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