Kuulumisia is a complementary education program in Tampere University Faculty of Education and Culture. For ten years Kuulumisia has enabled immigrants, ethnic minorities and Finnish education personnel working with immigrants to qualify as a classroom- and subject teachers by organizing teacher’s pedagogical studies (60 ects) and classroom teacher’s multidisciplinary studies (60 ects).
The name itself comes from the idea of belonging: to belong in a place, in a group and in society, that is in Finnish kuulua jonnekin/osana jotain. The education is organized only in Finnish because to work in Finland as a teacher, sufficient language proficiency is required. In addition, our belief is that proficiency in Finnish language promotes integration to Finnish society, which is in turn linked to individual wellbeing and sense of belonging.
Kuulumisia complementary education program has been made possible by funding received Ministry of Education and Culture and Finnish National Agency for Education.
Goals of the education program
- To organize high-quality education for immigrants, ethnic minorities and Finnish education personnel working with immigrants so that they can work as fully qualified classroom- and subject teachers in Finland.
- To promote linguistically aware and culturally responsive education.
- To promote multicultural competencies in teacher’s education. The education is built around the idea of inclusion, where immigrants and Finnish education personnel work and learn together as a group, teaching and supporting each other.
- To promote social integration for immigrants and ethnic minorities through teacher’s qualification, teaching practice and holistic guidance and supervision.
To achieve these goals, Kuulumisia complementary education closely follows the research- and competency-based curriculum of Tampere University Faculty of Education and Culture. In addition, the team behind Kuulumisia complementary education program is comprised of faculty personnel with expertise and experience in teacher’s education, complementary education and linguistically aware and culturally responsive education.
Kuulumisia complementary education program is systematically developed in co-operation with students, teachers, researchers and reference groups. At the heart of this development is open dialogue, evaluation and feedback and research.