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Abstract
The increased diversity in pupils’ cultural and ethnic backgrounds in schools creates urgent demands for the organization of school celebrations in many countries. Celebrations represent the cultural values of the society and it is important to find out how various traditions are expressed in them. This study examines teachers’ and other educational staff members’ perceptions of Finnish culture, Lutheran religiosity, and intercultural education relating to Christmas, Independence Day, and end-of-term celebrations in Finnish schools. The data of this paper consists of 12 thematic interviews, and participation in two school festivals. The interview data were analyzed qualitatively using content analysis. The analysis of this study shows that festivals are perceived as important parts of education and they can help to create a sense of national or cultural community. However, the intercultural potential of school celebrations is often not put to its full use. There exists an urgent need to create new ways of carrying out celebrations in multicultural school communities so that they would be meaningful for all students.
Acknowledgment
The authors wish to thank the Finnish Cultural Foundation for the working grant that enabled the writing of this paper. The authors would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their excellent comments and advice.
Notes
1. Before this, Finland had first been a part of the Swedish kingdom and from 1809 onwards until gaining independence the country was an autonomous part of the Russian Empire.
2. In Finland, religious education is organized according to the religious or non-religious belongings of the pupils (Kallioniemi and Ubani Citation2012).