Pride in Education: A Narrative Study of Five Finnish Schoolteachers

Abstract

This narrative inquiry explores how Finnish schoolteachers perceived the emotion of pride as a feature of teaching and learning. The study consists of face-to-face interviews with Finnish schoolteachers between 30 and 62 years of age. The results reveal perceptions of teaching and learning that are shaped by a culture of social equality, modesty, group achievement, and tenacity, that is, Sisu. Although the teachers understand achievement pride as a positive feature of learning, in association with cultural norms and values, pride is not a significant emotional response to promote in the classroom. The results are important for understanding how teachers exploit larger cultural values to judge the worth of particular emotions in the classroom.

Finnish High School Students and the Pride Experience / Suomalaiset Lukiolaiset Ja Kokemus Ylpeydestä

“…There are cultural rules that must be followed but if the rules are respected, one is free to pursue individual pursuits. Consequently, earlier research conducted by this author in 2019 with Finnish high school teachers revealed that pride is not perceived as an emotion to encourage in school children because it disrupts cultural guidelines such as equality and displaying humility (see Etherington, 2019).…”

“…The assumption leading into this study is that pride is a culturally significant universal emotion and is not given equal importance in all cultures, one of those cultures being Finnish culture. Finland was chosen because educators do not tend to celebrate self-pride (see Etherington, 2019). In diverse classrooms, teachers must be cognizant of such cultural differences if they are to teach to diversity.…”

“They Are our Future”: Professional Pride in Language Teachers across the Globe

“…In the educational context, very few studies have looked into the effects of pride on teachers and students, or in relation to the specific subjects they teach (for exceptions, see: Etherington, 2019; Jenßen, 2021; Pawłowska, 2020; Ross & Stracke, 2016). However, pride is a core emotion in the classroom and is experienced regularly by both teachers (Carson, 2006) and learners (Ross & Stracke, 2016).…”

Building Up Sisu, a Nordic Cultural Construct for the Comprehensive Development of Health and Harmony

“…Adamczewski and M. Obrebska (2018), sisu is used as a keyword approach, which helps to understand Finnish culture (Adamczewski, Obrebska, 2018). According to M. Etherington (2019), the concept of sisu became a Finnish notion for describing the strong Finn, and a culture that displayed determination, grit, bravery, resilience, courage and resoluteness in the face of adversity (Etherington, 2019).…”

“…Researchers who have studied the cultural characteristics and aspects of the Nordic countries have paid special attention to the original phenomenon of sisu as a unique Finnish cultural lifestyle, a kind of ideology of life (Hicks, Tokoi, 1959;Goodrick, 1960;Lander, 1991;Aho, 1994;Lucas, 2002;Tramaa, 2007;Dahlgren, Nurmelin, 2007;Brueggeman, 2008;Pankola, Gronska-Turunen, 2010;Sinkkonen, 2013;Lahti, 2014;Amato-Henderson et al, 2014;Velazquez, 2014;Duckworth, 2016;Pantzar, 2018a;2018b;Nylund, 2018;Adamczewski, Obrebska, 2018;Lahti, 2019;Etherington, 2019). Perseverance, determination, fearlessness, extraordinary endurance, resilience, grit, bravery, courage, resoluteness in the face of adversity, and energy are used to explain the concept of sisu.…”