Overall Goal

The network will enhance teacher education for equality and social justice in the Arctic region. Short-term goals will be to advance shared research on topics relevant to TN’s members, establish steady cooperation between teacher educators across the member universities, and stimulate staff and student exchange. A long-term goal will be to develop a virtual research and resource centre for high quality teacher education research and practice.

SDWG project "Teacher Education for Diversity and Equality in the Arctic"

In spring 2017, the network's project "Teacher Education for Diversity and Equality in the Arctic" was approved as a new project for the Arctic Council's Sustainable Development Working Group. The project will focus on knowledge exchange around inclusive and effective practices, such as Arctic pedagogy that incorporates indigenous pedagogical practices; innovative approaches to education in sparsely populated areas; community-based education; using technology to enhance participation and agency; and pedagogical models for multi-modal and digital environments.

UNITWIN/UNESCO Network on Teacher Education for Social Justice and Diversity in Education

The UNITWIN/UNESCO Network on Teacher Education for Social Justice and Diversity in Education was established on May 2018. The Network continues and globally expands the cooperation already started in the UArctic TN on Teacher Education. The Coordinator of the UNITWIN/UNESCO Network is Professor Tuija Turunen, the leader of the UArctic TN on Teacher Education.

Arctic Five

The Artic universities University of Lapland, University of Oulu, Luleå University of Technology, Umeå University, and UiT The Arctic University of Norway—the Arctic Five (Arctic5) work together to understand better the contextual and cultural issues of the Nordic educational features via engagement with local communities, indigenous and minority populations, and through institutional and research collaborations.

Main Activities

The network aims to facilitate interaction and promote research among the teacher education programmes in the member universities. At the initial stage, the network envisages the following:

  • Joint research
  • Student/teacher/researcher mobility, both short-term and full-term visits, including teaching and research
  • Joint PhD student network

To learn more about the network and its news, read the newsletter.

Past activities

  • TN and the UNESCO/UNITWIN network on teacher education organized a UArctic Congress side event for teachers, teacher educators, Sami representatives and UArctic thematic network members and other interested parties to discuss and network under the theme “Indigenous Languages in Urbanized Areas” on September 3, 2018 in Oulu. Event included three keynote speeches and discussions under the event theme.
  • UNESCO/UNITWIN network on Teacher Education for Social Justice and Diversity in Education was formally established on May 2018.
  • Webinar on “Finnish basic education and teacher education – perspectives on inclusive education” was held on June 7, 2018. Listen the recording of the webinar here.
  • Local Summit was held on May 8, 2018 in Tromso under theme Teaching for Diversity and Inclusion in Arctic - the local context and global perspectives.
  • The Thematic Network Symposium took place on the 27th and 28th of November in Rovaniemi with the focus being Teacher Education of the Arctic region: Diversity and Identity in the North.
  • Online Seminar on theme Inuit Knowledge in a Teacher Education was organized on October 4, 2017. Listen the recording of the online seminar here.
  • Online Seminar on “Autodidactism - How to train teachers, make reasonable choices and implement one's own educational technologies“ was held on June 14, 2017. Listen the recording of the online seminar here.
  • The Thematic Networks first online research seminar between the Universities of Helsinki/Open University and the University of Aberdeen was carried out 30 March 2017. The seminar dealt with the topic: What is diversity in learning? The seminar had fifteen students and four lecturers participating. Read the short report here.
  • Tuija Turunen, lead of the TN, gave a speech on the topic "Arctic Teachers: Creators of a Sustainable Future" at The Arctic: Territory of Dialogue forum in Arkhangelsk, Russia, 29-30 March 2017. A short summary of her speech: "Teachers reach hundreds of children and young people during their teaching careers and are thus essential stakeholders in the quest for a sustainable circumpolar Arctic future. Attracting committed, high-performing teachers is one of the key professional issues in the Arctic territories. When successful, teachers educate the next generation to be willing and capable to work for and in the Arctic and to do so proudly."