We wanted to create new practices about how to welcome new, language-impaired students and their parents and how we could integrate a new student into the classes. In this process we also needed to evaluate the possible changes we might have to make at the structural level, such as hiring new staff, organizing the lessons in a new way etc. Therefore, it was essential to include our head teacher, who is also a special needs teacher, in this project. We wanted to find the best ways of receiving all necessary information from the guardian in a situation when there is no common language as well as find ways of increasing teachers’ awareness and competence. We wanted to have new ideas about what kind of materials can be used and simultaneously make teachers aware of already existing materials and good practices in the working community. We also wanted to learn new ways of doing our work and as well as hear solutions from other countries that work in second language teaching from the point of view of integration, as well as develop further understanding of the experiences and stories of minorities.
The number of immigrant students in our school has grown significantly in recent years. The project originated from our school’s current need for concrete tools and measures for receiving, teaching, and integrating students with immigrant background. Due to the Europe-wide refugee situation, all European countries are in a situation where they need to think about functional and cost-effective ways to teach the country´s own language to newcomers and integrate them into society.