Nurturing National Belonging

Immigration to Finland has increased significantly over the past two decades, reaching a new peak after the start of the war in Ukraine in 2014. The early childhood education and care (ECEC) community can serve as the first point of contact for immigrant families seeking a sense of belonging, while also facilitating identification with the broader society. This study examines the subjective encounters of parents with an immigrant background ( https://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> n = 9 https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href=" https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781003563433/34f60769-0230-4c02-b460-97aa88d93b5c/content/ieq0006.tif "/> ) in the context of Finnish ECEC, focusing on how these experiences contribute to fostering a sense of national belonging. To contextualise the study, we first analyse the Finnish National core curriculum for ECEC, framing our discussion through the concept of citizenship to explore pathways to national belonging. Sameroff’s (2010) biopsychosocial ecological system model provides an analytical lens for categorising and interpreting the findings. Data were collected through individual and paired interviews during the spring and autumn of 2023, and the analysis was conducted using constructivist grounded theory (CGT)-informed content analysis. The findings reveal a need for enhanced support structures to promote immigrant families’ inclusion in Finnish society. Parents identified language acquisition as central to their sense of belonging, as it facilitates social interactions and community engagement. However, many families reported limited contact with other parents, with their children often serving as their primary link to Finnish society. ECEC teachers play a significant role in fostering belonging, particularly through incorporating parents’ wishes for daily language practice in educational settings. Crucially, this study draws on the Quality Use of Research Evidence (QURE) Framework to deepen the analysis of how ECEC environments can enhance immigrant families’ and children’s sense of belonging. The research findings inform how ECEC settings might be structured to better support national identification, addressing both linguistic and social dimensions of integration. Given the relatively weak sense of national identity among many immigrant families, future research should further explore how ECEC can act as a bridge to more inclusive forms of belonging.