Teacher education in the Nordic European context continues to change rapidly in response to diversity. However, this context tends to receive less attention globally, despite being a part of the interconnected effort to prepare teachers and students for an increasingly complex and uncertain future. Against this backdrop, this volume presents timely research that identifies and critically explores some of the challenges and opportunities which researchers, educators, and teacher educators may encounter while working in culturally and linguistically contexts of education in Nordic Europe. In doing so, this volume aims to contribute to the broader conversations about diversity and education on an international level, particularly those focused on how to improve and enhance teacher education through more inclusive, responsive, and social justice-oriented practices. “Challenges and Opportunities Facing Diversity in Nordic Education” offers empirical, conceptual, and theoretical contributions on topics such as religion, gender and sex, language, culture, nationality, race and ethnicity that reflect the experiences, concerns, and needs of both teachers and students from primary to higher and teacher education. By recognizing, promoting, and understanding the importance of diversity in the classroom, educators can contribute to the achievement of academic success of every student.
Introduction Part I: Student Teachers’ Intercultural Competences Chapter 1: The More We Know, The More We Feel What We Know Is Limited:” Finnish Student Teachers Engaging with Chinese Students’ Ideas About Culture, Language and Interculturality, Ning Chen and Fred Dervin Chapter 2: “We Have Three Common Enemies…”: Student Teachers’ Perspectives on Existing Prejudice in Danish Multicultural Schools, Artëm Ingmar Benediktsson Chapter 3: Experiential Education, Museums and Student Teachers’ Intercultural Learning: Reflections on the Scandinavian Romani Exhibition, Vander Tavares and Thor-André Skrefsrud Chapter 4: Finnish Teacher-students’ Mindsets and Intercultural Competences, Meri Häärä, Inkeri Rissanen and Elina Kuusisto Chapter 5: Teacher Education for Inclusion: Preparing Student Teachers at the School of Education in Iceland to Work in Inclusive Multicultural Classrooms, Hafdís Guðjónsdóttir, Jónína Vala Kristinsdóttir, Samúel Currey Lefever and Gunnhildur Óskarsdóttir Part II: Multilingual Learning in Diverse Classrooms Chapter 6: Finnish Teachers’ Perspectives on Creating Multilingual Learning Opportunities in Diverse Classrooms, Jenni Alisaari, Mari Bergroth, Raisa Harju-Autti, Leena Maria Heikkola, Salla Sissonen and Heli Vigren Chapter 7: How Do Teachers of Plurilingual Learner’s Mother Tongue (PLMT) Implement Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy?, Maija Yli-Jokipii, Inkeri Rissanen and Elina Kuusisto Part III: Identifying Skills and Competences for Future Teachers in Religious Education Chapter 8: Critical Approaches to Religious Diversity in Education: What Skills Do Future Teachers Need? Anuleena Kimanen Chapter 9: Reconceptualizing Non-Confessional Religious Education in Norway from a Freirean Perspective, Thor-André Skrefsrud and Vander Tavares Part IV: Educators Supporting Cultural and Linguistic Diversity Chapter 10: Diversity and Inclusion in Physical Education: Kinesiocultural Exploration as Anti-Oppressive Teaching, Håkan Larsson Chapter 11: Esports: The New “White Boys” Club? Problematizing the Norms Limiting Diversity and Inclusion in an Educational Gaming Context, Fredrik Rusk and Matilda Ståhl Chapter 12: Teaching Towards Transformation: Promoting Multicultural Pedagogy in Iceland Through Reflective Participation, Charlotte Wolff, Renata Emilsson Peskova and Beth Draycott Chapter 13: Opportunities and Challenges in Implementing Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Practices in Preschools in Iceland, Hanna Ragnarsdóttir Part V: Students’ and Parents’ Encounters with Diversity Chapter 14: Locating Power: Polish Parents’ Encounter with Norwegian Education, Agnieszka Iwetta Rasmussen and Jonas Yassin Iversen Chapter 15: Negotiating Knowledge of Sexual and Gender Diversity: A Case Study with Migrant Students in a Swedish Language Course, Anna Winlund Chapter 16: Countering Narratives of Identity and Belonging: Multicultural School Events from a Student Perspective, Shpresa Basha and Thor-André Skrefsrud Chapter 17: The Roles of Migrant Parents in High School as Constructed by Teachers and Students: A “Double-edged Sword”, Julia Melnikova About the Authors
Vander Tavares is postdoctoral researcher in education at Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences Thor-André Skrefsrud is professor of education at the Faculty of Education at Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences.
Reviews for Critical and Creative Engagements with Diversity in Nordic Education
This is an extraordinarily rich collection of insights into the challenges of ethnic, cultural and linguistic diversity in education. The chapters are all drawn from Nordic countries but the implications for teachers, teacher educators and policymakers all around the world are very clear. Thor-André Skrefsrud and Vander Tavares must be congratulated by the global education community for drawing together this invaluable volume. This is an extraordinarily rich collection of insights into the challenges of ethnic, cultural and linguistic diversity in education. The chapters are all drawn from Nordic countries but the implications for teachers, teacher educators and policymakers all around the world are very clear. Vander Tavares and Thor-André Skrefsrud must be congratulated by the global education community for drawing together this invaluable volume. --Ian Menter, University of Oxford
