Challenges of kin-state textbooks: teaching and learning materials in the Finnish national minority language tuition in Sweden

This article inquires into the uses and production of teaching and learning materials(TLM) among the teachers of the national minority language (NML) of Finnish in Sweden.In educational policies, textbooks are identified as a central factor for equal tuition, butwe know little about the minority language didactics and usage of TLM. The aim of thestudy is to explore how NML teachers use TLM. A representative survey among Finnishteachers, the largest national-minority-language teachers’ group (N = 139) in Sweden,shows that teachers are dependent on textbooks published in the kinstate of Finland,produced for Swedish-speaking Finns and migrants with other linguistic backgroundsthan Finnish or Swedish. Teachers are actively engaged in generating playful TLM bythemselves, and the teaching is characterized by a solo ethos. The article concludes bysuggesting ideas for further research in the minority context of TLM development andsome recommendations for practice.