“The system has failed the majority too”—Deconstructing the unawareness regarding the Sámi with the Dihtosis project : A collaborative study about the Dihtosis project and the agency context of teachers for decolonisation and everyday peace
Heinola, Anne (2022)
Heinola, Anne
2022
Master's Programme in Global Society
Yhteiskuntatieteiden tiedekunta - Faculty of Social Sciences
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2022-03-17
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202202172016
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202202172016
Tiivistelmä
Though there has been improvement in recent years, knowledge of the Sámi in the Finnish society in general and in the educational system is low. Among the Sámi this has been recognised as an issue decades ago, but only recently have the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance and government reports also made similar conclusions. General knowledge of the Sámi, of their histories and especially their rights are simply not known. When their perspectives go misreported and misunderstood, stereotypes have fertile ground and the Sámi face hate speech, discrimination and racism. Abuse of power is also possible and Sámi rights continue to be infringed upon. Various Sámi actors have however done much to improve the situation. One of these is the Dihtosis project, which holds workshops in school and produces materials to educate the majority about the Sámi. This thesis is a collaborative study with the Dihtosis project, which employs indigenous research and collaborative ethnography to better ensure ethical production of knowledge. By interviewing teachers and having discussions with the project, I examined the societal meaning of Dihtosis.
More specifically, this thesis examined the teachers’ experiences of Dihtosis and the educational system regarding teaching about the Sámi. According to teachers the system provides little support for teachers despite some improvement, and leaves them responsible in bringing up the topic. Moreover, the responsibility structure is unclear and teachers are already over-whelmed by the flood of topics and shortage of time, which hinders teachers looking into the topic themselves to know more about it and also to figure out how to talk about such a topic as a member of the majority. Simultaneously, Sámi perspectives have not been taken into consideration in the making of the curriculum. Some teachers were also concerned whether they can do so considering the attitude climate. In other words, the situation is epistemically violent to-wards the Sámi but also to some degree towards those who are sympathetic—also the proactive agency of teachers is hindered. The teachers themselves explained the lack of knowledge through the cycle of structural unawareness and power and politics. The majority Finnish regimes of truth are held onto as on the societal level the Sámi are left out of master narratives and memories and are institutionally forgotten. In this way the current power structures, colonialism, different forms of violence and racism in its many forms are maintained.
Through Sámi proactive agency, for instance in the form of Dihtosis, the hierarchy of knowledge can be broken and the teachers can be provided with aids to act proactively. Dihtosis highlights self-determination of knowledge by providing the knowledge that the Sámi want to be presented and in the form they would like it presented. Moreover, they draw from Sámi education, having a strong foundation on involvement, indirect learning and Sámi values, while it also employs principles of peace education and anti-prejudice methods. Most importantly Dihtosis has answered a need and it was found practical in the school context. However, it is still limited by scope, state structures and resources, also in which wider action is called for while considering self-determination and the context of teachers. In essence, through these notions and bringing out dangerous memories, Dihtosis can be seen as efforts of everyday peace building and decolonisation. Suomenkielinen tiivistelmä: https://nuor.fi/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/finaldihtosistiivistelma.pdf
Inarinsaamenkielinen tiedote: https://nuor.fi/is/news-article/system-lii-piattam-meiddei-valduaalmug-dihtosis-haaha-sammilijd-lohtaseijee-tietimettumvuoda-raccon/?fbclid=IwAR2BB4aSWI_ryHyfZDgYKBxUtAp00LGvwuR_2YeUndpQWLdJ9kbZFC4NKmc
Koltansaamenkielinen tiedote: https://nuor.fi/ks/news-article/systee%ca%b9m-lij-maannam-se-va%ca%b9lddnarood-dihtosis-ha%ca%b9n%c7%a9%c7%a9os-sa%ca%b9mmlaid-koll%ca%bcjeei-teadate%ca%b9mesvuod-pu%ca%b9r%c7%a7%c7%a7ee%ca%b9jen/?fbclid=IwAR3CT2zda6-MXvj0fbbZpKMEin7zftXF2Z_WrwIV3AYqGj9mpm4xf3pUxF0
Pohjoissaamenkielinen tiedote: https://nuor.fi/ps/news-article/systema-lea-beahttan-valdoalbmogage-dihtosis-proseakta-sapmelaccaide-laktaseaddji-diehtemeahttunvuoda-burgin/?fbclid=IwAR1DmnZJxVZYZSOSfYp2pSk9SyD7AokVWIr1cUbJC2vDRVZNL1HWXsELrvs
More specifically, this thesis examined the teachers’ experiences of Dihtosis and the educational system regarding teaching about the Sámi. According to teachers the system provides little support for teachers despite some improvement, and leaves them responsible in bringing up the topic. Moreover, the responsibility structure is unclear and teachers are already over-whelmed by the flood of topics and shortage of time, which hinders teachers looking into the topic themselves to know more about it and also to figure out how to talk about such a topic as a member of the majority. Simultaneously, Sámi perspectives have not been taken into consideration in the making of the curriculum. Some teachers were also concerned whether they can do so considering the attitude climate. In other words, the situation is epistemically violent to-wards the Sámi but also to some degree towards those who are sympathetic—also the proactive agency of teachers is hindered. The teachers themselves explained the lack of knowledge through the cycle of structural unawareness and power and politics. The majority Finnish regimes of truth are held onto as on the societal level the Sámi are left out of master narratives and memories and are institutionally forgotten. In this way the current power structures, colonialism, different forms of violence and racism in its many forms are maintained.
Through Sámi proactive agency, for instance in the form of Dihtosis, the hierarchy of knowledge can be broken and the teachers can be provided with aids to act proactively. Dihtosis highlights self-determination of knowledge by providing the knowledge that the Sámi want to be presented and in the form they would like it presented. Moreover, they draw from Sámi education, having a strong foundation on involvement, indirect learning and Sámi values, while it also employs principles of peace education and anti-prejudice methods. Most importantly Dihtosis has answered a need and it was found practical in the school context. However, it is still limited by scope, state structures and resources, also in which wider action is called for while considering self-determination and the context of teachers. In essence, through these notions and bringing out dangerous memories, Dihtosis can be seen as efforts of everyday peace building and decolonisation.
Inarinsaamenkielinen tiedote: https://nuor.fi/is/news-article/system-lii-piattam-meiddei-valduaalmug-dihtosis-haaha-sammilijd-lohtaseijee-tietimettumvuoda-raccon/?fbclid=IwAR2BB4aSWI_ryHyfZDgYKBxUtAp00LGvwuR_2YeUndpQWLdJ9kbZFC4NKmc
Koltansaamenkielinen tiedote: https://nuor.fi/ks/news-article/systee%ca%b9m-lij-maannam-se-va%ca%b9lddnarood-dihtosis-ha%ca%b9n%c7%a9%c7%a9os-sa%ca%b9mmlaid-koll%ca%bcjeei-teadate%ca%b9mesvuod-pu%ca%b9r%c7%a7%c7%a7ee%ca%b9jen/?fbclid=IwAR3CT2zda6-MXvj0fbbZpKMEin7zftXF2Z_WrwIV3AYqGj9mpm4xf3pUxF0
Pohjoissaamenkielinen tiedote: https://nuor.fi/ps/news-article/systema-lea-beahttan-valdoalbmogage-dihtosis-proseakta-sapmelaccaide-laktaseaddji-diehtemeahttunvuoda-burgin/?fbclid=IwAR1DmnZJxVZYZSOSfYp2pSk9SyD7AokVWIr1cUbJC2vDRVZNL1HWXsELrvs