Finnish teacher education should be more inclusive so that future teachers have sufficient skills to understand and respect cultural diversity.
One of the tasks of teacher training is to prepare future teachers to work in a variety of classrooms. To achieve this, it is important to understand the knowledge and attitudes of pre-service teachers towards diversity.
A study conducted at the University of Lapland in 2019–2020 surveyed the knowledge and attitudes of 172 first-year student teachers towards Sámi people. The Sámi are the only officially recognized indigenous people in Finland. The pre-service teachers rated their own knowledge about Sámi as poor. There were significant gaps in their basic knowledge.
The results have already been considered in the latest revision of the University of Lapland's teacher education curriculum, which includes now more information on indigenous peoples and Sámi. However, Pigga Keskitalo from the Faculty of Education points out that national development work needs to continue.
“Teacher education must continue to be developed so that graduating teachers have the necessary know-how to understand and promote respect for cultural diversity," Keskitalo says.
Classrooms are becoming increasingly diverse. Graduating teachers' skills need to be upgraded so that curricula meet the requirements set by the National Board of Education for teaching national cultures.
“The results underline that teacher education should be increasingly inclusive," says Tanja Joona from the Arctic Centre, University of Lapland.
The study provides significant support for the REBOUND project, funded by the Strategic Research Council (SRC) and led by the University of Lapland.
Publication: Korte, S. M., Paksuniemi, M., Keskitalo, P., Selkälä, A., Körkkö, M., Anderson, K., Sarivaara, E. & Joona, T. (2024). Finnish Pre-Service Teachers’ Knowledge about Indigenous Sámi People. Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/15595692.2024.2415018
Further information:
University Lecturer Satu-Maarit Korte
satu-maarit.korte(at)ulapland.fi
040 484 4492
Professor Pigga Keskitalo
pigga.keskitalo(at)ulapland.fi
040 484 4153
University Researcher, Docent Tanja Joona
tanja.joona(at)ulapland.fi
040 484 4283