How Do the Sámi Culture and School Culture Converge — or Do They?

• Published in: The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education
• Main Authors: Pigga Keskitalo, Kaarina Määttä
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit, The University of Queensland 2011
• Subjects: Sámi schooling; Indigenous people; socialisation; enculturation; teaching arrangements; cultural sensitivity; Special aspects of education; LC8-6691; Sámi
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1375/ajie.40.112; https://doaj.org/article/f572bfab1b244f5ba90d3e7579aa04fc

This article dissects instruction in the Norwegian Sámi School and its cultural sensitivity. The focus is on the classroom culture of Sámi education: how Sámi education is arranged in practice. The core of the research is intertwined with issues concerning the status, language, and culture of Indigenous people in education. The research was ethnographic and the research data consists of questionnaires ( N= 108), teachers' ( N= 15) interviews, and the researcher's field diaries. The research showed that the Sámi culture and school culture do not meet: the western school culture dominates teaching at the Sámi School and socialises the Sámi School into mainstream society. The Sámi people's conception of time, place, and information should be emphasised in the teaching arrangements.