Part 15: Towards anti-racist schools
In part fifteen, Project Manager and Master of Arts (Education) Mona Eid discusses the Finnish school system and structural racism within it.
Eid studies the school system as a part of the society, not as a separate unit. The equality-related goals and values included in the national core curriculum are not always implemented in individual schools. School textbooks convey an ethnocentric and Western-oriented world view, and the ideal students are selected based on the white standard.
Discriminatory bullying and racialising guidance take place in schools. Not belonging to a group can cause minority stress. Eid proposes that bold and dialogic teachership could be one tool for achieving an anti-racist school environment.
Materials supporting learning
See Mona Eid's slideshow (pdf1,6 MB)
Key concepts
- discriminatory bullying
- anti-racism
- minority stress
- racialising guidance
- discrimination
- structural racism
- Finnish myth
- white standard
- ethnocentricity
- visible minority
- equality
- prejudice
Read more about the key concepts.
Reflect on the following questions:
- How can a teacher's perception of an ideal student affect their work?
- What kind of members of the society are Finnish schools raising?
- What is the difference between multicultural education and anti-racism?
- What is dialogic and bold teachership?
- What are bold and safe spaces like in teaching?
- How is racialising guidance visible in schools?
