Engaging Ukrainian students in reception phase education: Teacher perspectives from Denmark and Finland

The arrival of large numbers of Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s war of aggression in 2022 required Nordic countries such as Denmark and Finland to reconsider how schools receive and engage newcomers. This study explores teachers’ views and beliefs about Ukrainian students, their life histories, and engagement in education in this historical context. Previous research has shown that teachers’ beliefs are closely linked to their educational practices, which play a central role in creating affordances for students’ engagement in school life. This is why teachers’ and professionals’ beliefs about teaching, learning, reception and engagement may play a crucial role in the reception of newcomers. Through a nexus analysis of data from two Nordic reception contexts, some shared discourses, perspectives and challenges emerged. The teachers generally reproduced welcoming discourses; however, their interpretations were shaped by broader discourses on both ‘good reception’ and potential trauma, which created an image of these transnational students as particularly vulnerable and in need of a safe environment. At the same time, in the teachers’ discourse, Ukrainian students were constructed as an exceptional group with a strong academic background but rooted in a different school culture. The results point to notable similarities between the two cases, which reflect a shared Nordic perspective on schooling, learning, and engagement that often remains implicit. However, the study suggests that in the context of transnational students, explication of this Nordic perspective may improve intercultural understanding.