Social Orientation course learning material
In a learning material project carried out in collaboration with the Finnish Refugee Agency, extensive Finnish social knowledge material was prepared for quota refugees and other immigrants. The aim is to facilitate the integration of immigrants into Finland by producing nationally uniform learning material that tells about Finland as a society from the perspective of Finnish values, social development and service systems. Key themes include work, education, family life, politics and influencing, social and health services and legislation. The aim is for the course participants to learn about human rights and democratic principles, individual rights and responsibilities, as well as the functioning of Finnish society and practical everyday life.
Learning material
The material was published online, where it is available to everyone. It is aimed at teachers and instructors who train immigrants, especially trained native-language instructors. The Social Orientation course was part of the Finnish Refugee Agency's Kotikunta project (2016–2018), which promoted the rapid start of the integration of quota refugees and their attachment to the receiving municipalities and residential communities. The project was funded by the EU Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund. The project coordinator and author at the Helsinki Adult Education Centre was Lilli Rasilainen, a supervising teacher, and the other authors were supervising teachers Marjaana Markkanen, Mira Larduet and Ulla Tarkka. The project period was 1.2 February–15.9.2017 September XNUMX.
“Social orientation in the native language: Social orientation is a course aimed at those who have just moved to Finland, which provides fundamental information about living, working and living in Finland. It provides the necessary civic skills here, introduces the newcomer to the story of Finland and provides good preparation for integration in Finland. Social orientation strengthens immigrants' understanding of Finnish society and their own rights and obligations. The Finnish Refugee Agency believes that initial integration services should have a social orientation course in the native language that is nationally consistent.”
New updated textbook
In 2020, an updated Finnish textbook was published, and in 2017, in addition to Finnish, an Arabic, Somali, English, Swedish, Dari and French textbook was published.