Early Childhood for Indigenous Sámi Children of Finland

• This chapter focuses on the early childhood education of Sámi children in Finland, in the Finnish Sámi Homeland, located in the area of northern Finland, and outside this core area steered by the Early Education Act in Finland (Ministry of Education and Culture (2018) and the Early Childhood Education and Care Act 8.5.2015/540). We aim to discuss in this chapter how the Finnish Constitution’s wording ‘the Sámi have, as an indigenous people, the right to maintain and develop their own language, culture and traditional livelihoods’, will be realised in the context of early childhood education in relation to the Education Act as the planned and purposeful whole-child’s upbringing, teaching and care, with special emphasis on pedagogy. We recognise that every child from ‘ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities or persons of indigenous origin’ has the right to ‘enjoy his or her own culture … and religion’ (CRC, article 30, UNCRC, 1989). In combining the expertise of different academics, our aim is to describe the premises and starting point of Sámi early childhood education in Finland. An important question is how traditional Sámi childrearing practices and knowledge are taken into account in new settings in institutionalised education, with the aim of preserving the Sámi culture and identity of diverse learners. To do this, early childhood education must recognise the importance of different approaches to learning by working with and involving Indigenous communities.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap -- Pedagogik (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Educational Sciences -- Pedagogy (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Annan samhällsvetenskap -- Övrig annan samhällsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Other Social Sciences -- Other Social Sciences not elsewhere specified (hsv//eng)

Keyword

culture-sensitive education

early childhood education

indigenous children

preschool

Sami children

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kap (subject category)