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Bebc3499-The-Icebreakers.Pdf ANNE ALITOLPPA-NIITAMO THE ICEBREAKERS Somali-Speaking Youth in Metropolitan Helsinki with a Focus on the Context of Formal Education Publications of the Population Research Institute Series D 42/2004 Väestöntutkimuslaitos Väestöliitto, The Family Federation of Finland The Population Research Institute Väestöliitto, The Family Federation of Finland Iso Roobertinkatu 20–22 A, PO.Box 849, 00101 Helsinki Tel. +358-9-228 050, Fax. +358-9-612 1211 E-mail: [email protected] http://www.vaestoliitto.fi ISBN 951-9450-02-5 ISSN 0357-4725 Hakapaino Oy Helsinki 2004 Acknowledgements A long research process brings many kinds of thoughts to a researcher’s mind. At some point I found myself thinking about the parallels between the analysis of my data and my own life. Would it be possible to apply the concepts I have used in the research on Somali- speaking youth to understand my own life course? Or, could it be that I am unconsciously explaining the research data through experiences and understandings drawn from my own life? Be it as it may, I am convinced that the lived life of a researcher is almost by necessity somehow reflected into the research process, particularly in the case of ethnographic fieldwork. The experiences of immigration have been central in my own life. The years spent in Stockholm and New York have been important and positive experiences. On the other hand, moving across borders and continents has meant that a number of persons are no longer present in my daily life. Hence, many individuals who were central even in the progress of this research live across the seas and cannot share in the highpoint of the completed work. At Columbia University’s Teachers College, professors Charles C. Harrington, George C. Bond, Lambros Comitas, and professor Hervé Varenne, as well as Lesley A. Sharp at Barnard College, guided me to the foundations of applied anthropology and particularly to the understanding of the meaning of education in human life and culture. With my student colleagues, Dianna J. Shandy, Audrey Charlton, Charlanne Burke, Olga Conzales, Lisa Miller, Mary Kenny and Kenny Broad, I shared some important years of my life. I wish you were all here! The immigrant experience easily creates a phase of liminality in a person’s life. I faced the challenges of discontinuity as a returning migrant and a newcomer to the Finnish academic scene in the mid-1990s. Luckily, the KASVA-graduate school and the Univer- sity of Oulu provided a stable starting point financially and academically. Professor Rauni Räsänen and professor emeritus Pertti Toukomaa deserve warm thanks for being my ‘distant advisors’ in Oulu. While advancing on my acculturation path, the director of The Population Research Institute of The Family Federation of Finland, docent Ismo Söderling, made a crucial gesture by providing me with a research community, space, interesting projects and support. Later, his role in my present career has also been central. The rest of the ‘gang’, research secretary Stina Fågel, researchers Anneli Miettinen, Pirjo Paajanen, Osmo Kontula, as well as research assistant Mika Takoja and librarian Ulla-Maija Mattila have always been helpful and shared the ups and downs of a researcher’s life. To my reviewers, professor Nora Ahlberg at University of Oslo and senior lecturer Östen Wahlbeck at Åbo Akademi University, I feel indebted for their thoughtful and knowledgeable comments. I also extend my gratitude to the Institute of Migration, the Oskar Öflund Fund, Emil Aaltonen Fund, Niilo Helander Fund, Finnish Konkordia Fund and the City Board of Helsinki for research grants that gave me the finances to go on. At The Family Federation of Finland, the support and trust shown by the former managing director Jouko Hulkko and the present one, Helena Hiila, have helped me to develop my visions further. Much of this work has been driven by the hope that this written account could also lead to a better understanding, greater societal equity and educational quality for children with an immigration background. The immediate and concrete consequence of the present research has been the establishment of the multicultural family counselling centre ‘Kotipuu’ by The Family Federation of Finland. I offer my appreciation to all those who have contributed to Kotipuu. My special thanks go to my current colleagues and Kotipuu team members, Anita Novitsky and Mohamed Moallin. Essential bridging social capital in the world of academic research, and beyond it, has been provided by Annika Forsander, whose energy, knowledge on a variety of migration issues and preparedness to share that knowledge I have always admired. As she moved on in her career, I was sorry that I lost a colleague, but I am happy that I have been able to retain a good friend. Also, colleagues at the Somali Studies Network have shared many interesting discussions with me. I am thankful particularly to Petri Hautaniemi and Marja Tiilikainen who shared the field with me. Cooperation with Tuula Sakaranaho and Tuo- mas Martikainen in the context of the project on ‘Muslims and Religious Equality in Finland’ has been a very pleasant experience. Out of many friends, I express my thanks particularly to Viivi Virtanen and Elina Ekholm who have themselves ‘messed up’ in research - discussions with you have been a delight. The most important persons in the field have been the many Somali-speakers in metropo- litan Helsinki who have shared their lives, experiences, knowledge and perspectives with me. Many of them are real cosmopolitans and some have already moved on to other countries. My very, very special thanks go to Taariq, Khadra, Mire, Jama, Aamina and Yussuf, as well as to teacher Liisa (even here, I use pseudonyms), who let me in and guided me inside the complex lives of the generation in-between immigrants. My gratitude also goes to many representatives in the educational sector, particularly to Elisa Vilpas, whose humour and warmth, understanding attitude and open mind encouraged and impressed me a lot. Warm thanks to all of you! You made this possible! This excursion started, however, long before the actual fieldwork began. The basis for bonding social capital was build on the trust, unquestioned support and caring given to me by my parents. They have provided something that has proved to be more important than any academic degree. Thank you to my mother Terttu for her continuing support and interest. I feel sadness that my father Teppo did not survive to share the joy of a completed work. With the help of my husband Vellu, I have been able to take distance from the field that became so close. He has also provided relief in the moments of cognitive overload caused by the research work. Thank you! Your ability to be close to me, as well as your openness to life have been amazing! Our second generation, Annaliina, Jasmiina and Olli-Pekka, deserve hugs and kisses just because you have been so sweet and good over all these years! Thank you to all of you. Tottijärvi, March 2004 Anne Alitolppa-Niitamo Anne Alitolppa-Niitamo, The Icebreakers. Somali-Speaking Youth in Metropolitan Helsinki with aFocus on the Context of Formal Education. Faculty of Education, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 2000, FIN-90014 University of Oulu, Finland Publications of the Population Research Institute Series D 42, 2004, Väestöliitto, The Family Federation of Finland, Helsinki, Finland Abstract The aim of my research was to identify, illuminate and analyse the factors that play a role in the schooling of the Somali-speaking youth in metropolitan Helsinki in the late 1990s. The ethnographic fieldwork consisted of community-level fieldwork in 1996–2000 and a six-month school ethnography in an upper-level comprehensive school in 1997–98. The students in the school ethnography attended an immigrant class of six Somali students, taught by a Finnish special teacher. The core group gradually expanded to include peers, siblings and other young people, making a total of 19 students (11 boys, 8 girls) between ages 11 and 20 years. In addition, 18 officials and school staff members (other than teachers), 17 Finnish teachers, five Somali teachers, 27 Somali community members and two imams were interviewed or spoken with. The dissertation consists of five published articles that are bound together with chapters on theoretical perspectives, methodology and ethical issues, a presentation of sub-studies, evaluation and implications, and a conclusion. The ‘roots and routes’ of Somali asylum seekers are presented in light of some short life histories of the second generation. The theoretical framework focuses on the tradition of immigration research, with a special reference to children with immigration backgrounds, processes that occur in their families, and formal education. Anthropological perspectives, explanation models and concepts on education of minorities are applied and further developed. The research contributes to the latest developments in the field by providing a model to explain the variability in the school achievement of children of immigrants. The model organizes the complex set of factors into four main categories: immigrants’ incoming resources, their social capital (divided into three levels), characteristics of the receiving society, and human agency. This multivariate framework is probabilistic, rather than deterministic, and acknowledges a multitude of factors that interact in a complex manner and affect the school performance of children with an immigration background. The research suggests that each given factor may prove to be a resource or a challenge for educational performance and claims that the accumulation of challenges reduces an individual’s coping capacity. The benefit of the model presented is that it ‘writes against’ homogenizing and stereotyping descriptions of ethnic groups. The first two articles serve as contextualization articles and include descriptions on Somalis’ refugee migration and resettlement in Finnish society, the history of immigration in Finland, and certain group and family processes that occurred among the Somali-speaking population in metropolitan Helsinki in the 1990s.
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