A1 Journal article (refereed)
Language Shift as a Way of Acquiring New Citizenship and a Profession : The Educational Background of the First Female Students at the Jyväskylä Teachers Seminary (2024)

Kotilainen, S. (2024). Language Shift as a Way of Acquiring New Citizenship and a Profession : The Educational Background of the First Female Students at the Jyväskylä Teachers Seminary. Nordic Journal of Educational History, 11(2), 9-35. https://doi.org/10.36368/njedh.v11i2.1057

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Kotilainen, Sofia

Journal or series: Nordic Journal of Educational History

ISSN: 2001-7766

eISSN: 2001-9076

Publication year: 2024

Publication date: 22/05/2024

Volume: 11

Issue number: 2

Pages range: 9-35

Publisher: Umeå universitet

Publication country: Sweden

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36368/njedh.v11i2.1057

Publication open access: Openly available

Publication channel open access: Open Access channel

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/95331

Abstract

This article sheds light on gendered aspects of the early years of the Finnish teacher training system. It focuses on the first generation of female students at the Jyväskylä Teachers Seminary in central Finland, their educational background, and their language competences. My main sources are the students’ applications to the seminary, which I explore with the help of the collective biographical method. The Jyväskylä Teachers Seminary, the first Finnish-language teacher training college for elementary school teachers in Finland, was established in central Finland in 1863, partly in response to the increasing significance of the Finnish language to the nation. For the girls who entered the seminary, their preparatory private education and the language shift they experienced there from Swedish to Finnish were significant factors both in their training as teachers and in the opportunity to gain a public profession of their own, as well as a new kind of female citizenship. Most of these women had graduated from private schools or had only private tutoring at home.

Keywords: multilingualism; professions; teacher training; teacher training institutions; citizenship

Free keywords: female citizenship; multilingualism; professions; social motherhood; teacher training

Contributing organizations

Ministry reporting: Yes

Reporting Year: 2024

Preliminary JUFO rating: 1