OJUPER Language, Pedagogy and Culture (25 op)

Introduction

The JULIET programme was established in 1995 to develop language education in the lower grades of the comprehensive school by preparing future class teachers to teach foreign languages. This vision is now part of the National Core Curriculum as all children in Finland now start to learn a foreign language in the first grade and it is often class teachers that introduce the new language in grades 1 and 2. Over the years, JULIET has developed in response to the increasing linguistic and cultural diversity of the population, as well as by drawing on research to better understand the role of language and culture in education and to explore innovative ways of developing language education.

In accordance with the National Core Curriculum, JULIET aims to make language education a place for ‘joy, playfulness and creativity’ as reflected in the Creative and Cultural Language Development course as well as the Language, Literature and Culture Course. The JULIET course, the Language and Modalities of Education and Pedagogy, specifically addresses language awareness, and the courses in Pedagogy and Methodologies for Foreign Language Education and Formal Language Development include different approaches to foreign language education. As outlined in Chapter 10 of the National Core Curriculum, JULIET also addresses smaller scale forms of bilingual education, such as language enrichment and language showering, as well as more extensive forms of bilingual education including Bilingual Education and CLIL. Two recent additions to the JULIET programme include Issues in International and Intercultural Education preparing teachers for working within and beyond Finnish education, and a course on Learning Environments enhancing student-involving interaction which addresses the linguistic, social as well as material environments of language education.

The key phenomena of JYU teacher education curriculum are integrated into JULIET. Learning and guidance are addressed through key themes such as how children learn language and use language to learn, how to guide language development, to use language well as an educator and to teach language(s) to children. Interaction and collaboration are important pedagogical tools that support the development of understanding through the JULIET courses, enriched by the international make-up of JULIET courses, and are key considerations in relation to the development of children’s language. Education, society and change are the dynamo motivating the development of JULIET and critical considerations in the ongoing development of language education. Scientific thinking and knowledge are present in the key and contemporary research drawn on in JULIET courses, as well as the way in which JULIET students are encouraged to regularly revisit and reconsider their own assumptions, understanding, experiences and insights in relation to the theory and practice of education.

Although the JULIET courses predominantly use English as the language of instruction and interaction, students are encouraged to draw on the full range of their language repertoires in their JULIET studies and to critically consider language as a broad phenomenon that is intertwined with other fundamental aspects of education. JULIET students are also encouraged to maintain a reflective journal to create links and connections across the different courses of the programme and to develop a broader understanding of language education and their own development as language educators.

Learning outcomes:

• to gain a critical understanding of children as language learners and users of language across the lower school
• to develop the pedagogical competence to plan, deliver and evaluate language education for younger language learners
• to develop a critical perspective on the role of language in and across education
• to gain a critical understanding of English as an international language