Marikaisa Laiti M.Ed.
University of Lapland
Sami kindergarten history in Finland -
delopmental aspects of Sami Early Education
Sámi early education has a relatively short history in Finland. Children and families used to live in a traditional manner until World War II. During and after war time happened two remarkable things: evacuation by the end of the war to the western part of Finland and the rebuilding of Lapland after the war. These two events had a profound influence to the traditional way of Sámi peoples life in Finland. They influenced also the Sámi child-rearing, how it was and had to be organised. The monitoring and participating way of learning of Sámi children had to give a way to the western style.
History of institutionalised Sámi early education began some 30 years ago in 1981 in Utsjoki. From that on, it expanded little by little to the other parts Sámi Homeland area (Inari, Enontekiö and Vuotso village in Sodankylä), so that end of 1990’s there was some kind of early education in Sámi languages in all the Sámi Homeland area municipalities. Oulu was the first municipality to organise some kind of Sámi early education in 2002 in other parts of Finland. Year 2007 Rovaniemi established the first unit and Helsinki took its’ first steps on Sámi early education in 2005.
The main steps of Sámi early education in Finland. 1. The Sámi Delegation (the predecessor of Sami Parliament) was established in 1972, the rights of Sámi peoples and children became an issue. 2. Renewed Law of child day-care year in 1981, Sámi children’s rights to their mother tongue and culture based child day-care was recognised. 3. The status of the Sámi was written into the constitution in 1995. 4. First Sámi Early Education Curriculum was published in 2009. 5. The Curriculum Guidelines on ECEC in Finland 2016. Early education of all Sámi children has a special goal to strengthen their sámi identity and awareness of their own culture. When early education of Sámi children is organised in any of the sámi languages, the goal is specially to strengthen child’s language development, understanding and usage.
University of Lapland
Sami kindergarten history in Finland -
delopmental aspects of Sami Early Education
Sámi early education has a relatively short history in Finland. Children and families used to live in a traditional manner until World War II. During and after war time happened two remarkable things: evacuation by the end of the war to the western part of Finland and the rebuilding of Lapland after the war. These two events had a profound influence to the traditional way of Sámi peoples life in Finland. They influenced also the Sámi child-rearing, how it was and had to be organised. The monitoring and participating way of learning of Sámi children had to give a way to the western style.
History of institutionalised Sámi early education began some 30 years ago in 1981 in Utsjoki. From that on, it expanded little by little to the other parts Sámi Homeland area (Inari, Enontekiö and Vuotso village in Sodankylä), so that end of 1990’s there was some kind of early education in Sámi languages in all the Sámi Homeland area municipalities. Oulu was the first municipality to organise some kind of Sámi early education in 2002 in other parts of Finland. Year 2007 Rovaniemi established the first unit and Helsinki took its’ first steps on Sámi early education in 2005.
The main steps of Sámi early education in Finland. 1. The Sámi Delegation (the predecessor of Sami Parliament) was established in 1972, the rights of Sámi peoples and children became an issue. 2. Renewed Law of child day-care year in 1981, Sámi children’s rights to their mother tongue and culture based child day-care was recognised. 3. The status of the Sámi was written into the constitution in 1995. 4. First Sámi Early Education Curriculum was published in 2009. 5. The Curriculum Guidelines on ECEC in Finland 2016. Early education of all Sámi children has a special goal to strengthen their sámi identity and awareness of their own culture. When early education of Sámi children is organised in any of the sámi languages, the goal is specially to strengthen child’s language development, understanding and usage.