Riding on commitment and marketing: language teachers as policymakers in a Finnish school

Abstract

Although national and EU policies and recommendations encourage varied language learning, English has ruled as the most studied foreign language, while other languages are decreasingly being studied in basic and upper secondary education in Finland. The purpose of this paper is to examine the implications of this development in practice. Interviews with Finnish foreign language and mother tongue teachers revealed issues with enrolment in language courses, resulting in decreased pay for teachers of languages other than the national languages and English. To boost enrolment or to ensure courses run, the participants reported having to make adjustments to course expectations, content, accept pay cuts, and ‘market’ languages to students, essentially creating a market in which languages are sold and consumed. In terms of policies, it is argued that ensuring successful learning outcomes in foreign languages is thus heavily dependent on the teachers’ willingness to exert their own resources, agency, and commitment to the institution and their students.