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.

The thematic network on Teacher Education currently has seven different projects:

Arctic Pedagogy in Teacher Education. The overall goal of the project is to develop teacher education so it would give teachers the needed skills to take advantage of digitalization in teaching and learning, promote and support local cultures and use inclusive pedagogies in their work.

Enhancing Equity and Inclusion in Education in Circumpolar North (EICN). The project aims to strengthen collaboration under the UArctic Thematic Network on Teacher Education for Social Justice and Diversity with member institutions from Greenland, the Faroe Islands and Denmark. The project also aims to publish a boo focusing on inclusive polices and practices in educational settings.

Transformative Teacher Education for the Sustainable North (TTE). The project aims at responding to the specific challenges faced by national education systems, and teacher education in particular, in the sparsely populated Arctic region, and the ‘North of the North’. Similar challenges can be also found in remote areas in the global south.

Distance Teaching and Learning in the Arctic Communities (DistARCTIC). The project aims to draft a book proposal focusing on pedagogical practices in online/distance teaching and learning. The overall goal of the proposed project is to provide educators in schools and in teacher education means to reach their full potential of using digital tools in rural education.

Indigenous Pedagogy in Teacher Education (IPED). The goal of the project is to review and identify the Sámi and Indigenous pedagogy research needs at northern teacher education contexts and to support new research areas’ development.

Socially Innovative Interventions to Foster and to Advance Young Children’s Inclusion and Agency in Society through Voice and Story (ADVOST). The project will take into practice the theoretical guiding principles for facilitating and enhancing young children’s voice in specific contexts. This will be done in close cooperation with practitioners working with indigenous children in Finland, marginalized, indigenous, and immigrant children in Canada, and children with diverse ethnical and cultural backgrounds in the UK.

Arctic Five Teacher Education programme is formed between the Artic universities University of Lapland, University of Oulu, Luleå University of Technology, Umeå University, and UiT The Arctic University of Norway. They 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. The Arctic Five group aims to develop a joint online master study course (10 ECTS) on Arctic Inclusive Pedagogy. The joint course will be piloted during spring term 2021. Long-term goal is to establish a virtual resource centre and curriculum development towards common Nordic Master programme. More information on Arctic Five collaboration is available in Arctic Five website.

 

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.

Main Activities

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

  • Shared research
  • Publishing a joint book
  • Joint conference presentations
  • Co-authoring research articles
  • Common study modules/study courses
  • Student/teacher/researcher mobility, both short-term and full-term visits, including teaching and research

To learn more about the network and its news, visit the page All News & Newsletters.

Upcoming activities

  • Open online workshop “Indigenizing education: Historical perspectives and present challenges in Sámi education” on 16-17 November 2020. More information here.
  • Open virtual conference on 19 November 2020. More information TBA.
  • Internal project workshops during spring 2021.
  • Piloting joint online master study course Arctic Inclusive Pedagogy (10ECTS) during spring term 2021. More information here.
  • Network events in connection with UArctic Congress in May 2021 in Reykjavik, Iceland.
  • A session in ICASS X Conference in 15-19 June, 2021 in Arkhangelsk, Russia.
  • A joint book from project Enhancing Equity and Inclusion in Education in Circumpolar North(EICN).
  • A joint book proposal from project Distance Teaching and Learning in the Arctic Communities (DistARCTIC).
  • Network webinars 2-4 times a year.

Past activities

  • Network webinar “From thinking about what I bring to University study, to showing I’m ready to join the profession: embedded ePortfolio in a Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood & Primary)” held by Associate Professor Jennifer Munday from Charles Sturt University, Australia. More information here.
  • Network webinar “Inside the classroom - research perspectives on learning situations in the Greenlandic primary school system” held by PhD students Louise Andersen and Ivalu Mathiassen from University of Greenland. More information here.
  • Online workshop of project ADVOST. More information here.
  • Open seminar on Indigenous Pedagogy. More information here.
  • Workshop of project Arctic Five Teacher Education. More information here.
  • Local summit “Contemporary Issues in Education in Multicultural North”. More information here.
  • Roundtable discussion “Do you speak my language” in FERA Conference 2019. More information here.
  • First workshop of project EICN. More information here.
  • Workshop of project Arctic Five Teacher Education. More information here.
  • Network webinar “The Emerging Concern for Indigenous Language Education in Public Education in Canada” held by Associate Professor Frank Deer from University of Manitoba. More information here.
  • Publishing Position statement on Arctic Pedagogy. Available online here.
  • As part of the Arctic Council’s SDWG project "Teacher Education for Diversity and Equality in the Arctic" published a book Including the North: a Comparative Study of the Policies on Inclusion and Equity in the Circumpolar North. It explores inclusive policies in nine countries across the Arctic and beyond, including a chapter from a Sámi perspective. The book discusses a wide range of inclusive policies and highlights similarities and differences between the countries. The book is available online here.
  • Panel discussion and book launch event in Arctic Science Summit Week 2019. More information here.
  • The Conclusions is another outcome from the SDGW project and it emphasizes’ the role of teachers as creators of a sustainable future in the Arctic. The Conclusions include five suggestions to develop teacher education to serve the special circumstances of the North and Arctic better. Conclusions available online here.
  • Workshop of project Arctic Five Teacher Education. More information here.
  • Network webinar “Sustaining an endangered language through initial teacher education. The Māori language experience in New Zealand” held by Professor Huia Jankhe from Massey University, New Zealand. More information here.
  • Conference “Developing and Inclusive School”. More information here.
  • Workshop of project Arctic Five Teacher Education. More information here. 

 

Communications Contact:

Janette Peltokorpi 
Project manager 
University of Lapland