Browsing by Subject "cultural identity"

The starting point of this study was to find out how the historical consciousness manifest in conceptions and experiences of Chilean refugees and their descendants. The previous research of historical consciousness has shown that powerful experiences such as the revolution and being a refugee may have an effect on historical consciousness. The purpose of this study is to solve how those experiences in the past have influenced Chilean refugees and their descendant's interpretations of the present and expectations for the future. The research material was collected by interviewing four Chilean refugees that escaped to Finland in years 1973 1976 and four young adults who represent the second generation. All second generation interviewees were born in Finland and their other parent or both parents were Chilean refugees. The two groups were not in a family relation to each other. The empirical part of the research was made by qualitative methods. The research material was collected by the method of focused interview and it was analysed by the qualitative data analysis software Atlas.ti 6.0. Content analysis was the main research tool. The previous theory of historical consciousness and the study questions was used to create the seven categories that manifest historical consciousness. The seven categories were biographical memory, collective memory, experiences of living between two cultures, idea of man, the essence of history and the reason for living, value conceptions and expectations of the future. Content analysis was based on those categories. Subcategories were based on the research material and were created during the analysis. The results of this study were made up of categories. The study revealed that experiences of revolution and of being a refugee has a significant role in the historical consciousness of the Chilean refugees. It became evident in their biographical memory being separated in three parts, in their values and in the belief of possibility of an individual to govern her own life. The second generation was also exposed to their parent's experiences in the past. The collective trauma in their parent's past has been part of their life indirectly and has affected the way they think of themselves, their concepts and their place in the present world. The active and regular retrospection in Finland by Chilean adults and special Gabriela Mistral club activities has played a big part in the construction of their historical consciousness.

The aim of the study is to examine primary school teachers’ opinions concerning a reformed model of the religious- and ethics education in the Finnish school context and how it can affect the students development of their own cultural identity and feeling of solidarity in schools. The study is based on the current discussions about the subject where globalization and diversity is seen to be demanding more of schools (Rautionmaa & Kallioniemi, 2017). Previous studies also show that the cultural segregation that is seen in the society is a result of the segregation done in schools (Korkeakoski & Ubani, 2018). A relatively new study done in Finland found out the Finnish populations view about a reformed model of these subjects and shows that the majority of the population advocate a reformation (Mattsonn, 2020). The research was conducted as a qualitative study with a phenomenographic research approach. The material consists of six semi-structured, individual interviews with teachers working in four different schools in the metropolitan area. The collected material was analyzed using content analysis. The results showed that the majority of the teachers, four out of six, found a reformed model of the subject as a positive development and that it would come to support every student. Some of the effects predicted were an increased understanding and solidarity between students with different cultural backgrounds, more equality that would lead to a more integrated society. Some of the aspects seen from the teachers who didn’t support a reformation was that education in faith is important, the possibility that one student may feel excluded and that an separate religious education would be important especially for those who belong to a minority religion.

The purpose of this Master's Thesis is to research the understanding of the white normativity of the Finnish education system and the racism associated within it, from the perspective of the Finns’ who identify as mixed-race. The thesis also considers the views of the mixed-race Finns on how the white normative school system has impacted their cultural identity. The thesis makes use of Stuart Hall’s theory of cultural identity, and Robert Miles’ theory of racialization. Previous studies have shown that there is white normative practice and racism present in the Finnish education system. Nonetheless, I noticed that previous studies had not been done from the point of view of the Finns identifying as mixed-race. Therefore, I wanted to explore the pos-sibilities that examining white normativity in the Finnish education system from this perspective could offer. I wrote this thesis as an insider since I identify as a mixed-race Finn. Furthermore, there were six others who took part in my study. Two semi-structured focus group interviews were con-ducted twice during the 2019-2020 academic year. In these interviews, we discussed the white normativity of the Finnish educational system and our own cultural identity. I applied both nar-rative and thematic methodology in my analysis. This meant understanding the phenomena with the help of narratives but organizing the results thematically. When it comes to my results, I discovered that there is the attribute of white normativity con-joined with the Finnish cultural identity. Thereby, the white normativity and the whiteness as a precondition for identifying as Finnish defined the cultural identity and its perception of those Finns identifying themselves as mixed-race. The white normativity of the Finnish educational system and the racism associated with it contributed to the development of internalized racism experienced by the Finnish mixed-race students. In this thesis, I have recognized and named these white normative structures in the Finnish educational system with the focus group inter-viewees. The results can be used for further research in the field of racism.