Becoming Whole: Why Intercultural and Mixed-Finnish Children Need Identity Support from the Very Beginning

Every child deserves to grow up feeling that all parts of who they are belong. For children growing up between cultures, languages, and identities, that sense of belonging cannot be taken for granted. It needs to be nurtured from the very beginning.

Based on findings of her master's thesis, Nora Dadi explores why identity recognition in early childhood matters, how everyday experiences can shape a child's sense of self, and what parents, educators, and communities can do to support intercultural and mixed-Finnish children. This blog reminds us that helping children feel whole is not only an educational responsibility, but also a foundation for lifelong wellbeing and belonging.

When I started my thesis, Belonging and Cultural Alienation in Early Childhood Education: A Qualitative Study of Identity Recognition in Finnish ECEC, I wanted to understand something that I had seen many times in my work with intercultural families: why do some people grow into adulthood still feeling that parts of themselves are missing, hidden or difficult to accept?

​My research focused on cultural identity, belonging and cultural alienation in early childhood education in Finland. I interviewed adults with intercultural or multilingual backgrounds, as well as professionals working with children and families. What I found was both painful and hopeful.

The painful part was that many adults could still remember how early experiences of not being recognised shaped their sense of self. Some described feeling “in between” cultures, not fully belonging anywhere. Some had lost connection to a language, a parent’s culture, a family history or a part of themselves. Some had learned very young that being different made them visible in uncomfortable ways, or invisible in the ways that mattered.

This is where racism must be part of the conversation.

Racism is not only direct name-calling or visible discrimination. For intercultural, multicultural and mixed-Finnish children, racism can also appear in small repeated messages: when their background is questioned, when their Finnishness is doubted, when their home language is ignored, when their family story is treated as unusual, or when their identity is only noticed as “difference” but not valued as a whole.

A child does not need adults to choose one side of their identity for them. A child needs adults to help them feel that all parts of them can belong together.

​One of the most important findings of my thesis was that cultural identity begins to form very early. It is shaped through relationships, language, family practices, everyday interaction, emotional safety and recognition. Children learn who they are not only from what adults tell them, but also from what adults notice, ignore, correct, celebrate or make space for.
This is why early childhood education matters so much.

If a child grows up with several cultures, languages, religions, family histories or racialised experiences, they need more than “everyone is treated the same.” Equality cannot mean that children’s differences disappear. Real equality means that each child is seen in their wholeness.

For mixed-Finnish children, this is especially important. Being mixed does not mean being half of something. A child is not half Finnish, half something else, or less complete because their identity crosses borders. A child can be fully Finnish and fully connected to another culture, language, family history or community. They can be both. They can be many. They can be whole.

In my research, some adults described needing decades to understand this. Some people in later adulthood still seemed to be searching for words, space and permission to accept their full identity. This does not mean that they failed. It means that they were often not supported early enough by the adults, communities and institutions around them. When children are not supported to understand and accept their full identity, they may learn to hide parts of themselves in order to belong. They may stop using a home language. They may feel shame about a parent, culture, religion or appearance. They may try to become “easier” for the environment around them. Over time, this can create cultural alienation: a painful distance from parts of one’s own identity.

But the hopeful part of my thesis is that this is not inevitable.

Children’s cultural identity can be supported through very ordinary everyday actions. Adults can pronounce names with care. They can ask families about languages, traditions and wishes without making assumptions. They can include different family stories, books, images and celebrations in daily life, not only on special theme days. They can respond immediately to racism and exclusion. They can help children speak about identity with pride, softness and safety.

This is also why Familia’s work is so important.

Familia works in the space between family life and wider society. It supports intercultural couples and families, offers counselling and peer support, creates materials, trains professionals and opens conversations that many families have carried alone for too long. This work is not only supportive after problems appear. It is preventive. It helps families, professionals and communities recognise children’s identities before silence becomes shame, before difference becomes isolation, and before cultural disconnection becomes a lifelong wound.

My thesis strengthened my belief that intercultural and mixed-Finnish children need support from the very beginning. Not because they are confused, but because society often gives them confusing messages. Not because their identity is a problem, but because adults and systems need better tools to recognise it.

A child should not have to wait until adulthood to become whole. They should be allowed to grow up knowing that every part of them has a place.

You can read my thesis here. 

WRITTEN BY NORA DADI