"Education, Equity and Inclusion - Teaching and Learning for a Sustainable North" book launches were held at the University of Lapland and at the FERA Conference
The book "Education, Equity and Inclusion - Teaching and Learning for a Sustainable North" launch event was celebrated on Monday 21st November 2022 at the University of Lapland and on Friday 25th November 2022 at Finnish Educational Research Association Conference in Oulu, Finland.
Both book launch events started with a presentation of an "Enhancing Equity and Inclusion in Education in Circumpolar North" (EICN) project by editor Janette Peltokorpi as the book is part of the EICN project's activities. Following the presentation, a panel discussion was held. The chair of the panels was Associate Professor and editor Gregor Maxwell from UiT The Arctic University of Norway. The panelists, in Rovaniemi, were Professor and editor Tuija Turunen (University of Lapland), Professor and editor Diane Hirshberg (University of Alaska Anchorage) and Professor and author Pigga Keskitalo (University of Lapland).
In FERA Conference, the panelists were: Professor and editor Tuija Turunen (University of Lapland), Professor and editor Diane Hirshberg (University of Alaska Anchorage), Professor and editor Mhairi C. Beaton (Leeds Beckett University) Associate Professor and author Edda Óskarsdóttir (University of Iceland) and Professor and author Anne Burke (Memorial University of New Foundland).
Both of the panel discussions considered the themes of the book. The book can be divided in two main themes: 1) Supporting Teachers for Diversity and Inclusion in the Classroom including consideration of language and identity issues, 2) Engendering community solutions to structural and geographical challenges in education in circumpolar north. The book brings lessons from the North for all and explores how to build education systems where students are grounded in their own cultures and languages. The panel discussion was interesting bringing perspectives from all around the circumpolar north to consider in teacher education. The event ended with important and sharp questions and comments from the audience. A recording of the panel discussion at the University of Lapland will be published later in the Networks' Resource Centre.
The book will be published online open access during December 2022.
About the project
The goal of the project Enhancing Equity and Inclusion in Education in Circumpolar North is to strengthen collaboration under the UArctic Thematic Network on Teacher Education for Social Justice and Diversity. The project also aims to publish a book focusing on inclusive policies and practices in educational settings. The planned book is continuing the work started with the first book of the network. The first book, titled Including the North: a Comparative Study of the Policies on Inclusion and Equity in the Circumpolar North, is available online here.
