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WHAT YOU DON’T READ ABOUT FINLAND: Your orientation to understanding Finland, Finnish culture, Finnish people and to knowing more about yourself, too Esko Johnson PhD (Education) Formerly Principal Lecturer of English Language and Communication Centria University of Applied Sciences

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Page 1: What you-dont-read-about-finland

WHAT YOU DON’T READ ABOUT FINLAND: Your orientation to understanding Finland,

Finnish culture, Finnish people and to

knowing more about yourself, too Esko Johnson

PhD (Education)

Formerly Principal Lecturer of English Language and Communication Centria University of Applied Sciences

Page 2: What you-dont-read-about-finland

Guess who!

Page 3: What you-dont-read-about-finland

What did international students like best in our

country? • A peaceful country

• Natural beauty with contrasts • All is quite well organised, including HE study

and study opportunities • A less stressful ’study climate’; the university

staff are easy to approach and empathetic of the learners

• The friendly, honest & helpful Finns • International student communities (local)

Sources, Garam, I. 2001. My Finland. Survey of experiences of

international students in Finnish higher education. CIMO; Johnson,

Eijsberg & Finell 2009; Johnson & Finell 2005.

Page 4: What you-dont-read-about-finland

Typical quotes about Finland

• Model of an information society with a high level of social and intellectual capital (PISA results etc.)

• Our country promotes equality

• Our country a good balance of the ’faceless forces’ of globalisation1

• Our telecomms is a ‘strong muscle’, yet, the whole body needs a shape-up2

1Castells (2001), 2Hautamäki (2001)

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So how do you get onboard this wonderful ship?

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What this talk will do

• Increase your awareness about your

situation and your non-academic

learning task right now

• Clarify what you can do and what you

might want to do

MOTTO: This is the first day of the rest

of your life, for becoming a truly global

person; you’re the change agent for

yourself – later for others, too!

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What this talk will not do

• Provide facts and figures about Finland,

Finns and Finnish society/ culture, overall

• The above content you will get in two

courses:

- Finnish Society and Culture, 3 ECTS

- Getting Local and Global, 3 ECTS

• Don’t hesitate to ask me for more information!

Page 8: What you-dont-read-about-finland

A quick poll for you (Y/N/DK)

1. I (already) know three street names in Kokkola.

2. During my stay, these are my priorities here, in this order: (#1) having a lot fun, (#2) making friends, for my life, (#3) completing a few courses (the degree) - a must

3. On and off the campus, I will hang around mostly with foreign (international) students and my own countrymen (countrypeople)

4. Every day, I will try to learn at least 5-10 words of Finnish

5. I will make friends with local people in pubs, clubs and restaurants

6. I will follow the local and national/Finnish news regularly

7. I will try to travel as much as possible

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Page 10: What you-dont-read-about-finland

Adapting and fitting in?

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Is adapting stressful?

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Based on previous foreign student experience, what should you know?

And what (not) to do?

• Intreract with the locals in the right places; use your imagination; learn the best strategy, and take time to become confident at this

• You cannot make friends with the locals in a pub or a restaurant if you are in a group of other foreign/international students

• Finnish people (both young and old) go to a pub/restaurant to have fun in the first place, not to make friends with other people/strangers

• To make friends is a long-term process

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FROM GENNY’S STORY (2013)

When I ask her to define a global person, Genny tells me that

basically, an exchange experience can be nothing at all for some,

just because of enjoying the more relaxed and freer settings with

not too many assignments, in other words, “if they’re just thinking

of their free time, like drinking, partying, and night life. The core

priority is to mingle with the locals, not to hang out too often with

other exchange students from other countries.

“We have to communicate with the locals- this is the way how

we know about their culture and lifestyle. I wouldn’t say I had a

really great time as an exchange student if I just mingled with

other exchange students.”

“To become a globalised person is by meeting the locals, by

knowing about the locals. This is how you become a globalized

person, it’s not because of crossing the border literally and

staying there for four months without doing anything.”

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0 % 20 % 40 % 60 % 80 % 100 %

9 Learning and using Finnish language

8 Finland being a country of natural beauty

7 Finns being friendly, honest, and helpful

6 A less stressful study climate than in my home country

5 University staff being easy to approach and empathetic of me

4 Self-directness and flexibility of study (i.e. academic freedom)

3 Things being well organised everywhere

2 Finland being a peaceful country

1 My higher education study at COU overall

Europeans

Non-Eur Gr3

Non-Eur Gr2

Non-Eur Gr1

Facilitators: What things made your stay enjoyable and

meaningful? (MC question)

Page 16: What you-dont-read-about-finland

Some findings of the Johnson & Finell (2005) study

International students: satisfied with their study

–liked the approach of teaching methods and

tutoring

Had their own networks international friends

and acquaintances – but were not well

integrated into the local communities

Said they failed to learn Finnish/Swedish

language and culture

Page 17: What you-dont-read-about-finland

Learning the national language(s) and culture

was rare

Adaptation to and integration into the academic

and local communities varied somewhat between

European and non-European students, as well as

between exchange and degree students

Adaptation and integration seemed to be directly

dependent on the length of stay in Finland

Some findings…. (cont.)

Page 18: What you-dont-read-about-finland

0 % 20 % 40 % 60 % 80 % 100 %

10 Personal health problems (physical or mental)

9 Too much academic freedom: I can't control how I...

8 Lack of meaningful freetime activities

7 The Finnish climate being too cold for me

6 Feeling homesick and lonely

5 Much too quiet life in the university town

4 My lack of Finnish skills

3 Finland being so expensive to stay and study in

2 Lack of parttime job opportunities

1 Finns being shy and not always easy to approach

More than 1 yr in COU Less than 1 yr in COU

What is related to experience of stress?

Page 19: What you-dont-read-about-finland

Liisa Salo-Lee on communicating with “the Finns” (*)

• “Triple W”: word, work, watch (Kirri)

• Be careful not to generalize/stereotype on individuals

• What makes your intercultural communication

effective with “the Finns”?

• Tolerance of ambiguity, being non-judgmental,

empathy skills

• Be flexible, sensible, other-oriented

• Be culturally literate!

(*) See http://www.jyu.fi/viesti/verkkotuotanto/kp/vf/liisa.shtml

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About the triple W

Dear Stephen Please meet me tomorrow Thursday at 11.00 in my office, room # 287. All the best, Esko

Page 21: What you-dont-read-about-finland

Can you follow these

rules when communicating?

1. Never comment on anything that is obvious

2. If you say something, say something that all should

know (high information content and relevance)

3. Never raise issues that might cause conflicts;

keep up the good harmony

4. Commit yourself to whatever you say

5. Whatever you say will become the

basis of future co-operation (Carbaugh 1993)

Page 22: What you-dont-read-about-finland

What is the expected academic conduct in Finland?

• Centria UAS has publisehd the Code of Ethics – read it!

• Observe and learn how to work, create knowledge, collaborate, and how to submit the results of study at campus

– Individually, on your own

– In a group (in a team)

– In class

• ”Copy+paste” , in other words, using other people’s work as if it was your creation (i.e. plagiarising) in all forms is penalised

Page 23: What you-dont-read-about-finland

Stereotypes

• Are ‘pictures in our heads’, or images of reality –

metaphors, beliefs, ideas - that define different cultures in a

very rough way, but can be harmful

• Streotypes are group concepts held by one social group about another, often used in a negative sense and used to justify discriminatory and unacceptable behaviors

• What stereotypes determine your behaviour,

communication, and thinking when in Finland?

• You need fewer stereotypes to understand the world and

other people than you realise!

Page 24: What you-dont-read-about-finland

WARNING! When do you know you have gone native in Finland?

• You wear shorts and a T shirt in June while the

thermometer shows plus 10 centigrade

• You think it’s fantastic to sit in your class and say

nothing

• A stranger who smiles at you can only be 1) a

foreigner, 2) a lunatic, or 3) an alcoholic

• You have been engaged for four years without

intending to get married

• You go to the movies early enough to see the

commercials

• Your wife watches TV while you look after the kids

Page 25: What you-dont-read-about-finland

STATISTICS! MY OWN ”GETTING LOCAL STRATEGY” YES NO I DON’T

KNOW

1. I (already) know three street names in Kokkola

2. During my stay, these are my priorities here, in this order: (#1)

having a lot fun, (#2) making friends, for my life, (#3)

completing a few courses (the degree) - a must

3. On and off the campus, I will hang around mostly with foreign

(international) students and my own countrymen (country-

people)

4. Every day, I will try to learn at least 5-10 words of Finnish

5. I will make friends with local people in pubs and restaurants

6. I will follow the local and national/Finnish news regularly

7. I will try to travel as much as possible