Julia Nordblad (Institutionen för litteratur, idéhistoria och religion)

Forskning om Europafrågor, 22

1104-5507

Artikel, refereegranskad vetenskaplig

2009

svenska

By 1900, the importance of a language-based notion of the nation for legitimizing state borders increased. In Sweden, as well as in the rest of Europe, language policy became a political issue. Attention was paid to linguistic minorities, and Swedish authorities intensified the efforts to teach Swedish to the Finnish-speakers of Tornedalen. At the same time, it was argued that the Finnish language was not to be oppressed. In this article, the pedagogical methods for teaching Swedish used in Tornedalen are examined. As a context, prevailing pedagogic ideas of visual experience-based teaching methods (åskådningsundervisning, Anschauungsunterricht) among public school teachers are presented. The main aims of this pedagogy, were the child’s developing of an ability to see the world in what was regarded as the correct way, as well as its attachment to the home district (hembygd). These aims can be interpreted in terms of disciplining the child’s way of seeing the world, and associating it to a national community in the making. The teaching material used when teaching Swedish to the Finnish-speakers of Tornedalen, rested upon the same principles of visual experience-based pedagogy. When considered in this context, it is clear that the education of Finnish-speaking children aimed at developing the child’s civic capacities as tied to a Swedish identity, and thus automatically leaving their Finnish identity behind.

HUMANIORA ->
Filosofi, etik och religion ->
Idé- o lärdomshistoria

Assimilationspolitik, Pedagogikhistoria, Språkliga minoriteter

109081

2010-01-19 18:37