For true patriotism and internationalism

The development of Finnish teachers’ peace educational views when participating in the Peace Union of Nordic Teachers during the 1920s

Authors

• Rony Ojajärvi Itä-Suomen yliopisto

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33350/ka.109883

Keywords:

Nationalism, Peace Union of Nordic Teachers, Peace Union of Finnish Teachers, Peace education, internationalism, school education

Abstract

Finnish school education supported the formation of pupils' nationalist identity. However, this did not mean that every teacher accepted traditional nationalism as part of the Finnish curriculum. This article surveys Finnish teachers' actions and pedagogical thinking in the context of the Peace Union of Nordic Teachers in the 1920s. More particularly, it will be explained how these teachers saw the relation between nationalism and internationalism in their peace educational views. I will also answer what kind of reception the Peace Union of Nordic Teachers got in Finnish society. When doing this, I will assess the influence Finnish nationalism had on the thinking of the Finnish teachers working in the Union. Through analyzing teachers views with discourse analysis and their actions with qualitative network analysis, it will be shown that some teachers contested the hegemonical position of nationalism in the Finnish schools by networking with Scandinavian teachers. In addition, these teachers interpret nationalism and internationalism so that they became complementary. Thus, they opened a possibility to integrate ideas of peace and internationalism into the patriotic school curriculum. One essential aim of the Peace Union of Finnish Teachers constituted based on the Nordic Union in 1931 was to add the League of Nations knowledge in schools. This aim got support from the school education board and little critic from the nationalist right.