Reader, writer, citizen – teaching children to read and write and the social significance of literacy in Oulu elementary schools and Maikkula Refugee Elementary School, 1890–1940

This doctoral dissertation shows that teaching Finnish language was already seen as an important and current issue at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The elementary school system taught how to use standard and written language but also raised children to become patriotic citizens. Teachers actively sought out new pedagogic information and wanted to improve Finnish teaching. Literacy as a concept was understood widely, so teaching was not limited to rudiments. The desired outcome of the education was a citizen, who could read, write, and use Finnish language fluently.

A considerable amount of literature has been published about the history of the previous elementary school system. However, this study sheds light to previously less researched Finnish language teaching. The dissertation concentrates on the Oulu city’s elementary schools and state-maintained Maikkula Elementary School, which was intended for East Karelian refugees. This dissertation investigates how Finnish language teaching executed, the objectives of teaching, and the way literacy was understood in the school system.

The period researched is interesting, because it was when Finnish public education was gradually developed to envelop almost everyone. At the same time new civil society and civil rights took shape. This research places Finland in European historical framework of expanding public education, in which literacy was deemed increasingly important in the face of new jobs and civil rights. The study is a local case example of the spread of school-based literacy in Finland.

The primary sources consist of archival materials from primary schools, and schoolbooks and teachers’ guidebooks used in the schools. In addition, the study uses national pedagogical guidelines, teachers’ magazines and items from local museum’s collection. The study was conducted with qualitative content analysis.

The doctoral dissertation provides new information about the historical understanding of literacy, which can provide insights into past people’s ways of behaving in literary environments. It can also help to understand the background of the current public school system and how first language and its teaching shape pupil’s worldview and circulate shared cultural beliefs.