Conference Agenda

Official truth commission processes concerning the Sámi have recently concluded in Norway (2023) and Finland (2025), with Sweden’s due to conclude in 2026 (Szpak and Bunikowski 2021; Skaar 2024; Norlin et al. 2024). Across these contexts, inquiries have identified the historical role of education in assimilation policies and ongoing deficiencies in teacher preparation relating to Sámi histories, cultures, and languages, contributing to persistent intergenerational knowledge gaps (Olsen and Sollid 2022; Sønneland and Lingaas 2023; Drugge and Norlin 2023; Keskitalo and Olsen 2025). As a result, teacher education has emerged as a key site of scrutiny within broader truth and reconciliation agendas in the circumpolar north. These processes are generating new policy expectations, institutional pressures, and pedagogical debates, creating openings to critically re-examine how teacher education is structured, resourced, and enacted in Indigenous and minority contexts (Norlin et al. 2024)

This symposium brings together empirically grounded research from across the Nordic region to examine how discourses and processes of truth and reconciliation are being interpreted and enacted within teacher education. Adopting a comparative and cross-national perspective, the papers analyse teacher education frameworks, curriculum policies, institutional strategies, and pedagogical practices related to Sámi perspectives and Indigenous knowledges. Collectively, they address questions of curriculum framing, educator preparedness, institutional support, and the impacts of political backlash.

The symposium foregrounds research that operates at multiple levels—systemic, institutional, and pedagogical—and employs a range of qualitative and mixed methods, including interview-based studies, policy analysis, and curriculum research. By identifying both barriers and enabling conditions, the papers contribute to a more nuanced understanding of how teacher education functions as a site of historical redress, knowledge production, and political contestation in Nordic and circumpolar contexts.

The symposium aims to advance research-informed dialogue and collaboration across Nordic countries, while contributing conceptually to debates on truth, reconciliation, and Indigenous education beyond settler-colonial contexts. In doing so, it seeks to develop context-sensitive analytical frameworks that can inform future research, policy development, and practice in teacher education across the region.

Recent truth and reconciliation processes in Norway (2023), Finland (2025), and Sweden (2026) have drawn attention to the historical role of education in the assimilation of the Sámi and positioned teacher education as a key site for redress (Sønneland and Lingaas, 2023; Norlin et al. 2024). While official reports identify significant intergenerational knowledge gaps concerning Sámi histories, cultures, and languages, there remains limited research on how teacher educators themselves understand and enact the teaching of Sámi perspectives within contemporary teacher education. This chapter addresses this gap through a comparative qualitative study of 18 teacher educators working in Norway, Finland, and Sweden. Grounded in an interpretivist paradigm (Schwartz-Shea and Yanow, 2013), the study examines how teacher educators make meaning of their responsibilities for teaching Sámi knowledges and shared histories, and how they interpret discourses of truth and reconciliation in relation to their local institutional, political, and community contexts. Data were generated through semi-structured interviews and analysed thematically using an inductive, reflexive approach (Braun and Clarke, 2017). As a pilot study, the research does not aim for representative coverage, but instead seeks to identify common themes and points of divergence across national settings. The paper is structured around three comparative themes. First, participants described inflexible and crowded teacher education curricula as a key barrier to the meaningful inclusion of Sámi perspectives, though the nature of these constraints varied across countries. Second, persistent knowledge gaps among teacher educators, teachers, and the wider public were identified, alongside varied assessments of the capacity of truth commission processes to address these gaps. Third, participants across all three contexts described rising racism and political backlash. This shaped both institutional responses and individual educators’ sense of risk and responsibility when engaging with Sámi-related content. In conclusion, the paper calls for the development of Nordic- and Sámi-specific approaches supported by sustained institutional and systemic commitment.

Sønneland, A. M., & Lingaas, C. (2023). Righting Injustices Towards the Sámi: A Critical Perspective on the Norwegian Truth and Reconciliation Commission. International Journal on Minority and Group Rights, 30(4), 588-616. https://doi.org/10.1163/15718115-bja10105 Norlin, B., Keynes, M., & Drugge, A.-L. (2024). Truth Commissions and Teacher Education in Australia and the Northern Nordics. Genealogy, 8(2) https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy8020068 Schwartz-Shea, P., & Yanow, D. (2013). Interpretive research design: Concepts and processes (2nd ed.). Routledge. Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2017). Thematic analysis: A practical guide. SAGE

There is a well-documented gap in the systematic treatment of Saami Indigenous issues within Finnish teacher education. Despite national and international commitments to Indigenous rights, cultural sustainability, and educational equity, teacher education programmes in Finland rarely provide students with structured learning opportunities related to Saami history, languages, or pedagogical perspectives. This absence limits the development of culturally responsive teaching practices and undermines broader goals of educational justice. The present study investigates why Saami-related content is largely missing from teacher education and explores how such content could be meaningfully integrated. Our data consist of a group discussion with teacher educators affiliated with teacher education programmes. The discussion focused on three guiding questions: Why do we lack Saami Indigenous content in our program? What barriers prevent its inclusion? And what changes are necessary to ensure its systematic integration? The data are analysed using thematic content analysis. The findings highlight structural, epistemic, and curricular factors that contribute to the marginalization of Saami perspectives in teacher education, alongside concrete proposals for reform. By articulating educators’ perspectives on both the challenges and possibilities for curriculum development, this study advances current debates on how Finnish higher education institutions can operationalize their responsibilities toward Indigenous rights. The results offer actionable insights and potential strategies for embedding Saami knowledge and pedagogical models across teacher education programmes in Finland.

Alisaari, J., Harju-Autti, R., et al. (2023). Finnish teachers’ perspectives on creating multilingual learning opportunities in diverse classrooms. In V. Tavares & T-A. Skefsrud (Eds.), Challenges and Opportunities Facing Diversity in Nordic Education. (pp. 109–129). Lexington Books. Dahal, N., & Luitel, B. C. (2023). Collaborative Autoethnography: Emancipatory Research for Educational Researchers. Journal of Transformative Praxis, 4(1), pp. 1-8. Harju-Autti, R., & Mäkinen, M. (2024). Toward sustainable and linguistically responsive support measures for recently arrived language learners. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 45(8), 3258–3274. Heim, G., & Bergan, V. (2024). Braiding Sámi Diversity and Sámi Pedagogy into Early Childhood Teacher Education: An Example from Norway. Education Sciences, 14(11), 1212. Korte, S.-M., Paksuniemi, M., Keskitalo, P., Selkälä, A., Körkkö, M., Anderson, K., Sarivaara, E., & Joona, T. (2024). Finnish pre-service teachers’ knowledge about the Indigenous Saami people. Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education. Advance online publication. Mattila, E., Lindén, J., & Annala, J. (2025). On the shoulders of a perfect stranger: Knowledge gap about the Indigenous Saami in the Finnish teacher education curriculum. Race Ethnicity and Education, 28(7), 1157–1173. Somby, H. M., & Olsen, T. A. (2025). Inclusion as indigenisation? Sámi perspectives in teacher education. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 29(3), 259–273.

This presentation builds on a follow-up study of Olsen et al. (2017), in which we proposed a national competence strategy to develop a Norwegian teacher education system that integrates Sámi issues and perspectives in a sustainable and systematic manner. In recent years, there has been a notable increase in research activity focused on the inclusion of Sámi content and perspectives into the Norwegian education system. Importantly, teacher education plays a key role in the growing interest and progress in the field, as reflected in the rising number of master's theses on Sámi and Indigenous-related topics. This trend appears to be characteristic of teacher education institutions nationwide. What subject areas and topics are explored in the theses? What research questions are posed? What methods and approaches are employed? And what findings and outcomes emerge from the research? To answer these questions, we have mapped Sámi- and Indigenous-related master’s theses from various teacher education programs in Norwegian research archives spanning the period from 2010 to 2025. In the discussion, we integrate findings from different subject areas and disciplines, with a particular focus on the case of Norwegian subject didactics, language, and literature. This overview contributes to research-based knowledge on key developments in Norway and offers valuable insight into future opportunities and needs within the (teacher) education system in the field.

Andreassen, B.-O., & Olsen, T. A. (ed.) (2022). Urfolk og nasjonale minoriteter i skole og lærerutdanning (2nd Ed.), Fagbokforlaget. Berg-Nordlie, M. (2022). Norsk antisamisme i fortid og nåtid. In. C. A. Døving (ed.), Rasisme: Fenomenet, forskningen, erfaringene (pp. 94–106), Universitetsforlaget. Eriksen, K. G., Aamaas, Å, & Bjerknes, A.-L. (ed.) (2022). Å lytte til og å engasjere seg i fortellinger: Refleksjonsverktøy for arbeid med samiske perspektiv og urfolksperspektiv i lærerutdanningen, Dembra/HL-senteret. Figenschou, G., Karlsen, S. S., & Pedersen, H. C. (ed.), Ávdnet – samiske tema i skole og utdanning, Universitetsforlaget. Johansen, Å. M., & Sollid, H. (2023). Samisk i norskfaget – fra plan til praksis, Fagbokforlaget. Keskitalo, P., and T Olsen. (2025). “Review of Indigenous Education and Sami Pedagogy: Key Tendencies and Notions”. In Girjjohallat girjáivuođa - Embracing Diversity: Sami educa-tion theory, practice and research, edited by P. Keskitalo, T. Olsen, A.-L. Drugge, and R. Rahko-Ravantti. Brill, 35–58. Olsen, T. A., & Sollid, H. (ed.) (2022). Indigenising Education and Citizenship: Perspectives on Policies and Practices From Sápmi and Beyond, Scandinavian University Press.

Umeå University (UmU) is host to one of the largest and most central teacher educations (TE) in the northern Nordics. Like many other universities in Sweden, TE at UmU is not functioning as a single faculty or unit, but rather as an administrative hub connecting faculties, departments, disciplines, subject areas and teacher educators from across the university. This means that teaching competences and expertise from a wide variety of fields can be engaged in TE-programs, but at the same time also a latent organizational and disciplinary fragmentation, impacting basically all areas of knowledge that are supposed to be included in the training of future teachers. This presentation focuses on one such area, namely how knowledge about the Indigenous Sámi comes into TE-programs, and how the frame factors for organizing TE on different levels (systemic, institutional and individual) impacts how this is realized. The study expands on the concepts of fragmentation, framing, classification, and teacher agency, and includes a detailed mapping and examination of activities relating to the teaching about the Sámi across different faculties and departments involved in TE-programs. The overall aim is to strengthen knowledge about how frame factors on systemic, institutional and individual conditions interact in how this area of TE is realized, as well as about the implications on teaching and learning the current organization of it might have. Three research questions guide the study: RQ 1. In which specific parts of the teacher training can knowledge relating to the Sámi be localized, and to which specific academic disciplines, subject areas and course modules is this knowledge linked? RQ 2. What frame factors at systemic, institutional and individual level can be seen as decisive when it comes to how this knowledge can benefit the training of future teachers? RQ 3. What limitations and opportunities are there in terms of strengthening and creating more cohesive knowledge about the Sámi in this specific model for organizing teacher education? The authors are all involved in the organization of TE at UmU and draw on professional experience and knowledge.

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