Performing nationalism – Sámi culture and diversity in early education in Norway

Abstract

Kindergartens are institutional arenas for raising the nation through educating children in an every-day setting. With the implementation of the Framework Plan of 2017 (FP), the notion of “Sàmi culture” became part of the mandatory curriculum in all Norwegian kindergartens for the first time. All kindergartens are now expected to ensure that children develop respect for, and solidarity with, the diversity of Sàmi culture. This paper based on policy analysis and interviews in kindergartens investigates how the notion of “Sàmi culture” is part of the national Framework Plan (FP) for kindergartens and how it is understood and implemented in kindergartens. The concept of everyday nationalism sheds light on tensions involved in including indigenous rights and perspectives in a national Framework Plan. Including indigenous rights and cultures as part of a national Framework Plan can widen the content of what it means to belong in a national state as well as sharpen the lines and maintain boundaries. Conceptions of diversity are an integral part of the messiness involved in drawing boundaries and in the making of the everyday nationalism, suggesting that the relationship between diversity and everyday nationalism deserves more interrogation.