similar. The competence of valuing and
understanding the children’s cultural background wa s seen to be quite good. It was
interesting to notice that 15 % of the respondents answered that they are sure or very
sure about knowing their multicultural pupils’ cult ural background. However, 25 %
said that they are sure or very sure about their ab ility to understand the problems

44
occurring in teaching from the point of view of pup ils’ cultural experiences, values
and lifestyle.
The competence of creating a positive social atmosp here in the classroom was
evaluated to be good. Half of the teachers evaluated to be sure or very sure about
being able to create a positive atmosphere and also affect Finnish pupils’ attitudes
positively. Half of the teachers answered that they would be ready to work abroad as
teachers, but they were also ready to work in some o ther position than as a teacher.
Cooperation with children’s family was seen as an i mportant thing. However, only
68 % were ready to work with the whole family when yet 88 % said that cooperation
is important.
TABLE 10. Teachers’ competence
Competence N
Total
143 Unsure
% Average
% Sure
% Mean
Pedagogical
10. Knowledge of how to teach 139 29 62 6 3,04
Understanding adaptation
13.Helping pupils with adaptation
12. Awareness of the adaptation process 138
139 12
6 65
51 20
40 3,70
4,22
Communication
14. Ability to communicate with pupils
16. Ability to choose suitable teaching methods 135
136 18
15 62
67 15
13 3,52
3,44
Valuing cultural background
5. Knowing the pupils’ cultural background
17. Ability to understand cultural background 132
136 15
8 63
62 15
25 3,58
3,86
Creating positive social atmosphere
21. Ability to create positive atmosphere
22. Ability to affect Finnish pupils’ attitudes 135
138 1
3 46
43 48
51 4,52
4,51
Readiness to work abroad
29. Readiness to work abroad as a teacher
30. Readiness to work abroad in other position 140
141 16
20 32
34 50
45 4,20
4,00
Readiness to work with the family
25. Understanding the importance of cooperation
26. Willingness to work with the family 141
139 1
3 9
27 88
68 5,41
4,94

45
5.2 Demographic Variables’ Connection to the Competence of Teachers
Independent-Samples T-test and Oneway ANOVA were co nducted to find out if
there were differences in competence between different g roups of teachers.
Gender
The connection of the teachers’ gender to their com petence was analysed with
Independent-Samples T-test. The teachers’ competence was not dependent on their
gender. The only statistically significant differenc e was in readiness to work with the
children’s whole family. Men answered not to be as ready as women to work with
the whole family. The significance of gender to the teachers’ competence may be
found in the appendix 4.
Education
The background education of the teachers did not ma ke any difference on their
perception of their competence. Only in communicatio n competence the difference
was almost significant. However, it can be seen that the subject teachers’ means were
higher than the class teachers’ means in every sum variable except in the competence
of creating a positive social atmosphere in the cla ssroom. The significance of
education to the teachers’ competence can be seen in the appe ndix 5.
Experience in teaching immigrant children
Experience in teaching immigrant children and its c onnection with competence was
studied with Oneway ANOVA and Tukey’s Post Hoc Test . There were very
significant differences in pedagogical competence, i n competence to understand
children’s adaptation to Finnish culture, in communi cation competence and in the
competence of valuing and understanding the childre n’s cultural background. The
differences can be discovered in the table 11 and h ere they are analysed more
carefully.
In pedagogical competence there was a statistically very significant difference
between the teachers with no experience of teaching immigrant children and the
teachers with experience for over 5 years, p=.000. Als o, there was a statistically very
significant difference between the teachers with no experience and teachers with

46
experience for 1 to 2 years, p=.001. But there was no difference between teachers
without experience and the teachers with experience for 3 to 5 years. The teachers
having experience did not differ from other groups of teachers having different
amount of experience.
Competence to understand children’s adaptation to F innish culture separated the
respondents and the differences were statistically signi ficant. There was a statistically
very significant difference between the teachers wi th no experience of teaching
immigrant children and those with experience for ov er 5 years, p=.000. There was a
statistically significant difference between the te achers with no experience and those
with experience for 3 to 5 years, p=.009. There was no difference between the
teachers with no experience and those with experien ce for 1 to 2 years. Also in this
case the teachers having experience did not differ from the groups of teachers having
a different amount of experience.
Also differences in communication competence were s tatistically significant. There
was a significant difference between the teachers w ith no experience of teaching
immigrant children and the teachers with experience for 3 to 5 years, p=.005. There
was no difference between the teachers without experience and those with experience
of 1 to 2 years. Teachers with no experience and tea chers with experience for over 5
years showed almost a significant difference. Betwee n the groups of teachers having
experience there were no differences.
In the competence of valuing and understanding the children’s cultural background
the differences between the groups were statistical ly significant. There was almost a
significant difference between the teachers with no experience of teaching immigrant
children and those with experience for 3 to 5 years , p=.016. Also with teachers with
experience for over 5 years there was almost signif icant difference, p=.030. Between
the groups where all the teachers had experience of teaching immigrant children
there were no differences.

47
Age
The teachers were divided into 6 groups according t o their age: 27–30 years, 31–35
years, 36–40 years, 41–45 years, 46–50 years and 51 ye ars or more. There were no
differences between different age groups concerning teac hers’ competence.

Teaching experience
The teachers were divided into 5 groups according t o their teaching experience in
years: 1–4 years, 5–7 years, 8–12 years, 13–19 years a nd 20 years or more. There
occurred no differences between different groups of teachers with a different amount
of teaching experience.
Living abroad
Living abroad experience affected teachers’ feeling on their competence. There was
a significant difference in pedagogical competence, p=.007 and a very significant
difference in readiness to work abroad, p=.001. There were almost significant
differences in competence to understand children’s adaptation to Finnish culture and
in readiness to work with the children’s whole family.
Even though there occurred a significant difference in pedagogical competence and
almost a significant difference in competence to un derstand children’s adaptation to
the new culture, Tukey’s Post Hoc test did not prove between which groups the
differences existed. There was a very significant di fference in readiness to work
abroad between the teachers who had not lived abroa d and those who had lived
abroad over 5 years, p=.008. There was an almost signi ficant difference (p=.047)
with teachers with no experience and with teachers living abroad for 1 to 2 years.
Between teachers who had lived abroad there were no differences. Tukey’s Post Hoc
Test did not show the differences in readiness to work with t he whole family.

48
TABLE 11. Demographic variables connection with competenc e
Competence Experience in
teaching immigrant
children
F p Age
F p Teaching
experience
F p Living abroad
F p
Pedagogical 9,787 .000*** ,338 .856 1,395 .239 3,736 .007**
Understanding
adaptation 8,019 .000*** 1,035 .400 2,066 .089 3,414 .011*
Communication 6,079 .001*** ,531 .7 52 ,386 .818 1,631 .171
Valuing cultural
background 5,963 .001*** ,547 .740 ,672 .613 1,036 .392
Creating positive
atmosphere 2,485 .064 ,419 .835 ,558 . 693 1,698 .155
Readiness to work
abroad ,130 .942 1,126 .350 1,258 .29 0 4,677 .001***
Readiness to work with
the family ,527 .665 ,223 .952 ,427 . 789 2,689 .034*
* statistically almost significant, p ≤.05
** statistically significant, p ≤.01
*** statistically very significant, p ≤.001
5.3 Experience in Teaching Immigrant Children Affect ing Teachers’ Views on
Multicultural Education
In the study there were variables of which it was n ot meaningful to create sum
variables. Since there appeared to be significant di fferences between the teachers
with experience in teaching immigrant children and those without any experience,
some questions were analysed separately with Indepe ndent-Sample T-test. These
questions where a significant difference was found were analysed one at a time. The
questions which were included in the sum variables were not analysed here
separately.
The teachers with experience in teaching children f rom different cultural
backgrounds were more aware of the limitations whic h can occur between the
teacher and his or her pupils caused by cultural di fference than the teachers without
experience. The difference was very significant, p=.0 00. They also told that they
enjoy teaching multicultural class more, the differe nce was very significant, p=.001.

49
The teachers with experience in teaching immigrant children were more aware of
how their own values can affect pupils. The differen ce was significant, p=.002. It
also seemed that teachers with experience were sign ificantly more aware of our
Finnish school policy and its effects on multicultu ral pupils’ success at school and on
their adaptation, p=.003. They also felt being more a ble to use their knowledge of
children’s culture in the classroom, p=.006. The teac hers with experience understood
that the school success of their pupils from differ ent cultures can vary a lot, p=.003.
The teachers felt that they are more able to support the deve lopment of the identity of
their multicultural pupils by offering them value a nd civic education than teachers
without experience, p=.002. All of these differences were stat istically significant.
TABLE 12. Teachers’ views on multicultural education regarded to the experience in
teaching immigrant children
Mean not
having
experience s Mean
having
experience s t p
20. Noticing cultural
differences 3,91 ,868 4,48 ,933 -3,653 .000***
3. Being aware of values 4,96 ,869 5,36 ,638 -3,107 .002**
7. Awareness of the educational
policy’s affect 3,46 ,958 4,01 1,169 -3,075 .003**
9. Ability to use the knowledge
of pupils’ culture 3,78 ,910 4,28 1,110 -2,789 .006**
11. Awareness of culture
affecting school success 4,90 1,065 5,38 ,792 -3,011 .003**
18. Ability to support identity 3,63 1,021 4,12 ,80 2 -3,083 .002**
19. Enjoying multicultural class 3,54 1,177 4,22 1, 170 -3,284 .001***
* statistically almost significant, p ≤.05
** statistically significant, p ≤.01
*** statistically very significant, p ≤.001
5.4 The Form of Education for Immigrant Children
Special education was one area of interest in this study. Here are presented the
frequencies and percentages which show what teacher s believe to be the best form of
education for immigrant children.

50
TABLE 13. Teachers’ opinions about immigrant children’s for m of education
Education Frequency Percentage
General education class 33 23,1
Part time special education 82 57,3
Special class 6 4,2
Missing 22 15,4
Total 143 100,0
The experience in teaching immigrant children had e ffects on the competence of the
teachers. I wanted to look at this experience factor more closely. Experience in
teaching immigrant children and its effect on the o pinion about their form of
education was studied with Chi-Square test. The expe rience in teaching immigrant
children had an impact on the teachers’ opinions ab out the form of education they
believe is appropriate for immigrant children. The d ifference between the teachers
with experience and those without experience was st atistically very significant,
p=.000. The teachers with experience in teaching chil dren from different cultural
background were more convinced that immigrant child ren should be placed in a
general education class instead of a special education.
TABLE 14. Teachers’ opinions about the form of educa tion for immigrant children
depending on teachers’ experience in teaching immigrant c hildren
Immigrant pupils’
placement Experience
% Not experience
% Chi-
Square p-value
General education class 16,0 11,1 73,603 .000***
Part time special education 29,9 37,3
Special class 3,7 2,0
* statistically almost significant, p ≤.05
** statistically significant, p ≤.01
*** statistically very significant, p ≤.001

51
5.5 Immigrant Children’s Need for Special Education
In the second sample there were stricter questions added to the questionnaire
concerning teachers’ opinions about the need for sp ecial education with immigrant
children compared to native-born Finnish children. T he total of 30 % of the
respondents believed that immigrant children needed more special education in
reading and writing compared to native-born Finnish children. The teachers did not
see as much need for special education in mathemati cs when almost half of the
teachers were unsure about the issue. However, the te achers believed that immigrant
children needed more special education in mathemati cs than in foreign languages.
Over 60 % of the teachers answered to be unsure tha t immigrant children needed
more special education compared to native-born Finn ish pupils because of
behavioural problems and only 1 % answered to be sure about t he issue.
TABLE 15. The teachers’ perceptions of immigrant chi ldren’s need for special
education
An immigrant pupil needs more special
education compared to a native-born
Finnish pupil N
Total
69 Unsure
% Average
% Sure
% Mean
In reading and writing 66 17 48 30 3,86
In mathematics 67 45 36 16 2,94
In foreign languages 66 45 45 6 2,71
Because of behavioural problems 67 62 33 1 2,12
Earlier there was a difference in the competence be tween teachers with experience in
teaching immigrant children and teachers without an y experience. Because of this,
Independent-Sample T-test was conducted to find out whether the experience affects
the opinions of the need of special education for i mmigrant children. There were no
differences between the teachers with experience an d those without experience in
teaching immigrant children. However, all the means w ere higher with teachers
without experience than with those with experience. Teach ers’ opinions of immigrant
children’s need for special education compared to t he experience in teaching
immigrant children can be discovered in the appendix 6.

52
5.6 The Significance of Teacher Education
The teachers were asked how they believed their backgroun d education (class teacher,
subject teacher, other) had prepared them to work wi th children from different
cultural backgrounds. The teachers were critical of their education the mean being
2,04. The total of 69 % believed that their backgroun d education had not given them
tools to work with immigrant children. Only 5 % ans wered that their background
education had prepared them to face different cultures in th e classroom.
In the second sample (n=69) the teachers were asked how they felt their special
education courses had prepared them to face multicu ltural children in the classroom.
The teachers felt that special education had prepar ed them more than their
background education to face difference in the clas sroom. This time the total of 33 %
of the respondents said that special education had not given them tools to work with
children from different cultural backgrounds and th e total of 10 % responded that it
had prepared them to face difference.
TABLE 16. The significance of education to the readiness to fa ce difference
Education has prepared me to face
pupils from different cultures N
Total Unsure
% Average
% Sure
% Mean
Class teacher/subject teacher education 141/143 69 25 5 2,04
Special education 67/69 33 54 10 3,00
There appeared to be a very significant difference between readiness given by class
teacher education / subject teacher education and s pecial education. The difference
was studied with Chi-Square Test. The teachers felt that special education had
prepared them better than their background educatio n to face children from different
cultures. Chi-Square was 21,388 and p=.001.
Since there appeared to be a difference in gained b enefit between class teacher
education / subject teacher education and special e ducation, I wanted to find out
whether the experience in teaching immigrant childr en had an impact on this.
Independent-Samples T-test was conducted to analyse the difference. There were no
differences between the teachers with experience in teaching immigrant children and

53
those without any experience. The teachers with expe rience and those without
experience felt equally about the benefit they had gained from their education. The
significance of experience in teaching immigrant ch ildren to the teachers’ opinion of
the benefit of their education can be discovered in the appe ndix 7.

54
6 DISCUSSION
6.1 Teachers’ Competence
Pedagogical Competence
The teachers participating in the research were qui te unsure about their pedagogical
competence to teach children from different cultura l backgrounds. Also Matinheikki-
Kokko (1997, 17–18) has pointed out that people work ing with immigrants hope for
more knowledge about cultures and attitudes, and in addition to that, guidance for
everyday work and practices. The teachers who had ex perience in teaching
immigrant children felt more competent than the one s without experience. According
to Niemi (1993, 33) fear and uncertainty affect the feeling of competence. The
teachers without experience in teaching immigrant c hildren might feel that they are
uncertain about how to manage the class and childre n. According to Leeman &
Ledoux (2005, 588) teachers must improve their know ledge of the theoretical
background for multicultural education. This may be one step towards a stronger
feeling of competence.
Neither age nor teaching experience had an impact o n pedagogical competence. This
is remarkable because it could have been assumed th at teachers of different ages
have had their education in different times. If ther e had been a difference between
different ages it could have been asked whether the education had had some impact
on the feeling of pedagogical competence. It was sig nificant to notice that teaching

55
experience did not have any effect, either. Even thou gh teachers are facing different
pupils every day, having a lot of teaching experienc e does not seem to raise the
feeling of being able to teach children from differ ent cultural backgrounds. This
raises a question that do teachers get used to thei r work and is it difficult to face new
and different situations later.
Having experience in living abroad had a significan t impact on the feeling of
pedagogical competence. There were no previous stud ies dealing with the issue of
living abroad and its effects on competence. Living abroad did not mean that the
teachers had worked as teachers abroad. Thus it can be wondered what kind of useful
skills they found and achieved when living abroad. D id the experience give
perspective to diversity or did they gain a feeling of self-confidence and the feeling
that they can manage abroad and therefore also with immigrant children? Living
abroad experience might have affected teachers’ per spectives on living in a different
culture and what it is like to speak a different language and try to adapt to the culture.
Thus it is likely that the ability to understand th e differences grows. Therefore
teachers might be able to identify themselves with immigrant children if they have
had experience in living abroad. Maybe even anticipa ting some issues immigrant
children are facing is possible, and thus there migh t be a chance to discuss and
handle them before they affect the school work.
Competence to Understand Children’s Adaptation to Finnish Culture
The teachers in the research felt quite competent t o understand children’s adaptation
to Finnish culture. Also here there occurred differe nces between the teachers with
experience in teaching immigrant children and the o nes without this experience and,
likewise, between the teachers who had lived abroad and those without this
experience. According to Miettinen & Pitkänen (1999, 20) Finnish teachers
emphasise immigrant children’s adaptation, motivatio n, and positive attitudes
towards school. When teachers emphasise adaptation t o the Finnish school system it
can be asked if they take into account the adaptati on of immigrant children. If the
teachers are emphasising the adaptation of children , does it mean that they
understand the process adaptation demands? Choosing suitable practices in the
classroom demands that a teacher is aware of his or her pupil’s adaptation stage and
how it might affect learning. The fact that teachers feel they have competence to

56
understand children’s adaptation can be seen as a g ood start to develop teachers’
pedagogical competence.
Communication Competence
Communication competence was an area where teachers were not very unsure about
it but not certain about their abilities either. Acc ording to Barnlund (1998, 45)
children learn their behaviour from the surrounding . When immigrant children arrive
in Finland they already have behavioural patterns w hich are appropriate in their
home culture. This is a challenge for a teacher. Joki kokko (2005, 76) found out that
teachers believed that a dialogical relationship is important in intercultural
competence. However, it was not known that did teache rs believe that dialogical
relationship with verbal communication is the only way to communicate competently.
The mean in communication competence was the second lowest after pedagogical
competence. There might appear feeling of fear of th e possible misunderstandings
and how to handle difficult situations. However, tea chers are used to communicate
with different people, children and parents. Therefor e why do they feel incompetent
in this matter? Is it because of lack of language s kills or is the uncertainty in
communication related to culture? Is it actually la ck of knowledge of different
communication styles and their impact on school wor k? There is a possibility that
teacher is actually quite competent communicator bu t because of the lack of
knowledge of communication believes that he or she does not have enough
competence.
Competence of Valuing and Understanding the Children’s Cul tural
Background
The teachers in the study felt quite sure about the ir ability to value and understand
the children’s cultural background and there was a significant difference between
teachers with experience in teaching immigrant chil dren and teachers without any
experience. Lustig & Koester (1996, 117), Byram et al. (2001, 5–6) and Mushi (2004,
184) agree that knowledge of the fact that differen t cultures exist is one part of
intercultural competence. Teachers should thus unde rstand the differences due to the
cultural background and develop awareness of differ ent values (Byram et al. 2001,
5–7). It can be discussed if teachers feel competent to teach children, for example,

57
from different family backgrounds or children from different parts of Finland
because there are cultural differences between many groups inside Finland, too.
Children in rural and urban areas might have some d ifferences; the age of parents
might affect the family culture, or the education o f parents. Here only a few
examples of possible cultural differences in one cu lture were mentioned. Differences
inside Finland may not be as clearly in view as dif ferences between different cultures
and thus they are not as easy to notice.
Competence of Creating Positive Social Atmosphere in the Cl assroom
Creating a positive social atmosphere in the classr oom was seen as a goal which
teachers were confident to achieve. According to Gay (2002, 621), Mushi (2004, 184)
and Montgomery (2001, 6), the classroom climate shoul d support learning and
creating an environment where prejudices do not exi st and where every child can
learn to one’s best potential. Even though the teach ers did not feel sure about their
pedagogical competence, they felt they were able to create a classroom climate
where every child is valued. Thus they also felt tha t they were able to affect Finnish
pupils’ attitudes towards multiculturalism. Being ab le to do that is important because
a classroom without prejudices demands that Finnish pupils are willing to accept
different pupils and their backgrounds.
Readiness to Work Abroad
The teachers’ working abroad experiences were of in terest to the researcher. There
were no mentions of this issue in literature and th erefore nothing about how it might
affect teachers’ competence. It was found out that i f teachers had been living abroad
before, they were readier to work abroad than teache rs without living abroad
experience. This is quite a natural thing; when one has experiences in living abroad it
is easier to consider that possibility also later. O n the other hand if one has already
been abroad it can be assumed that he or she has had some intere st on the issue.
Readiness to Work with the Children’s whole Family
The teachers in the study were ready to work with t he children’s whole family. This
was the item where the teachers felt the most compe tent. Engaging immigrant
parents and cooperating with them is seen as a nece ssity (Jokikokko 2005, 78; Sobel
& Kugler 2007, 63; Vassilchenko & Trasberg 2000, 75). It was i nteresting to find out

58
that the women were readier to work with the family than men. It must be considered
here that the amount of men answering the questionn aire was low, only 7 %; and that
means 10 male teachers. Noteworthy was to observe th at teachers were certain about
the need for cooperation with the families but not as many was ready to actually put
the idea into practice. Since teachers were quite un sure about their communication
competence, did it have an effect on the issue of co operation with the families? If
teachers do not feel competent to communicate with children, there may be
uncertainty also about the ability to cooperate wit h parents since it demands
communication. Often the case is that immigrant chil dren’s parents do not have as
good language skills as their children. This might b e one issue to consider when
thinking about cooperation between teacher and pare nts and why there may be
difficulties in it.
6.2 Teachers’ Views on Multicultural Education
There were significant differences in teachers’ vie ws on multicultural education
depending on whether they had experience in teachin g immigrant children or not.
The teachers with experience in teaching immigrant children were more aware of the
limitations between them and pupils than the ones w ithout experience. It was
interesting to find out when considering the teache rs’ opinions of their competence.
The teachers with no experience in teaching immigra nt children did not see their
competence being as good as the ones with experienc e. In spite of that, teachers with
experience noticed that cultural differences caused limitations between them and the
children, even though it could have been assumed tha t teachers without experience
would have noticed that more clearly. On the other h and, maybe the teachers without
experience are not as aware of the cultural factors as the on es with experience are.
The teachers believed to be very aware of how their own values affect children. The
teachers were more aware of their own values affect ing pupils than of noticing the
limitations cultural differences can cause. Realisin g one’s own cultural background
and attitudes is important in multicultural educati on (Fennes & Hapgood 1997, 62;
Sue & Sue 1990, 166; Talib 1999, 171; Jokikokko 2005, 75). Being aware of the
values is the first thing in understanding that the y may have an impact on pupils.
However, Talib (2006, 143) claims that teachers do no t think how their work affects

59
children with an immigrant background. This is not quite t he same thing but I believe
that if teachers understand that their values can affect p upils they also understand that
their work in general has an effect on them. Teacher s’ values affect teaching even
though there are no multicultural pupils in the cla ssroom. Since teachers with
experience in teaching immigrants were more aware o f this it can be discussed that
why is it so. Do different cultures make the differences in val ues clearer?
The teachers with experience in teaching multicultu ral children had a significantly
better idea of how our education policy affects the school success and adaptation of
pupils from other cultures than the ones without ex perience. According to Johnson
(2003, 108, 115) multicultural policy matters even th ough there often seems to be a
gap between multicultural policy and practice. The f unction of multicultural policy is
to promote multicultural education, not to have a ne gative effect on it (Johnson 2003,
117). The fact that the teachers did not have a very good knowledge of the policy in
Finland raises a question that why teachers are not aware of it. Do they think that the
education policy is something that is far away from them and not really related to the
issues of multicultural education? Or is there a th ought that the most effective ways
of affecting learners are the practices in the clas sroom, not the education policy as
such?
The teachers were quite confident that they are abl e to benefit from the knowledge
they have of each child’s culture in a multicultura l classroom. Being able to use
children’s culture in teaching is part of culturall y responsive teaching. Including the
family to a greater extent in the school work is on e way of learning about the culture
and using it in teaching. Using culture as a positi ve material for classes helps also
other pupils to understand and accept differences. Positive material could mean, for
example, immigrant children’s knowledge of their own culture and country which
could be used in the classes of geography or history.
The respondents of this study were aware that the s chool success of children from
different cultures can vary. Teaching is based on u nderstanding the cultural matters
and every child’s individual qualities. According to Richa rds et al. (2007, 67) it is the
responsibility of teachers to make sure that every child has equal opportunities to
learn. Thus they should find teaching methods suitab le for all children. Teachers

60
were quite sure that they can offer value and civic education so that it supports the
development of identity also for a pupil from anoth er culture. However, the teachers
with experience in teaching immigrant children were significantly more convinced
about their ability, which is interesting because ev ery child is an individual and
teachers should be able to support children as individuals a nyhow.
The teachers were not very sure about enjoying teac hing a multicultural class.
Anyhow, the teachers who had experience in teaching a multicultural class were
surer about enjoying it than their colleagues witho ut experience. However, the
teachers believed that they could enjoy teaching mo re than they do now. This raises a
question: would these teachers enjoy their work mor e if they did not have a
multicultural class. Did the fact of having a multic ultural class have an effect on their
enjoyment of their work? It seems that they enjoy t eaching a multicultural class more
than what they believe their competence is.
6.3 Immigrant Children in the Need for Special Education?
Over half of the respondents answered that immigran t children should receive part
time special education. Many researchers share this idea. Meyer et al. (2004, 351),
Obiakor (2007, 154) and Pitkänen Miettinen (1999, 6) wrote that special education is
necessary for immigrant children. Over 20 % of the r espondents in this study
answered that the right place for immigrant childre n was a general education class.
These ideas go together with Gay’s (2002, 613) and G arcia’s & Lopez’s (2005, 434)
ideas that special education is not the answer as s uch. However, it must be noticed
that as much as 15 % of the respondents did not ans wer this question. It was unclear
why the percentage was this high. Did the teachers n ot have a clear opinion about
immigrant children’s placement in school or did not they perhaps want to give their
opinion?
The teachers were quite sure that immigrant childre n need more special education
compared to native-born Finnish children in reading and writing. This result is
natural because the language is often a clear diffe rence between children from
different cultural backgrounds. Teachers in Jokikokk o’s (2005, 78) study said that
they needed more knowledge of multicultural, pedago gical skills. However, the

61
teachers in this study were of the opinion that imm igrant children were in need of
special education even though they thought that qua lifying education of special
education did not give very much competence. Even th ough the teachers with
experience were more confident that immigrant child ren should be placed in a
general education class than the teachers without e xperience, all the respondents
agreed on children’s need of special education in r eading and writing, mathematics,
foreign languages and because of behavioural problems.
6.4 Meaning of Teacher Education to the Feeling of Competenc e
The teachers in this study were critical of the ski lls their education had given them to
manage with culturally diverse classes. Jokikokko (2 005, 78) described teachers
constantly expressing need for more knowledge and p edagogical skills. Even though
these issues are more and more emphasised, teachers still f eel their competence is not
sufficient. Education gives permission to teach but it does not mean that one is ready
for all the circumstances one faces. Can teachers’ competence ever be good enough?
There is always something to improve. If teacher wou ld think that he or she was a
really competent teacher and there is nothing to im prove, that would not be a very
good sign either because it would prevent developme nt happening. Education is
supposed to give tools for teachers to manage their work. It can also be asked that do
teachers have too high expectations to their studie s because it is not possible to teach
all the aspects of teachers’ work. Experience during the years is also a way to learn
and achieve competence. Competence is a subjective e xperience and people have
different ways of defining their own competence.
In this study there was a remarkable difference bet ween the background education
and the qualifying education of special education t o the feeling of competence. Even
though the teachers felt quite unsure about compete nce special education had given
them, they thought it had given them tools to face i mmigrant children better than
their background education. The same kind of results were in Jairrels’ et al. study
(1995) according to which special education teacher s felt significantly more
competent to teach a multicultural class than gener al education teachers (Jairrels
1999, 237).

62
There was no difference between the teachers with e xperience in teaching immigrant
children and the teachers without experience in thi s matter. The teachers felt equally
about the competence their education had given them . It could have been assumed
that the teachers with experience might have been a ble to get more from the
education because they had experiences to which the y could relate new information.
It can also be speculated if the difference between the background education and
special education was due to the fact that all teachers had e xperience in teaching after
their background education and before studying in t he special education programme,
or to the possibility that special education was actually m ore informative in this sense.
Working experience might have given the teachers ne w perspectives and ideas so
that they were able to benefit more from the education than before.

63
7 CONCLUSION
The main purpose of this research was to study teac hers’ perceptions of multicultural
education and their competence to teach children fr om different cultural backgrounds.
The aspect of special education was also involved i n the study by studying what
teachers believed to be the best place for immigran t children at school and how they
perceived the need of special education with childr en from different cultural
backgrounds. Also the advantage of their education w as viewed. It was studied how
teachers’ gender, age, teaching experience, experienc e in teaching immigrant
children and living abroad experiences affected the matte rs mentioned previously.
I was specifically interested in teachers’ own perc eptions and how they see their
competence themselves because teachers are quite a big part of immigrant children’s
lives. The process with this research has been rewar ding and challenging. During the
process there were a lot of questions in my mind an d my interest also changed
slightly. The aspect of special education started to interest me more as well as the
meaning of education to teachers’ competence.
Next the significance of the results and the resear ch method will be discussed. To
conclude some ideas for future research will be presented.
The growing amount of immigrants and immigrant chil dren in schools makes this
topic interesting and relevant. Teachers are facing multicultural children in their

64
classes more and more. Half of the teachers in this study responded that they had had
a child or children from a different culture in the ir class. Thus many of the general
class teachers face issues concerning diversity in their daily work. However, the
teachers conveyed that they were quite unsure about their pedagogical competence.
With other areas of competence they felt a little m ore competent. When developing
the education of teachers, teachers themselves are i mportant sources of ideas because
they know what their work demands and what kind of skills they lack. This study
gives information about teachers’ opinions about th eir competence and thus it shows
areas that need development in teacher education.
This study showed that the most important factor af fecting teacher’s competence was
experience in teaching immigrant children. Even thou gh the teachers with experience
in teaching a multicultural class felt more compete nt than the ones without
experience, they did not feel very competent either. Living abroad appeared to have a
significant effect on pedagogical competence. This i s interesting because living
abroad did not mean that they had been teaching the re. And the question is: why did
it have an effect on pedagogical competence, not for instance on the competence of
valuing and understanding children’s cultural backg round as could have been
assumed.
It can be discussed if the feeling of competence ha s an effect on teachers’ work. The
constant feeling of insufficiency might affect even other aspects of teachers’ work.
The growing amount of demands for teachers requires a lot from the education. The
teachers were critical about their education: most of the teachers believed they had
not gained tools to work with culturally diverse pu pils. An interesting thing was that
there were no differences between the teachers of d ifferent ages and those with
different amount of teaching experience concerning their satisfaction to their
education. That raises a question: is our teacher ed ucation still the same as before
when concerning multicultural education? Nowadays t here are courses dealing with
multicultural education in teacher education progra mmes. It could have been
assumed that younger teachers thus would have agree d that they gained more
information about their teacher education but this was not the case. There seems to
be a need for more multicultural education in teach er education programmes.
However, the education should be planned so that tea chers and students would

65
benefit from it and that they would be able to take their knowledge to the field and
use it in practice. On the other hand, does the infor mation which students absorb
increase their feeling of incompetence when knowing many different aspects of
multicultural education and possible difficulties i n it? When finding out about
different aspect concerning multicultural education is there a chance that it might
increase the actual competence but not the feeling of it?
Also educating more diverse teachers in teacher edu cation programmes might be
useful. Since the pupils are getting more and more d iverse maybe also diverse
teachers would be needed. Having more diversity in t eachers may give more aspects
of multicultural education in the classroom. This de mands both changes and
flexibility in teacher education programmes. Educati ng immigrants to be teachers
would give diversity to schools and different aspects for te aching.
Special education was seen as a very important thin g in teaching immigrant children.
It has been discussed if teaching immigrants is par t of special education because
being an immigrant pupil does not mean that one has some disability. The teachers
felt that qualifying special education programme ha d given them more tools to work
with immigrant children than their background educa tion had. In that sense it is
natural that the teachers believed that immigrant c hildren need special education
because the teachers felt that after studying speci al education they were readier to
face a multicultural class than before.
The meaning of teachers’ competence is not confined only to school setting. School
has a significant meaning to immigrant children’s l ives. Integrating to society and
being able to manage in Finland are important goals for immigrants. Teachers’
competence is one important part but to have compet ent teachers demands a lot from
the whole educational system and educational policy . The amount of immigrants in
classes is going to grow. This is something that sho uld be kept in mind when
planning teacher education programmes. How can the c ompetence of teachers be
developed? In order to have individuals who integra te into society we need
competent teachers as well as functional educationa l policy to support the common
goals of integration. Developing teacher education i s not enough because there are a
lot of teachers in the field who feel incompetent i n teaching immigrant children. Also

66
they need more knowledge of the subject matter. Dev eloping teacher’s pedagogical
skills needs support from the whole educational sys tem. Immigrant pupils are often
seen to cause problems. Would there be a high time f or a change in the attitudes and
the time to begin seeing them as an important resource for our society?
7.1 Reviewing the Research Method
The answers to the research questions were studied quantitatively by using a
questionnaire. The questionnaire made it possible to study the opinions of quite
considerable amount of teachers. The research method was mainly suitable for this
purpose. Studying perceptions and opinions is not ab solutely unambiguous. When
studying people it is possible that their motives, i ntentions, goals and attitudes affect
the results and make the research process sensitive but, at the same, time challenging
(Metsämuuronen 2003, 4).
There are many things affecting the competence of t eachers. Here only part of them
was studied. Teachers were asked how they themselves perceive their competence
and how they believe their education has helped the m in their work. One’s own
perceptions are not always the right ones. A teacher might feel incompetent in his or
her work but someone else would say he or she is ve ry competent. Evaluating one’s
own competence relates to one’s own aims; somebody is satisfied with oneself the
way he or she is, while somebody else has very high expectations to one’s own work
and competence. Evaluating one’s own ideas is always difficult because the matters
of questions are so personal and subjective. Immigra nt issues have been one
important topic of educational policy and teachers might have ideas how they should
answer the questions or what the good and appropriate way t o answer is.
The teachers in the first sample were asked to fill in the questionnaire at a certain
time in the classroom. This might have had an effect on the answers; some other time
and place the answers might have been different. Th e teachers in the second sample
answered on the Internet so they could choose the t ime of answering themselves. The
answering percentage in the second sample was only 31 which is low. Using an
Internet based questionnaire might be one reason fo r the low percentage because
often in the Internet based research answering perc entages are low. Answering is

67
easy to forget and people often get a lot of e-mail not having time to answer or not
bothering to answer maybe because they think that t he topic is not of their interest.
Also teachers without experience in teaching immigr ant children may have thought
that this area does not relate to them.
After finishing this research process I noticed the re are things I would have done
differently. When planning the questionnaire the research questions should have been
defined more precisely. Also my interest changed sli ghtly during the process and that
is why there were additional questions developed fo r the second sample. By leaving
some questions out it would have been possible to c oncentrate more on the issues
that were strictly connected to competence and thus gain more information about that
area. The ideas were not quite clear in the beginni ng but they became clearer when
the research progressed. The questionnaire turned o ut to be a little problematic but I
chose those parts which were essential for the stud y. If I did the study again I would
prepare the questionnaire more accurate and concise , concentrating on the points
strictly related to the research. However, a questionnaire w hich gives some additional
information may bring new knowledge that the resear cher did not think of in the
beginning. Thus there might be a possibility for new ideas f or future research.
7.2 Ideas for Future Research
This research gives the idea that there is a room f or improvement in our education
system. Even though the researcher’s original intere st was in teachers’ competence,
this study raised questions about immigrant childre n’s views on their school
environment. How do they feel about their teacher’s competence? What they think
about their school environment and do they enjoy go ing to school? How does school
affect their later life? What are the possibilities for immigrants to have further
education? What are their employment opportunities later in their lives? A qualitative
profile study might be useful in the future to find out whether the educational aims of
immigrants have been accomplished. It would also be interesting to find out if there
are differences in immigrants’ integration into soc iety depending on the school
environment; whether there are a lot of immigrants in the school or class or whether
there are only a few of them.

68
Working with the whole family was seen as one part of teachers’ competence. It
would be interesting to compare the views of teache rs and parents. If there was more
cooperation between schools and families, what kind of effect would this have on
children’s school success? The role of special educ ation is quite significant in the
teaching of immigrants. One area for the future rese arch might be the role of special
education in children’s lives and how it affects the develop ment of identity.

69
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75
APPENDICES
Appendix 1: A covering letter for the teachers
Appendix 2: The questionnaire for teachers in Finnish
Appendix 3: The questionnaire for teachers in English
Appendix 4: The significance of gender to the teachers’ co mpetence
Appendix 5: The significance of education to the teachers’ competence
Appendix 6: The significance of experience in teach ing immigrant children to the
teachers’ opinions about immigrant children’s need for s pecial education
Appendix 7: The significance of experience in teach ing immigrant children to the
teachers’ opinion of the benefit of their education

76
Appendix 1: A covering letter for the teachers
Jyväskylän yliopisto
Erityispedagogiikan laitos
Tutkimus monikulttuurisesta opetuksesta
Arvoisa vastaanottaja,
Monikulttuurisuus on lisääntynyt peruskoulussa viime vuo sina ja yhä useammin
opettajat kohtaavat monikulttuurisuuteen liittyvät eri laiset haasteet. Monissa
tapauksissa myös erityisen tuen tarpeet liittyvät moniku lttuuriseen opetukseen.
Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on selvittää erityisopet tajaksi opiskelevien
opettajien käsityksiä monikulttuurista ryhmistä ja valm iuksia kohdata niitä.
Tutkimukseen osallistuvat opettajat ovat suorittamassa e rillisiä erityisopettajan
opintoja tai he ovat vasta saaneet nämä opinnot valmiiksi J yväskylän, Joensuun tai
Helsingin yliopistossa. Kyseiset yksiköt ovat ystäväll isesti lähettäneet vastaajille
sähköpostitse tämän viestin.
Tämä tutkimus suoritetaan Jyväskylän yliopiston erityis pedagogiikan laitoksella ja se
liittyy kasv.yo Salla Määtän pro gradu – tutkimukseen. Tutki muksen vastuullisena
ohjaajana toimii KT lehtori Matti Kuorelahti. Kyselyyn vast ataan nimettömästi ja
vastaajien henkilöllisyys ei ilmene millään tavalla. Kys elyyn voi vastata vain yhden
ainoan kerran.
Alla olevasta linkistä pääset täyttämään kyselylomakkeen Internetissä. Täytä ensin
taustatiedot ja vastaa sitten kysymyksiin. On tärkeää, että vastaat kysymyksiin,
vaikka sinulla ei olisikaan kokemusta monikulttuurisen ry hmän opettamisesta.
Vastaamiseen menee aikaa n. 15 minuuttia. Kyselyyn toivotaa n vastattavan 27.4.
mennessä.
Linkki kyselylomakkeeseen
https://korppi.jyu.fi/kotka/r.jsp?questionnaireid=1495
Lisätietoja:
Salla Määttä, kasv.yo Matti Kuorelahti, KT, lehtori
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxx xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx

77
Appendix 2: The questionnaire for the teachers in Finnish
Kyselylomake pro gradu-tutkielmaa varten
Monikulttuurinen opetus. Täytä ensin taustatiedot ja vasta a sitten kysymyksiin.
On tärkeää, että vastaat kysymyksiin, vaikka sinulla ei olisi kaan kokemusta
monikulttuurisen ryhmän opettamisesta.
Taustatiedot:
Sukupuoli: mies ____ nainen ____
Ikä: ____ vuotta
Opettajakoulutus: luokanopettaja ____ aineenopettaja __ __ muu, mikä?
_________________
Opettajakokemus: ____ vuotta
Kokemus maahanmuuttajien opetuksesta:
ei ollenkaan ____ 1–2 vuotta ____ 3–5 vuotta ____ yli 5 vuott a ____
asuminen ulkomailla: en ole asunut ____ olen asunut ____ kui nka monta vuotta? ___
1= hyvin epävarma 4= jokseenkin varma
2= epävarma 5= varma
3= jokseenkin epävarma 6= täysin varma

hyvin täysin
epävarma varma
1. Tunnen, että olen selvillä omasta 1 2 3 4 5 6
kulttuuritaustastani.
2. Pystyn opettajana arvostamaan ja kunnioittamaan 1 2 3 4 5 6
oppilaiden kulttuurieroja.
3. Olen selvillä siitä, kuinka omat arvoni voivat 1 2 3 4 5 6
vaikuttaa oppilaisiin.
4. Minun ja toisesta kulttuurista tulevien oppilaiden 1 2 3 4 5 6
välillä vallitsevat erot tuntuvat minusta luonnollisilta .
5. Tunnen vieraasta kulttuurista tulevien oppilaitteni 1 2 3 4 5 6
kulttuuritaustaa.

78
hyvin täysin
epävarma varma
6. Silloin, kun kulttuurierot ovat huomattavia, 1 2 3 4 5 6
tarjoaisin oppilaalle mahdollisuuden saada
jonkun asianomaista kulttuuria ja kieltä
hallitsevan opettajan opetusta.
7. Minulla on käsitys siitä, miten Suomessa 1 2 3 4 5 6
vallitseva koulutuspolitiikka vaikuttaa
toisesta kulttuurista tulevien oppilaiden
koulumenestykseen ja sopeutumiseen.

8. Erilaiset kulttuuritaustat tulee mielestäni ottaa 1 2 3 4 5 6
opetuksessa huomioon.
9. Pystyn käyttämään oppilaiden kulttuuriin liittyviä 1 2 3 4 5 6
tietojani hyväksi monikulttuurisessa opetusryhmässä.
10. Minulla on selkeä käsitys siitä, miten 1 2 3 4 5 6
opetuksessa tulee edetä monikulttuurisen
opetusryhmän kanssa.
11. Olen selvillä siitä, että toisesta kulttuurista 1 2 3 4 5 6
tulevien oppilaiden opintomenestys
suomalaisessa koulussa voi vaihdella runsaasti.
12. Olen tietoinen uuteen kulttuuriin sopeutumiseen 1 2 3 4 5 6
vaikuttavista tekijöistä.
13. Pystyn auttamaan toisesta kulttuurista tulevia 1 2 3 4 5 6
oppilaita heidän sopeutumiseensa liittyvien
vaikeuksien käsittelyssä.
14. Pystyn viestimään selkeästi sekä sanallisesti että 1 2 3 4 5 6
ei-sanallisesti toisesta kulttuurista tulevien
oppilaiden kanssa.
15. Pystyn vaikuttamaan siihen, että 1 2 3 4 5 6
yhteiskuntamme tarjoama opetus on kaikkien,
myös eri kulttuurista tulevien oppilaiden etujen mukaist a.

16. Pystyn opettamaan siten, että opetus- ja 1 2 3 4 5 6
oppimismenetelmät sopivat kaikille
monikulttuurisessa ryhmässä opiskeleville.
17. Pystyn ymmärtämään opetuksessa syntyviä 1 2 3 4 5 6
ongelmia oppilaiden kulttuurisesta
kokemuksesta, arvoista ja elämäntyylistä käsin.

79
hyvin täysin
epävarma varma
18. Pystyn tarjoamaan arvo- ja kansalaiskasvatusta 1 2 3 4 5 6
siten, että se tukee myös toisesta kulttuurista
tulevien identiteettikehitystä.
19. Nautin siitä, että saan opettaa monikulttuurista 1 2 3 4 5 6
ryhmää.
20. Pystyn havaitsemaan sen, miten kulttuurierot 1 2 3 4 5 6
aiheuttavat rajoituksia oppilaiden ja minun välillä.
21. Pystyn luomaan myönteisen sosiaalisen 1 2 3 4 5 6
Ilmapiirin opetusryhmässä, jossa arvostetaan
eri kulttuureita edustavia oppilaita.
22. Pystyn vaikuttamaan positiivisesti suomalaisten 1 2 3 4 5 6
oppilaiden asenteisiin monikulttuurisuutta kohtaan.
23. Olen tietoinen opettajan ammatillisesta ja 1 2 3 4 5 6
eettisestä vastuusta monikulttuurisessa opetustyössä.
24. Pystyn opetuksen arvioinnissa ottamaan 1 2 3 4 5 6
huomioon kulttuurista ja kielestä johtuvat erot.
25. Koen, että yhteistyö toisesta kulttuurista tulevan 1 2 3 4 5 6
lapsen vanhempien kanssa on tärkeää.
26. Toisesta kulttuurista tulevia lapsia opettaessani 1 2 3 4 5 6
olen valmis työskentelemään koko perheen kanssa.
27. Mielestäni luokan/aineenopettajakoulutukseni 1 2 3 4 5 6
on antanut valmiuksia kohdata eri kulttuurista
tulevia oppilaita.
28. Saan työnantajaltani riittävästi tukea 1 2 3 4 5 6
työskentelyyni toisesta kulttuurista tulevien
oppilaiden kanssa.
29. Olisin valmis toimimaan opettajana jossakin 1 2 3 4 5 6
ulkomailla.
30. Olisin valmis toimimaan muissa kuin opettajan 1 2 3 4 5 6
tehtävissä ulkomailla.

80
hyvin täysin
epävarma varma

31. Olisin valmis toimimaan kokonaan 1 2 3 4 5 6
maahanmuuttajista koostuvan eri kulttuureista
tulevien oppilaiden ryhmän opettajana.
32. Mielestäni Suomeen muuttavien pitäisi 1 2 3 4 5 6
ensisijaisesti omaksua suomalaiset tavat ja
kulttuuri. (maassa maan tavalla)
33. Olen sitä mieltä, että Suomi kuuluu 1 2 3 4 5 6
suomalaisille.

34. On oikein, että pakolaisia Suomeen otettaessa 1 2 3 4 5 6
otetaan niitä, joiden kotouttaminen suomalaiseen
yhteiskuntaan voidaan olettaa tapahtuvan helpoimmin.
35. Pakolaisia Suomeen otettaessa esimerkiksi 1 2 3 4 5 6
ammatti tulisi huomioida ajateltaessa
ammattitaitoisen työvoiman tarvetta.
Kysymykset 36–41 esitettiin ainoastaan opettajille, jotk a olivat mukana
tutkimuksessa keväällä 2007. N=69.
36. Maahanmuuttajaoppilaat tulisi yleensä ohjata 1 2 3 4 5 6
erityisopetukseen.
37. Mielestäni erityisopettajakoulutus on antanut 1 2 3 4 5 6
valmiuksia kohdata eri kulttuureista tulevia oppilaita.
38. Maahanmuuttajaoppilas tarvitsee erityisopetusta 1 2 3 4 5 6
enemmän verrattuna syntyperäiseen
suomalaislapseen lukemisessa ja kirjoittamisessa.
39. Maahanmuuttajaoppilas tarvitsee erityisopetusta 1 2 3 4 5 6
enemmän verrattuna syntyperäiseen
suomalaislapseen matematiikassa.
40. Maahanmuuttajaoppilas tarvitsee erityisopetusta 1 2 3 4 5 6
enemmän verrattuna syntyperäiseen
suomalaislapseen vieraassa kielessä (englanti, saksa jne.) .
41. Maahanmuuttajaoppilas tarvitsee erityisopetusta 1 2 3 4 5 6
enemmän verrattuna syntyperäiseen
suomalaislapseen käyttäytymishäiriöiden takia.

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Kokemuksia monikulttuurisesta opetuksesta.
42. Millainen opetusmuoto olisi mielestäsi paras maahanmuu ttajaoppilaalle?
yleisopetus ____
erityisluokkaopetus ____
osa-aikainen erityisopetus ____
43. Millaista erityistä tukea ajattelet toisesta kulttuuri sta tulevan oppilaan tarvitsevan
koulunkäynnissään?

44. Kuvaile jokin vaikeaksi kokemasi tilanne eri kulttuuri sta tulevan oppilaan kanssa
ja kerro, miten selvitit tilanteen. Miksi tilanne tuntui sinu sta vaikealta?

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45. Kuvaile jokin myönteinen kokemus eri kulttuurista tulev an oppilaan kanssa.
Mikä tilanteessa oli positiivista?
Mitä vielä haluat kertoa kokemuksistasi tai ajatuksistas i monikulttuuriseen
opetukseen liittyen?
Kiitos paljon vastauksistasi!

83
Appendix 3: The questionnaire for the teachers in English
Questionnaire for Master’s Thesis
Multicultural education. Please make sure you submit your background
information and answer all of the questions. It is importan t that you answer the
questions even though you do not have experience in teaching a multicultural
group.
Background information:
Gender: Male ____ female ____
Age: ____ years
Teacher education: class teacher ____ subject teacher ___ _ other, what?
__________________
Teaching experience: ____ years
Experience in teaching immigrant children:
None ____ 1–2 years ____ 3–5 years ____ over 5 years ____
Living abroad: I have not lived abroad ____ I have lived ab road ____ for how many
years? ____
1= very unsure 4= quite sure
2= unsure 5= sure
3= quite unsure 6= very sure

very very
unsure sure
1. I believe that I am aware of my own cultural 1 2 3 4 5 6
background.
2. As a teacher I am able to value and respect 1 2 3 4 5 6
differences in pupil’s cultures.
3. I am aware of how my own values can affect the 1 2 3 4 5 6
pupils.
4. The differences between me and pupils from 1 2 3 4 5 6
other cultures feel natural to me.
5. I know the cultural background of my pupils 1 2 3 4 5 6
coming from a different culture.

84
very very
unsure sure
6. When the cultural differences are significant I 1 2 3 4 5 6
would like to offer the pupil the possibility to be
taught by someone who knows the
particular culture and language.

7. I have an impression on how the educational 1 2 3 4 5 6
policy in Finland affects the school success and
adaptation of pupils from other cultures.

8. I believe that different cultural backgrounds 1 2 3 4 5 6
should be taken into consideration when teaching.

9. I am able to utilise my understanding of the 1 2 3 4 5 6
pupils’ cultures in a multicultural classroom.
10. I have a clear understanding how to approach 1 2 3 4 5 6
teaching in a multicultural group.
11. I am aware that the school success of pupils 1 2 3 4 5 6
from different cultures can vary a lot.
12. I am aware of factors affecting adaptation 1 2 3 4 5 6
to a new culture.
13. I am able to help pupils from other cultures 1 2 3 4 5 6
with their difficulties during the adaptation
to the new culture.
14. I am able to communicate well both verbally 1 2 3 4 5 6
and non-verbally with pupils from other cultures.
15. I can help ensure that Finland offers education 1 2 3 4 5 6
that reflects the best interest of everyone,
including pupils from different cultures.

16. When it comes to learning and teaching 1 2 3 4 5 6
methods, I am able to teach in a manner that
suits everyone in a multicultural classroom.
17. I am able to understand problems arising from 1 2 3 4 5 6
view of pupils’ cultural experiences, values and lifestyle .
18. I can offer value and civic education so that it 1 2 3 4 5 6
supports the development of identity also for
a pupil from another culture.

85
very very
unsure sure
19. I enjoy teaching a multicultural class. 1 2 3 4 5 6

20. I am able to notice how cultural differences 1 2 3 4 5 6
cause limitations between pupils and me.
21. I am able to create a positive social atmosphere 1 2 3 4 5 6
in the classroom where pupils from different
cultures are valued.
22. I am able to affect positively Finnish pupils’ 1 2 3 4 5 6
attitudes towards multiculturalism.
23. I am aware of the teacher’s professional and 1 2 3 4 5 6
ethical responsibility in multicultural teaching work.
24. In the assessment I am able to take into account 1 2 3 4 5 6
the differences arising from cultural and
linguistic differences.
25. I believe that cooperation with the family of 1 2 3 4 5 6
a pupil from a different culture is important.
26. When teaching pupils from a different cultural 1 2 3 4 5 6
background I would be ready work with the
whole family.
27. I think that my class teacher education/subject 1 2 3 4 5 6
teacher education has prepared me to face
pupils from different cultures.
28. I get enough support from my employer in 1 2 3 4 5 6
working with pupils from another culture.
29. I would be ready to work as a teacher abroad. 1 2 3 4 5 6

30. I would be ready to work abroad in some 1 2 3 4 5 6
other position than as a teacher.
31. I would be ready to work as a teacher of an 1 2 3 4 5 6
immigrant group of pupils from different cultures.
32. In my opinion people moving to Finland should 1 2 3 4 5 6
primarily adopt Finnish habits and culture.

86
very very
unsure sure

33. I think that Finland belongs to the Finns. 1 2 3 4 5 6

34. When receiving refugees to Finland it is right to 1 2 3 4 5 6
choose those ones whose adaptation to Finnish
society can be assumed to happen the most easily.
35. When receiving refugees to Finland occupation, 1 2 3 4 5 6
for example, should be taken into account when
thinking about the need of skilled labour.
Questions 36–41 were asked only from the teachers who took part in the research in
the spring of 2007. N=69.
36. Immigrant pupils should generally be guided 1 2 3 4 5 6
to special education
37. I think that teacher education for special 1 2 3 4 5 6
education has prepared me to face pupils from
different cultures.
38. An immigrant pupil needs more special 1 2 3 4 5 6
education in reading and writing compared to
a native-born Finnish pupil.
39. An immigrant pupil needs more special 1 2 3 4 5 6
education in mathematics compared to
a native-born Finnish pupil.
40. An immigrant pupil needs more special 1 2 3 4 5 6
education in foreign languages (English,
German etc.) compared to a native-born Finnish pupil.
41. An immigrant pupil needs more special 1 2 3 4 5 6
education because of behavioural problems
compared to a native-born Finnish pupil.
Experiences of multicultural education.
42. Which form of education would be the best for an immigrant c hild?
general education class ____
special class ____
part time special education ____

87
43. What kind of special support you think a pupil from anoth er culture needs in
his/her school work?

44. Describe some difficult situation with a pupil from a dif ferent culture and tell
how you managed the situation. Why did you feel the situati on difficult?

88
45. Describe some positive experience with a pupil from ano ther culture. What was
positive in the situation?
What else do you want to tell about your experiences or tho ughts concerning
multicultural education?
Thank you very much for your answers!

89
Appendix 4: The significance of gender to the teach ers’ competence
Competence Mean
male Std.
deviation Mean
female Std.
deviation t-value p-value
Pedagogical 3,000 1,333 3,050 ,999 -,138 .890
Understanding adaptation 3,900 ,966 3,956 ,903 -,18 9 .850
Communication 3,450 ,798 3,496 ,948 -,149 .882
Valuing cultural background 3,722 1,003 3,719 ,863 ,012 .990
Creating positive atmosphere 4,100 ,658 4,540 ,797 -1,698 .092
Readiness to work abroad 4,900 1,220 4,031 1,546 1, 735 .085
Readiness to work with the family 4,500 1,269 5,225 ,737 -2,820 .006**
* statistically almost significant, p ≤.05
** statistically significant, p ≤.01
*** statistically very significant, p ≤.001
Appendix 5: The significance of education to the te achers’ competence
Competence Mean
male Std.
deviation Mean
female Std.
deviation t-value p-value
Pedagogical 2,960 1,009 3,200 1,056 -,958 .340
Understanding adaptation 3,869 ,922 4,263 ,839 -1,7 38 .085
Communication 3,387 ,900 3,971 ,892 -2,484 .014*
Valuing cultural background 3,668 ,864 3,861 ,967 – ,857 .393
Creating positive atmosphere 4,524 ,812 4,342 ,688 ,916 .361
Readiness to work abroad 4,012 1,542 4,475 1,602 -1 ,224 .223
Readiness to work with the family 5,158 ,772 5,194 1,002 -,180 .858
* statistically almost significant, p ≤.05
** statistically significant, p ≤.01
*** statistically very significant, p ≤.001

90
Appendix 6: The significance of experience in teach ing immigrant children to the teachers’ opinions
of immigrant children’s need for special education (n=69).
An immigrant pupil needs
more special education
compared to a native-born
Finnish pupil Mean Not
having
experience Std.
deviation Mean
Having
experience Std.
deviation t-value p-value
In reading and writing 4,04 1,105 3,74 1,537 ,875 , 385
In mathematics 3,07 1,438 2,85 1,329 ,661 ,511
In foreign languages 2,74 ,984 2,69 1,217 ,171 ,864
Because of behavioural
problems 2,21 1,134 2,05 ,826 ,681 ,498
* statistically almost significant, p ≤.05
** statistically significant, p ≤.01
*** statistically very significant, p ≤.001
Appendix 7: The significance of experience in teach ing immigrant children to the teachers’ opinion of
the benefit of their education
Education has prepared me
to face pupils from
different cultures Mean Not
having
experience Std.
deviation Mean
Having
experience Std.
deviation t-value p-value
Class teacher / subject
teacher education 2,00 1,000 2,06 1,306 ,033 ,773
Special education 3,00 1,225 3,00 1,336 ,000 1,000
* statistically almost significant, p ≤.05
** statistically significant, p ≤.01
*** statistically very significant, p ≤.001