Bilingual educational solutions have been actively discussed in relation to Finland’s national languages for over a decade. In Swedish-speaking Finland, bilingual schools have been perceived both as a potential threat to the position of Swedish in education and society, and as a source of cautious interest, particularly among bilingual families. The first political initiative for a Finnish Swedish bilingual school was introduced in 2014, and over the past ten years, various potential models and solutions have been debated in the media and within municipal decision-making bodies.
Autumn 2024 marked a turning point in this discussion, as the first bilingual school in Finland began operating. Ultimately, the Nordic School was not a newly established institution but a new bilingual program in an existing school in Helsinki. In the bilingual classes, the school offers dual-language immersion in both Finnish and Swedish to children from both language groups and – unlike previous immersion programs – also to children with other first languages. Interest in the bilingual program was significant: approximately half of all applicants were unable to secure a place in the inaugural bilingual class. Beyond a language policy perspective, the Nordic School should therefore also be analyzed from the perspective of educational choice, as it is likely to influence how families with diverse linguistic and social backgrounds position themselves within the local school market. The ten-year journey of the Nordic School, from political initiative to educational reality, has both reflected and reshaped the discursive and material landscape in which public opinion and political decisions regarding bilingual education are formed. Understanding this landscape, and the various actors' interests and roles in its formation, is essential for making sustainable policy decisions concerning the shifting role of Swedish in Finland’s education system.
The project is carried out in collaboration with staff, pupils and parents at the