Fostering Social Inclusion through Multilingual Habitus in Estonia: A Case Study of the Open School of Kalamaja and the Sakala Private School

Abstract

After the restoration of independence in 1991, Estonia continued with a parallel school system with separate public schools operating for Russian-and Estonian-speaking children. Seen as a developmental 'growing pains' of a transitional state, during the last 27 years the separate school system has contributed to infrastructural difficulties, educational injustice, and societal segregation. This article investigates the role of private schools in addressing this injustice from the analytical angle of new institutionalism, structuration and intergroup contact theories. How do these institutions challenge and aim at changing the state language regime or path dependency in the language of education? Two case studies are presented in this article: The Open School, established in 2017 for children with different home language backgrounds and targeting trilingual competences; The Sakala Private School, established in 2009, offering trilingual education with Russian as a medium of instruction. During this period of nation-state rebuilding and globalization, we investigate whether developing a multilingual habitus is a way to address the issue of social cohesion in the Estonian society in. So far, no other studies of private initiatives in Estonian language acquisition planning have been done.

Technology of forming multilingual competency of biology students

“…Multilingualism has a long history, but its visibility has increased recently due to factors such as globalisation and population mobility. According to the Center for Modern Languages of the Council of Europe, more than half of the world's population is bilingual or multilingual (L'nyavskiy-Ekelund & Siiner, 2017).…”

An Estonian-Russian Language Club as a Venue for Grassroots Ethnic Integration

“…They have been organizing meetings of migrant groups with Estonians in various forms, such as ethnic cuisine cooking classes, workshops on braid-making by refugees from Africa, and lessons on various folk cultures, where Estonians can introduce their culture to the migrants in return (Saame tuttavaks n.d.). A growing body of research has demonstrated the role of language and integration policy agents other than the state in facilitating change in Estonia (L’nyavskiy-Ekelund and Siiner 2017, 98). In fact, the scholars have long understood the notion of language policy as processual, dynamic, and in motion, emerging in the course of everyday interaction (McCarty 2011, 2–3), and inferred from people’s language practices, ideologies and beliefs (Spolsky 2004, 8).…”

“…Even though Estonian is the sole national and official language in Estonia (Rannut 2008, 437), 1 Russian is an important linguistic resource for employees in positions that involve contact with the public (Berezkina 2017). Russian language competence is increasingly valued by Estonians with middle and high incomes (L’nyavskiy-Ekelund and Siiner 2017, 102) as it gives advantages in career growth and facilitates direct communication within the Russian culture without interpretation (Adamson and Tshuikina 2015, 210). This is why many Estonians coming to the language group meetings are young doctors, police officers, or sales managers.…”

Multilingualism and Social Inclusion

“…Finally, the linguistic landscape in Estonia is at the center of the article by Svetlana L'nyavskiy-Ekelund and Maarja Siiner (2017), who analyze the system of parallel and separated schools for Russian and Estonian speaking children. Contested as a system contributing to social injustice and segregation, the example of two private schools and their linguistic practices is examined, as the schools aim to drive inclusive institutions by employing inter alia multilingual practices.…”