1 Introduction
Sami education has travelled on a long journey since the 1600s, resulting in diversity and different logics or knowledge regimes in education.1 This edited volume Girjjohallat girjáivuoÄa â Embracing Diversity: Sami Education Theory, Practice and Research, emphasises the profound need to navigate Sami education contexts while celebrating and enjoying diversity. Tasks of this nature are crucial and require attention and discussion, as Sami society and educational institutions find themselves in evolving situations shaped by long-standing processes of change and ongoing educational needs among minoritised Indigenous peoples (Keskitalo & Olsen, 2021). The vast scope of this volume is to provide an all-Sami perspective of Sami education, by scholars from institutions providing teacher education in various countries with a Sami population. These include authors on Sami education from Finland, Norway, Sweden and the Russian Federation. In addition, a MÄori perspective is presented. In Aotearoa, New Zealand, scholars and teachers have developed a Kura Kaupapa MÄori, a âby MÄori, for MÄoriâ approach to schooling (Smith, 1999).
The aim of this volume is to provide a broad picture of Sami education, covering these four countries, where Sami people traditionally live. Nowadays, a broader scope is called for within Sami educational research, as many Sami have moved to suburban areas, outside the core traditional Sami areas. Currently, more than half of the Indigenous Sami people live in cities, a tendency that is also felt amongst other Indigenous peoples worldwide (Berg-Nordlie et al., 2022). All the starting points and changes create, profoundly and constantly, new demands in Sami education. The authors of this volume represent various teacher education perspectives, based on their research and their work in higher education. The volume aims to construct those premises created in the course of a long education history, and what possibilities and challenges exist currently, while promoting the progression in Indigenous self-determination in education.
This volume aims to contribute to and enrich the existing body of knowledge concerning Sami education within a pan-Sami framework and the broader international landscape of Indigenous education. Sami education research draws upon interdisciplinary perspectives, orientations, and methodologies, providing comprehensive insights into Sami education within its contemporary contexts. This exploration takes into account the enduring historical consequences, the current realities and the future aspirations of Sami education. The volume underscores the profound influence of education as a dynamic force that shapes individuals, spanning generations from the birth of children to the wisdom of older generations. Within the context Sami education, this encompasses the intergenerational connections and socialisation processes that guide individuals towards becoming integral parts of their families, communities, wider society and the intricate tapestry of the cosmological and natural world. Education, in this context, emerges as a powerful catalyst.
As a distinct discipline within the broader spectrum of Indigenous education, the field of Sami education holds profound significant within Sami research. It serves as a critical lens through which to examine the enduring impacts of colonisation and assimilation on Sami learners and their families, as well as the institutional and societal factors affecting them. This examination encompasses not only the educational experience but also the intricate relationship that the Sami people hold with their ancestral lands, the vast cosmos that surrounds them, and their relationships within family, kinship, and society. Of particular importance is the pursuit of strategies to disentangle the complex web of colonial legacies while navigating the challenges of modern educational landscapes. This endeavor is crucial for securing a brighter future for Sami children and youth, who, within a global context, represent the future of Indigenous peoples worldwide. Furthermore, it highlights the pressing need to raise awareness within mainstream education about the specific educational requirements and cultural nuances of the Sami community, fostering greater inclusivity and understanding across educational spheres.
However, it is essential to acknowledge that these efforts, while substantial, are not always sufficient. Even as Sami education strives to integrate traditional
All articles are research-based and produced by active leading scholars in the field, developing and working with Sami education and research, or with Indigenous education. Research is growing in all levels of Sami education. More official programs are developed at many levels, and within various educational institutions. There are many scholars with funded research projects at higher education institutions. We have included different scholars to present their work in workshops and be part of this volume as well. We argue that every teacher education institution, no matter where their location in those countries with Sami people, should include Sami content as part of their programs. Actual realisation of this aspiration varies. Norway emphasises this task in national teacher education frameworks.
The volume is intended for scholars undertaking Sami and Indigenous research, and students studying in this field. It will also cater to a general audience interested in Sami perspectives in education, both nationally and internationally. The volume will also provide the perspectives of authorities and politicians, with current knowledge on the status and developmental needs of Sami education from a Sami perspective. There is a dearth of research of this kind available, so the volume should be well received in higher education institutions that provide teacher education, Sami studies and Indigenous studies programs, including many of the higher education institutions in countries where Sami people live. Comparative perspectives provide an opportunity to discuss â through scholarly discuss â the diversity that Sami education represents. Indigenous education, including Sami education, aims to heal an open wound resulting from assimilation and colonisation, wherein schools and education played an important part.
The volume provides new insights for Indigenous educators on how to work in diverse educational settings, and with the multiple needs of the pupils and students living in the Sami language administrative areas in Norway, minority language areas in Sweden, and the Sami homeland in Finland, and also outside these official areas, mostly in urban areas. Furthermore, it is envisaged that discussion on how to transform traditional knowledge and land-based education will lead to an advancement in the quality of Indigenous education.
2
Focusing on Indigenous pedagogy and Sami education means that we are getting into a field with a lot of complex concepts, and with many different perspectives and approaches. As authors and editors of the volume, we see it as important to take Indigenous knowledge and perspectives as a starting point in working on these matters. Nonetheless, this does not mean that such matters are easily defined. The notions of âIndigenousâ, âIndigenous perspectivesâ, and âIndigenous educationâ carry a lot of historical baggage.
The Sami are the Indigenous people encompassing Norway, Sweden and Finland, and the Kola Peninsula in Russia. Although the nine Sami languages spoken today are mostly distinct from one another, and the Sami population is dispersed over a broad area across these four countries, they remain connected by deep cultural, historical, and linguistic ties (Hermanstrand, 2019). The concept of Indigenous peoples, as it is used today, is fairly new, and has grown out of the international movement of Indigenous peoples that was established, and has become a force to be reckoned with, since the 1970s. Still, the idea of Indigenous peoples is far older. For instance, in the Lap Codicil, the amendment to the border treaty between Norway and Sweden in 1751, ideas about the Sami were expressed that are quite similar to contemporary ideas.
An important aspect of understanding Sami communities today is the impact of change. The historical processes of modernisation, urbanisation, colonial processes of assimilation, Christianisation, and forced relocation resulted in profound changes for the Sami communities. Many Sami became part of their respective majority communities. The Indigenous Sami religion was replaced with Christianity. In parts of the main regions with a Sami population, people were moved against their will, as in Russia where the Kola Sami population were victims of the Sovietâs forced urbanisation policy, and in Sweden and Norway where border-crossing Sami reindeer herding was banned in the 1920s (Lantto, 2010). In addition to the challenges mentioned, it is crucial to recognise the historical impact of the Second World War, which brought about forced relocations for Sami communities. For instance, during this tumultuous period, Sami individuals were compelled to relocate temporarily, seeking refuge in evacuee areas. Moreover, Skolt Sami communities have been relocated from their ancestral lands due to the re-establishment of state borders resulting from war and other state political factors (Tanhua, 2023). Additionally, historical and more recent forced relocations add another layer of complexity to the Sami educational landscape, highlighting the importance of addressing historical traumas and disruptions while forging a path towards a culturally rich and resilient future.
The situation for Sami languages has completely changed through colonisation. Some Sami languages have disappeared, some are in danger of doing the same. Even North Sami, which, in parts of the main Sami regions has remained the majority language and has quite a few speakers, is considered an endangered language (Salminen, 2007). Today, as a result of the continuous Sami political struggle, and the last five decades of language revitalisation, Sami communities are alive and diverse. There are many ways of being Sami, and many Sami perspectives, so we need a contextual dimension when speaking of Sami perspectives or of Sami knowledge and tradition.
We do highlight the importance of an integral diversity perspective when we write about Sami education. As the Sami communities are diverse in language, geography, way of life and in how the Sami are affected and have been hurt by colonisation, Sami perspectives are therefore diverse. What it means to speak from a Sami standpoint cannot necessarily be taken for granted. That a South Sami perspective is the same as a North Sami perspective is not necessarily true. Adding other dimensions such as gender, geography and age complicates the matter further.
Nonetheless, there is a clear danger in over relativising such perspectives. In one of the workshops from this IPED project, a Sami scholar raised this as an issue and posed the question: Can the focus on diversity lead to division? Such a line of thinking, and emphasising diversity over unity, can create division and a weakening of the idea of the Sami as one people. We recognise this challenge and take it as an interesting and important warning sign when Sami diversity is a topic. We argue that with caution and care, a diverse perspective offers potential answers and possible paths to follow. We remain certain that a concept of diversity is necessary in order to understand the peculiarity of Sami regions with a Sami population and Sami education â and that diversity clearly reflects the situation in the Sami context. At the same time, we recognise that there is a limit when it comes to the potential relativisation and, thus, a fragmentation of Sami identity and community. Even though the boundaries of Sami identities, communities, and areas can be blurred, they still exist. The Sami remain one people. This balance of diversity without division is not a
There are several levels when taking these reflections into the writing on Sami knowledge. On a conceptual level, âSami knowledgeâ requires definition and explanation, beyond that of stating that it is knowledge from a Sami community. Here, the cautious diversity perspective can come in handy. On an individual or identity level, Sami knowledge can mean âour knowledgeâ or âmy knowledgeâ. This creates insight as well as the potential near-sightedness and requires reflexivity from the scholar and knowledge holder. On a political level, Sami knowledge can be seen as the knowledge of an Indigenous people, that is with certain rights attached. Regardless of which level we adhere to, in (educational) research, you cannot take for granted that your perspective and knowledge is that of everyone else, or that everyone knows where you are talking from. Thus, our emphasis of Indigenous knowledge as a starting point in writing requires a careful and self-critical approach. As Sami scholars coming from different parts of Samiland (Sápmi in the North Sami language), we should be careful of whom and what we aim to speak on behalf of. We argue that such care and caution is an important methodological claim.
3 Norway, Finland, Sweden and Russia: Policy and Teacher Education Context
There is a general lack of knowledge of Indigenous and Sami cultures, circumstances and histories. Education has a key role in increasing this kind of knowledge, that can create positive attitudes towards Indigenous Sami people. In Nordic countries, the primary school curriculum already urges, on a national level, that everyone should gain knowledge of its Indigenous people (cf. Spjut, 2021), the Sami. This has consequences also for teacher education.
Although there have been government-funded initiatives aimed at revitalizing Sami languages over recent decades, it is estimated that only about 30 percent of the Sami population currently speaks Sami languages, according to data from the Ethnologue database (Vangsnes, 2013). One challenge for the
Indigenous teacher education in Norway is provided by the Sámi University of Applied Sciences, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, and Nord University. There is some diversity as to how this is organised. At the Sámi University of Applied Sciences, the teacher education program is given in North Sami, and qualifies teachers for being in full immersion schools. Nord University has a particular responsibility for Lule Sami and South Sami, both languages that are considered highly endangered, and provides a general teacher education, where courses in the respective languages are given. UiT does the same for North Sami, which means that as part of the general teacher education program, the student can choose the North Sami language and train to become a language teacher. A tendency in teacher education in Norway, on a wider scale, is an increased interest in and commitment to integrating Sami perspectives and knowledge about Sami community, history, rights, and languages into mainstream teacher education programmes. Sami teacher education institutions are currently taking the lead in this, with other teacher education institutions further south following.
In Finland, Sami perspectives in teacher education are provided by the University of Lapland and the University of Oulu. At the University of Lapland, the Faculty of Education operates a quota system for Sami-speaking students, and since its establishment in the 1970s, the faculty has provided basic studies in the Sami language. Currently, for example, courses in Sami language didactics and Sami pedagogy are offered. Curriculum contents of Sami issues are offered to all students in order to secure the northern universityâs responsibility to educate culturally responsive teachers. In the University of Oulu, the Giellagas Institute provides a post-graduate Sami language teacher education program at masterâs level in the three Sami languages spoken in Finland, North Sami, Inari Sami and Skolt Sami. In the Faculty of Education, there is also a quota system for Sami-speaking pre-service teachers. The University of Oulu has offered project-based programs for Sami teacher education and early childhood education teacher education.
In the Russian Federation, the situation is more demanding. Students at present are unable to study to become a teacher in one of the Sami languages spoken in Russia: Ter, Kildin or Skolt Sami. Akkala Sami passed away a few years ago (Zmyvalova & Outakoski, 2019). It is possible to study, for example, some courses in Ter Sami at the University of Oulu, Giellagas Institute.
4 Authors and Editors of This Volume
A central characteristic of this volume is that the authors are an interdisciplinary field of scholars. We therefore aim to treat the field of Sami education as multifaceted, diverse, and intersectional, theoretically and practically.
The editors work in teacher education institutions, such as the University of Lapland, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Umeå University, and the Sámi University of Applied Sciences, providing country-based teaching on teacher education. The editors represent the current IPED network who have a long and extensive practice in, and research-based knowledge of, Sami education. Pigga Keskitalo is professor in education, specifically on Arctic perspectives in education, at the University of Lapland, Faculty of Education, Rovaniemi, Finland, and an adjunct professor in multicultural education at the University
The volume begins with the foreword by the editorial and network leader Professor Tuija Turunen from the University of Lapland. The introduction covers the theoretical and conceptual contents of Sami education from its standpoint as a decolonial interdisciplinary field of research. It will also delve into the content of the study programmes, addressing various forms of teacher education and the fields of Indigenous and Sami studies.
The theoretical section of the volume (Chapters 2â6) consists of philosophical, historical and methodological chapters, including a review of Indigenous education through a global lens. The chapters in the first part of the volume will be research-based theoretical presentations of and reflections on the current state of Sami education, its concepts, research and ethics. The second part (Chapter 7) of the volume presents the different aspects of Sami education in the four countries where Sami people live: Norway, Sweden, Russia and Finland, as well as review the educational practices in different parts of Sápmi, specifically the traditional area where Sami people live and suburban areas, and the developmental needs of their ongoing educational practices and future challenges. In the third part of the volume (Chapters 8â13), the researchers will present the results of their new research, providing a picture of the kind of research that is ongoing in the field, and of the broad and interdisciplinary research and methodology, with the concluding remarks of the volume.
5 Volume Chapters
Sami education as a term covers many kinds of education for, with and by the Sami. It includes the Sami language and culture as Sami content in education for Sami learners in Sami regions, and also outside these areas, and in addition to this, the need to give education for learners in educational settings and teacher students nationally. The need to emphasise and describe Sami education is wide.
In this volume, the knowledge holders who have been included as part of the research processes come from different educational contexts, which is why
Within the well-known framework of Indigenous methodologies, one of the core principles addresses the crucial importance of researchers anchoring their work with the people who are affected by the research. The research process should, ideally, be characterised by respectful relations, ethical awareness, and a willingness to create collaborations that are meaningful to both researchers and the knowledge holders. This point of departure should preferably permeate the whole research process from its very beginning when defining the research questions, to disseminating and bringing back the results for the Indigenous community to use, share and keep.
When focusing on research related to educational matters, we see that the line of reasoning outlined in the Indigenous methodologies field could also be beneficial if applied to the educational context. If transferred to the educational field of research, using the core principles of Indigenous methodologies, this could serve as a useful approach in order to establish respectful relations, and undertake research that is based on the needs expressed by the stakeholders in the educational institutions. As is the case within Indigenous research, collaborative practices in educational research also need to take their departure from defining who the stakeholder is in the specific context. On the one hand, this volume aims to promote specific Indigenous educational settings. On the other hand, the volume aims to interest the mainstream reader who seeks to develop his or her skills within the research field of Sami education. Or it might be interesting to those who carry an interest in minority issues. Regardless of the audience, the volume is intended to be valuable, albeit in different ways, to stakeholders and readers such as specific Indigenous communities, Sami teachers, parents, students, international audiences, or mainstream educators.
One matter that we want to underline as a backdrop to this publication is a well-known fact that is commonly recognised in many societies in which Indigenous peoples are present, namely the general lack of knowledge about Indigenous prospects. In Sápmi, knowledge about Sami and Indigenous perspectives is scarce, and an area that has a history of being neglected or insufficiently addressed within the educational system (Miettunen, 2020; Olsen et al., 2017; Spjut, 2021; Svonni, 2015). However, recent studies have shown that teachers in mainstream educational settings are eager to remedy this situation and want to do their part in changing the status quo (cf. Drugge & Norlin, 2023; Evju & Olsen, 2022; Korte et al., 2024). In order to do so, teachers express the need to be able to develop their own skills about Sami topics, so that they can feel
In the first part of the volume, and first research article, Rauna Rahko-Ravantti presents domains that should be considered when researching Sami education. Her model is based on the medicine wheel (e.g., Pewewardy, 1999) and is applied to the Sami education context expanding mental, spiritual, physical and emotional operationalisations of Indigenous education, as action. In the second research chapter, Pigga Keskitalo and Torjer Olsen review Indigenous and Sami education progression and tasks by discussing complex concepts of the field. In the following chapter, Ylva Jannok Nutti and Máret J. Heatta discuss Indigenous teacher educationâs profound aim to connect traditional knowledge and institutionalised education. Next, Huia Tomlins-Jahnkeâs chapter on MÄori struggles and priorities in the academy when building a MÄori teacher education programme in Aotearoa New Zealand. The general theoretical part of the volume ends with Anna-Lill Drugge, Hilde Sollid, Torjer Olsen and Pigga Keskitalo discussing ethical considerations in Sami education research, from the perspectives of three countries with diverse educational systems and research-related systems. The second part of the volume features a chapter by Kristina BelanÄiÄ, Ekaterina Zmyvalova, David Kroik, Hanna Helander and Torjer Olsen, who provide a comparative perspective of the institutionalised education systems in Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Russian Federation.
The chapters in part three focus on current education research by scholars in Sami education. The first article by Hanna Outakoskiâs is about teaching and writing in Sápmi, where she presents the outcomes of her research among adult Sami language learners by analysing their backgrounds, motivation and experiences. The following chapter by Inker-Anni Linkola-Aikio deals with youth perspectives on Sami language in a secondary school context, in order to understand which ideas young people, share about endangered languages and their usage. Annika Pasanenâs chapter on Sami language learning in Inari Sami adult teaching contexts describes how, despite being an endangered language, the vitality of the language has been improved. Heidi Harju-Luukkainen, Karianne Berg and Asbjørn Kolberg present a case study of the South Sami preschool and primary school in Norway as an important inclusive language and culture revitalising space. Again, Rauni Ãärelä-Vihriälä continues with the theme of early childhood education contexts by presenting the social dimensions and pedagogy of language nests, and how these are meant to function in a culturally responsive way. In the last article, Marikaisa Laiti discusses Sami early childhood education as a socialisation phenomenon through the concept
The research field that focuses on education in a general sense is broad and extensive, containing a variety of different approaches that meet the complexities that emerge in different educational contexts. Up until recently, Sami perspectives on education have not been present to any large degree in the education research discourse. With this volume, our ambition is to contribute to nuance this discourse by contributing with perspectives that can offer new and relevant knowledge of benefit to teachers, students, and the research field as such.
Note
In addition to Sami, the spellings âSámiâ or âSaamiâ are also recognised.
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