One, two or more? – an examination of the apparition of language and discourse in a Finnish landscape of primary education

Abstract

<p>This article sets out to analyze how landscape functions in an educational context. It examines how landscape functions as an irreducible totality and as a nexus of discourse. The article focuses on the materialization of de jure and de facto discourses pertaining to languages in a primary level school in Southwest Finland. It also examines the role of different landscape participants in relation to the materialized discourses. Therefore the purpose of this study is to render visible, not the visible (Klee 1920, 28), focusing not on appearances but on the apparition of materialized discourses (Schein 1997). In order to achieve that, the article provides a concise examination of the relevant core concepts, discourse, discourse materialized and landscape. The results indicate the materialization de jure and de facto discourses on monolingualism and bilingualism, pertaining to Finnish and English. Teachers and staff are largely responsible for the materialization of these discourses.<br></p>