Teachers’ challenges in preparatory classes: a socio-ecological perspective

ABSTRACT

Teachers work in diverse environments in terms of pupils’ abilities, socio-economic backgrounds and demography. The growing demands of political and societal bodies increase the pressure placed on teachers. Using a socio-ecological framework, this study provides insights into teachers’ perspectives and their challenges in the field of teaching recently arrived pupils in the Finnish context. Qualitative interviews of ten participants from different parts of Finland were conducted. The data were analysed through thematic analysis. The findings suggest that teachers need more administrative and collegial support, effective educational policies, sufficient resources, and wider community attention. The results of the study can be useful for education stakeholders in mitigating the problems encountered by teachers, and in shedding light on how these levels can be accessed. The study also provides a structure that researchers can use to classify teachers’ challenges at the individual, organisational, municipal, and national levels.

KEYWORDS:

• Immigrant pupils
• diverse pupils
• teachers’ challenges
• immigrant education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tatsiana Shestunova

Tatsiana Shestunova is a PhD researcher at the Faculty of Educational Sciences at the University of Helsinki, Finland. Her research explores second language acquisition and teachers’ challenges in preparatory education.