Approaching culture, negotiating practice: Finnish educators’ discourses on cultural diversity

Abstract

This article explores the ways in which 10 interviewed educators in Finnish multicultural comprehensive schools talk about cultural diversity. Recent theories and research try to avoid problematic views of culture, and some of their approaches can be found in the Finnish curriculum. Instead of defining discourses as sound or unsound this article seeks to understand the variety of discourses through discourse analysis. Two main discursive approaches viewed culture as significant and as insignificant in diversity. The interviewees mixed different discourses in order to present themselves as aware educators, but also to normalize the multicultural school as a workplace. Sometimes cultural essentialism and colour-blindness occurred, and instances of criticizing one's own thinking were scarce. Religious diversity was mostly talked about as a natural part of cultural diversity, Islam being constructed as the main 'other'. The discourses were also very much interwoven with the multi-layered negotiations concerning practice, and tensions between staff members were implicit. Discourses concerning cultural diversity should be scrutinized by educators and student teachers in order to increase awareness about the risks of both cultural essentialism and colour-blindness. Furthermore, educators need appropriate discursive practices to address diversity and privilege, to decipher situations, and to avoid cultural relativism.

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