Indigenizing pre-teacher education: reflections on utilizing traditional storytelling to gather language data from Sámi children

Abstract

The aim of this study was to develop research-based pre-teacher education pedagogies in the context of Indigenous teacher education, focusing on Sámi (Indigenous people of Sápmi—northern Scandinavia and northwest Russia) communities and investigating the reflections of preservice teachers on their participation in research-based pre-teacher education as part of a Sámi teacher education development project in Norway. Utilizing the storytelling method, preservice teachers collected language data from Sámi children in kindergartens and schools. The study sought to understand the experiences of five participative preservice teachers during the data collection process, as recorded in their diaries. This study proposes a method to indigenize research courses within Indigenous teacher education programmes at tertiary education levels. Research in higher education practices within Indigenous institutions contributes to the advancement of Indigenous higher education and provides critical insights into diverse methods, goals, and contexts of conducting research in higher education settings.