A PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH FOR SOCIO-CULTURAL INCLUSION: A STUDY ON IMMIGRANT ENTREPRENEURS IN FINLAND

"According to the United Nations in 2019, the number of migrants worldwide reached 272 million and the wave of migration is expected to increase after the pandemic. As the number of immigrants increases, a strategy for their socio-cultural inclusion becomes essential. Finland is a Nordic country with a limited population that considered culturally, ethnically, and linguistically homogeneous, however, it is gradually changing as the number of immigrants increases. Promoting the integration of migrants and increasing their access to public services, labor market, private sector and opportunities in the host country is included in the strategies of the European Commission. Regarding the importance of entrepreneurship in the cultural inclusion of immigrants, this case study was conducted with an emphasis on the role of information technology in facilitating entrepreneurship for immigrants in Finland. Accordingly, a group interview was conducted to understand the challenges that migrants encounter in obtaining the information that they need. The results showed that immigrant entrepreneurs with different fields and backgrounds had difficulties finding some required information on Finnish websites. Some information or sources of information are known to locals while unknown or inaccessible to immigrants. In addition, participant of the study expected more variety and interaction in content on Finnish websites. This study proposes technological pedagogical content design (TPCD) as a systematic approach to design websites with more attention to multicultural users. TPCD assumes immigrants as learners who need to learn the new knowledge and skills in the host country. It utilizes pedagogical principles to define the needs of immigrants to clarify goals, create and organize content, and design web pages."