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Narratives of Sámi School History in Finland: Assimilation and Empowerment

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Book cover Sámi Educational History in a Comparative International Perspective

Abstract

In this article, I will discuss the narratives produced in the research of Sámi school history in Finland. The sources consist of studies in Sámi school history and history of education in Finland as well as in pedagogical studies since 1980s to the present day. While the narrative of assimilation dominates the field, due to good historically verifiable reasons, other kind of narratives are discernible as well. The exceptional success achieved in the school policies and improvements in education of and in Sámi point out to a narrative of ethnopolitical victory. The stratification of the Sámi community may be an indication of narrative/histories of empowerment. Ways to discern these narratives in research, and to make Sámi histories multi-vocal, are also discussed in the article.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Minutes from a meeting in Kolttaköngäs. Letter from the folk school inspector in Petsamo, 10.11.1928, Folder 2, Box 18, Archive of Väinö Tanner, Archive of the Arctic University Museum of Norway.

  2. 2.

    Ibid.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Arctic University Museum of Norway, UiT—The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway

    Jukka Nyyssönen

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  1. Jukka Nyyssönen
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Correspondence to Jukka Nyyssönen .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Division of History of Science, Technology and Environment, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden

    Otso Kortekangas

  2. Department of History, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

    Otso Kortekangas

  3. Department of Education, University of Lapland, Rovaniemi, Finland

    Pigga Keskitalo

  4. The Arctic University Museum of Norway, UiT—The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway

    Jukka Nyyssönen

  5. Department of History, Södertörn University, Huddinge, Stockholms Län, Sweden

    Andrej Kotljarchuk

  6. Department of Education, University of Lapland, Rovaniemi, Finland

    Merja Paksuniemi

  7. Department of Education, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

    David Sjögren

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Nyyssönen, J. (2019). Narratives of Sámi School History in Finland: Assimilation and Empowerment. In: Kortekangas, O., Keskitalo, P., Nyyssönen, J., Kotljarchuk, A., Paksuniemi, M., Sjögren, D. (eds) Sámi Educational History in a Comparative International Perspective. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24112-4_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24112-4_4

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-24111-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-24112-4

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