Research
The Basics of Arctic Pedagogy
The purpose of this article is to describe and define the special features of teaching and learning in the northern areas of Finland, especially in Arctic contexts. The article introduces the essence of Arctic pedagogy by introducing its challenges and goals, possibilities and significance. A model of Arctic pedagogy to be applied in northern education is outlined as a five-level action and teaching tool, which is manifested in learning processes, learning environments, teacherhood, educational leadership, and multi-professionalism. The cornerstones of Arctic pedagogy are adapting, understanding, and analyzing Arctic information in learning processes, student-centered caring teacherhood, wide-ranging networking to support learning, and communalism. The relationship between Arctic information, its implementation through Arctic pedagogy, and the goals of Arctic future skills are discussed.
A Story of an Ideal Study Process at the University of Lapland, Finland
Universities’ competition for talented applicants is tightening and many universities have to think about methods to increase their attractiveness in the eyes of students. Smooth study processes are important not only for the continuity of the university but also for the student’s well-being and employment after studies. Certain university-level measures can enhance this process, although they alone do not guarantee swift graduation. In this study, student tutors (N=82) from the university of Lapland talked about the factors enhancing study processes from their points of view. The data were combined into one narrative that crystallizes the happy and smooth study process called “the ideal study processâ€.
Introducing the Concept of the Experience-Based Capital of Physical Exercise (ECPE)
In his theory about capital types, Bourdieu divided capital into cultural capital, economic capital, and social capital. One of the forms of cultural capital is the embodied state that manifests itself as internalized cultural skills, abilities and aptitudes, and is strongly connected to an individual person’s habitus. The purpose of this article is to study experiences of physical exercise. Can these experiences be regarded as capital? The article aims at introducing a theoretical framework for experiences of physical exercise that we call the experience-based capital of physical exercise (ECPE). This capital type is considered a part of cultural capital. The idea is that if physical exercise is considered capital, the world of the experiences of physical exercise can be analyzed in a varied manner. The concept of ECPE gives an opportunity to do and provide physical exercise as diversely as possible by having exercise experiences as the starting point. Therefore, the concept can be used for health-promotion purposes.
Parental LoveaIrreplaceable for Childrenas Well-being
Child rearing has become challenging during past years and great expectations are placed for parenthood. Although the public upbringing has become professionalized and the day-care and school services are available in today’s society, parents have the main responsibility for rearing children. How and into what should children be raised? In this article, good parenthood is paralleled with parental love. As a result, two valuable and demanding underlying contents of parental love are discussed in this article: setting up safe boundaries and constructing good self-esteem as the core of good parenthood and parental love. The perspective in this article is fundamentally positive: parental love appreciates and cares about the child and does not abandon the child even when his/her behavior causes disappointments and trouble.
The Position and Identification of the Non-Status SAmi in the Marginal of Indigeneity
The concept of a Non-Status member of an indigenous people refers to a person who is Indigenous but does not have the status as an indigenous person. The indigenous status has often been lost after the adaptation of complicated legal rules resulting to a situation that is not equivalent with individuals’ self-identification with an indigenous people. This article introduces the concept of Non-Status Sámi in the Finnish situation where some of the Sámi are excluded from the official definition of indigenous. This was a narrative study aiming at producing subjective knowledge about Sámi identity and experiences of it. Non-Status Sámi (N=10) were interviewed. The study took place in Finland which is one of the four countries inhabited by the Sámi. The study showed that the official definition of an indigenous people matters for the identity of an individual person. The purpose of this study was to increase information about the phenomenon and tear down stereotypes and myths about Sáminess.
