Gail Holm
Biographic Data
| ID | 192706 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Gail Holm |
| GIVEN NAMES | Gail |
| FAMILY NAME | Holm |
| SIGNATURE | HOLM G |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Helsinki |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-9706-8906 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 31 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 79 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 31 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1973 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
School staff making sense of Nazi expressions among pupils in lower secondary schools in Finland
Expressions referring to Nazism, such as Nazi salutes, are present in Nordic schools. In this ethnographic study we observed the everyday life of seven lower secondary schools in Finland and scrutinised interviews with 100 members of the schools’ staff. We examine how the staff makes sense of the presence of Nazi expressions among pupils. Our results show that there were uncertainty, interventions, downplaying, indifference, and frustration in th…
Responsibilities of individuals and institutions to promote antiracism in Finnish lower secondary schools
This article explores the tension between antiracism as an individual responsibility and as an institutional duty in Finnish lower secondary schools. It is based on ethnography in schools, and presents interviews with teachers, principals and other school staff. We analysed the data using reflexive thematic analysis and grounded our approach in critical theories of racism and antiracism. Although Finnish school policies provide guidance on antira…
Racial humour in Finnish schools: Reinforcing and resisting racism, and the difficulty of intervening
Layers of racism, layers of response: (Re)structuring antiracism in Finnish education
Racialised Integration: Arabic-Speaking Refugees and Immigrants’ Experiences on the Paradoxes of Integration
Finland’s integration policy is praised for its inclusivity and for guaranteeing equal opportunities. This paper examines how integration processes work within such an ideal image. Building on theoretical and critical discussions of integration and racialisation, we approach integration as a mechanism of racialisation and discuss the consequences of racialised integration practices for Arabic-speaking refugees and immigrants living in Finland. We…
Students’ Orientations Towards Multilingualism and Social Justice in a Swedish-medium University Degree Program in Educational Sciences in Finland
This study focuses on students’ orientations towards multilingualism in a Swedish-speaking educational degree program in Finland. Swedish is one of the two national languages in Finland and basic education is provided separately in Finnish and Swedish, even if the current national policies strongly support multilingualism in education. We analyzed the language orientations in the students’ coursework (N = 52) in an educational sciences degree pro…
Refugees here and Finns there’ – categorisations of race, nationality, and gender in a Finnish classroom
Schools represent a central meeting place where societal inequalities are reproduced and questions of social justice become important. This study focuses on categorisations related to race, nationality, and gender in interactions in Finnish teaching environments, as well as teacher reflections on these situations. We discuss the implications of the categorisations on social justice and the role of the teacher in these situations. We conducted vid…
Diversity as the new normal and persistent constructions of the immigrant other – Discourses on multicultural education among teacher educators
The aim of this study was to explore the role of social justice in multicultural education taught in teacher education. The study investigated discourses on multicultural education among Finnish teacher educa-tors, and the subject positions constructed in them. Discourse theory analysis revealed six discourses on multicultural education, ranging from conservative to liberal and critical, with liberal discourses having the most articulations. Alth…
Photography as a Research Method
This chapter discusses the development of photography as a research method in the social sciences. It describes the different types of photographs used, such as archival photographs and photographs taken by the researcher, and it focuses especially on photographs taken by participants. The uses of different approaches to obtain photographs and issues of interest concerning each approach are presented. The most common approaches to analyze photogr…
Becoming integrateable: Hidden realities of integration policies and training in Finland
This article scrutinises the normalised realities behind integration policies and training for refugees and immigrants that are claimed to be inclusive. The ‘great narrative’ of Finland has been focused on equal opportunity via education and training, which makes it even more important to examine the hidden realities and how such realities affect the integration process. We focus on labour market-oriented integration training, since employment is…
Diverging discourses on multicultural education in Finnish teacher education programme policies: Implications for teaching
The necessity to include multicultural education policies and practices in schools and teacher education has been widely recognized both in Finland and internationally. However, terms such as ‘multiculturalism’ and ‘multicultural education’ have contested and vague meanings in educational discourse. This paper investigates discourses on multicultural education from critical multicultural education and postcolonial theoretical perspectives. The fo…
Intercultural education in transition: Nordic perspectives
Over the last several decades intercultural education has played a key role in many educational policies and practices, both across the Nordic countries and internationally. In this article we examine current conceptual discourses on intercultural education with an emphasis on developments in the Nordic research context. The analysis shows how the concept of intercultural education and its focus on “culture” has been criticised in the Nordic coun…
Justice through education in the Nordic countries: Critical issues and perspectives
The Nordic countries are often listed at the top in indexes of the happiest, most democratic and most equal and fair countries in the world (https://www.nordforsk.org/en/programmes-and-projects/pro
Nordic discourses on marginalisation through education
The purpose of this article is analysis of discursive marginalisation through education in Nordic welfare states. What knowledge do Nordic research discourses produce about marginalisation through education in Nordic welfare states? What are the Nordic contributions to research discourses on marginalisation through education? We apply a discourse theoretical approach and analyse 109 peer-reviewed publications on marginalisation by the Nordic Cent…
He failed to find his place in this school’ – re-examining the role of teachers in bullying in a Finnish comprehensive school
Bullying has been conceptualised as a phenomenon that focuses mainly on individuals and individual behaviour. We seek to broaden the discussion on bullying by describing and defining how teachers participate in and/or enable bullying, and to thus expand the notion of bullying as individual behaviour to include actors, norms and processes. This study is based on ethnographic observation and interview data that were gathered in 2013–2016 in one hig…
Contemporary Youth Research: Local Expressions and Global Connections
A major new resource book for academics and students of youth studies, this work offers a rare comparative review of a field which is often focused on the local or national situation. Drawing together authors from across the world, the book combines assessments of the theory, methodology and practice of youth research, and the impact of globalization on this field of study. A particular strength of the text is its exploration of theoretical issue…
Taking steps towards institutionalising multicultural education – The national curriculum of Finland
Internationally multicultural education research has pointed to the need to move from superficial to social justice-oriented multicultural education. However, realising this goal in policy and practice is a challenge. This study takes Finland as a case and examines the discursive developments of multicultural education in its national curriculum 1994–2014. Despite being a country which is known for emphasising equity and equality in education, su…
Essentializing vs. non-essentializing students’ cultural identities: Curricular discourses in Finland and Sweden
This article examines how students’ cultural identities are discursively constructed in the Finnish and Swedish national curricula for the compulsory school. The aim is to illuminate the manifold discourses on cultural identity which prevail within Nordic educational policy. The study employs a critical multicultural education and postcolonial perspective with a particular focus on essentialist and non-essentialist views of identity in the curric…
Participatory photography: Language Minority Teenagers' Sense of Belonging
This article discusses the different ways of using photography as a research method in social sciences, especially how using participatory photography with young people and children is explored. The advantages of making teenagers and children co-researchers as well as some of the issues that emerge, like lack of control over the data collection and ethical issues, are examined. A case study on language minority teenagers’ identifications with and…
Migrant Stay-at-Home Mothers Learning to Eat and Live the Finnish Way
Integration programmes can be seen as a space where migrants can acquire language skills and context-relevant skills and achieve an autonomous position in society. This article explores an integration and language course for stay-athome migrant mothers and their young children in the capital region of Finland. Ethnographic data were collected through participant observations, open-ended in-depth interviews and photographs. The results show how th…
Teaching minority students within minority schools: Teachers’ conceptions of multicultural education in Swedish‐speaking schools in Finland
Finland is experiencing increased cultural diversity due to immigration and is facing challenges in developing multicultural education (ME) in schools. There is a Swedish‐speaking minority in Finland, and immigrant students entering Swedish‐speaking schools hence become a minority within a minority. In this study, using open‐ended interviews, we explore the views of Swedish‐speaking teachers of ‘minority within a minority students’ and of ME. We …
The perceptions of knowledge and learning of Amazonian indigenous teacher education students
This study focuses on the perceptions of knowledge and learning by indigenous students in an intercultural bilingual teacher education programme in Amazonian Ecuador. The study framed within postcolonial and critical theory attempts to create a space for the indigenous students to speak about their own views through the use of photography and researcher-respondent discussions. We found that the students conceptualised knowledge and learning prima…
The discourse on multicultural education in Finland: Education for whom
Finland is experiencing increased immigration and therefore increased cultural diversity in its schools. This paper examines the multicultural education discourse in Finland by analysing the national and municipal curricula for the comprehensive school, educational policy documents and teacher education curricula. The focus is on how multicultural education is talked about and whether it is aimed at all students or only at immigrant students. The…
Imagining the Academy: Higher Education and Popular Culture
Introduction: Exploring the Crossroads of Higher Education and Populat Culture - Gunilla Holm, Susan Edgerton, and Toby Daspit Part I: Whither the Ivory Tower? 1. Pictures of an Institution: Intellectual Work and the Popular Film - Jo Keroes 2. Rap (in) the Academy: Higher Education and Cultural Studies - John Weaver and Toby Daspit 3. Anxiety Toward Higher Education: Dying for Thirtysomething - Scott Vander Ploeg 4. Tangled Shadows: Academic Sta…
Teaching in the dark: The geopolitical knowledge and global awareness of the next generation of American teachers
This study examines the geopolitical knowledge and global awareness of American upper-level undergraduate university students in a large teacher education program. The context for the study involves the educational implications to which scholars and policy-makers increasingly call attention. Many of the perceived implications of globalization suggest a challenging and significant role for teachers in a time of change. On measures of geopolitical …
The discourse on multicultural education in Finland: Education for whom
Finland is experiencing increased immigration and therefore increased cultural diversity in its schools. This paper examines the multicultural education discourse in Finland by analysing the national and municipal curricula for the comprehensive school, educational policy documents and teacher education curricula. The focus is on how multicultural education is talked about and whether it is aimed at all students or only at immigrant students. The…
Essentializing vs. non-essentializing students’ cultural identities: Curricular discourses in Finland and Sweden
This article examines how students’ cultural identities are discursively constructed in the Finnish and Swedish national curricula for the compulsory school. The aim is to illuminate the manifold discourses on cultural identity which prevail within Nordic educational policy. The study employs a critical multicultural education and postcolonial perspective with a particular focus on essentialist and non-essentialist views of identity in the curric…
Intercultural education in transition: Nordic perspectives
Over the last several decades intercultural education has played a key role in many educational policies and practices, both across the Nordic countries and internationally. In this article we examine current conceptual discourses on intercultural education with an emphasis on developments in the Nordic research context. The analysis shows how the concept of intercultural education and its focus on “culture” has been criticised in the Nordic coun…
Becoming integrateable: Hidden realities of integration policies and training in Finland
This article scrutinises the normalised realities behind integration policies and training for refugees and immigrants that are claimed to be inclusive. The ‘great narrative’ of Finland has been focused on equal opportunity via education and training, which makes it even more important to examine the hidden realities and how such realities affect the integration process. We focus on labour market-oriented integration training, since employment is…
Teaching minority students within minority schools: Teachers’ conceptions of multicultural education in Swedish‐speaking schools in Finland
Finland is experiencing increased cultural diversity due to immigration and is facing challenges in developing multicultural education (ME) in schools. There is a Swedish‐speaking minority in Finland, and immigrant students entering Swedish‐speaking schools hence become a minority within a minority. In this study, using open‐ended interviews, we explore the views of Swedish‐speaking teachers of ‘minority within a minority students’ and of ME. We …
Diversity as the new normal and persistent constructions of the immigrant other – Discourses on multicultural education among teacher educators
The aim of this study was to explore the role of social justice in multicultural education taught in teacher education. The study investigated discourses on multicultural education among Finnish teacher educa-tors, and the subject positions constructed in them. Discourse theory analysis revealed six discourses on multicultural education, ranging from conservative to liberal and critical, with liberal discourses having the most articulations. Alth…
Nordic discourses on marginalisation through education
The purpose of this article is analysis of discursive marginalisation through education in Nordic welfare states. What knowledge do Nordic research discourses produce about marginalisation through education in Nordic welfare states? What are the Nordic contributions to research discourses on marginalisation through education? We apply a discourse theoretical approach and analyse 109 peer-reviewed publications on marginalisation by the Nordic Cent…
Migrant Stay-at-Home Mothers Learning to Eat and Live the Finnish Way
Integration programmes can be seen as a space where migrants can acquire language skills and context-relevant skills and achieve an autonomous position in society. This article explores an integration and language course for stay-athome migrant mothers and their young children in the capital region of Finland. Ethnographic data were collected through participant observations, open-ended in-depth interviews and photographs. The results show how th…
Refugees here and Finns there’ – categorisations of race, nationality, and gender in a Finnish classroom
Schools represent a central meeting place where societal inequalities are reproduced and questions of social justice become important. This study focuses on categorisations related to race, nationality, and gender in interactions in Finnish teaching environments, as well as teacher reflections on these situations. We discuss the implications of the categorisations on social justice and the role of the teacher in these situations. We conducted vid…
He failed to find his place in this school’ – re-examining the role of teachers in bullying in a Finnish comprehensive school
Bullying has been conceptualised as a phenomenon that focuses mainly on individuals and individual behaviour. We seek to broaden the discussion on bullying by describing and defining how teachers participate in and/or enable bullying, and to thus expand the notion of bullying as individual behaviour to include actors, norms and processes. This study is based on ethnographic observation and interview data that were gathered in 2013–2016 in one hig…
A Cross-Cultural Study of Responses to Childlessness
Childlessness was studied in a sample of 78 societies from the universe defined by Murdock and White (1969). In all the societies in which presence or absence of solutions to childlessness could be assessed, there were solutions to childlessness. Magico-religious-ethnomedical solutions seem most popular and most likely to be tried first. Women get blamed for childlessness significantly more often than men, which may be a result of the ubiquity of…
Layers of racism, layers of response: (Re)structuring antiracism in Finnish education
Students’ Orientations Towards Multilingualism and Social Justice in a Swedish-medium University Degree Program in Educational Sciences in Finland
This study focuses on students’ orientations towards multilingualism in a Swedish-speaking educational degree program in Finland. Swedish is one of the two national languages in Finland and basic education is provided separately in Finnish and Swedish, even if the current national policies strongly support multilingualism in education. We analyzed the language orientations in the students’ coursework (N = 52) in an educational sciences degree pro…
Justice through education in the Nordic countries: Critical issues and perspectives
The Nordic countries are often listed at the top in indexes of the happiest, most democratic and most equal and fair countries in the world (https://www.nordforsk.org/en/programmes-and-projects/pro
Teaching in the dark: The geopolitical knowledge and global awareness of the next generation of American teachers
This study examines the geopolitical knowledge and global awareness of American upper-level undergraduate university students in a large teacher education program. The context for the study involves the educational implications to which scholars and policy-makers increasingly call attention. Many of the perceived implications of globalization suggest a challenging and significant role for teachers in a time of change. On measures of geopolitical …
Public texts/private conversations: Readings of a teen magazine from thegirls' point of view
Handled but not heard: The managed lives of teenage mothers in school
This article presents results from an ethnographic study of an alternative public school for pregnant and parenting teenage girls. The focus here is upon a central finding of this study concerning the ways in which the school program managed the needs and concerns of the pregnant and parenting girls it served. The official goal of the school is to facilitate the education of school‐aged girls while they are pregnant and until they are ready to go…
A Cross-Cultural Study of Responses to Childlessness
Childlessness was studied in a sample of 78 societies from the universe defined by Murdock and White (1969). In all the societies in which presence or absence of solutions to childlessness could be assessed, there were solutions to childlessness. Magico-religious-ethnomedical solutions seem most popular and most likely to be tried first. Women get blamed for childlessness significantly more often than men, which may be a result of the ubiquity of…
From Innocence to Inquiry: A Social Reproduction Framework
Prospects for reform in teacher educa tion are limited by prevailing views of the function of schooling. The authors argue that the concept of education as social reproduction illuminates prac tices in teacher education (particularly in reading instruction) that foster stu dent failure and inequality. They assert that the social reproduction framework can have practical significance in re orienting all teacher education practices
Handled but not heard: The managed lives of teenage mothers in school
This article presents results from an ethnographic study of an alternative public school for pregnant and parenting teenage girls. The focus here is upon a central finding of this study concerning the ways in which the school program managed the needs and concerns of the pregnant and parenting girls it served. The official goal of the school is to facilitate the education of school‐aged girls while they are pregnant and until they are ready to go…
DIS/Empowering pursuits: The promise of literacy and the patterns of school practice
Schooling in the Light of Popular Culture
Public texts/private conversations: Readings of a teen magazine from thegirls' point of view
Teaching in the dark: The geopolitical knowledge and global awareness of the next generation of American teachers
This study examines the geopolitical knowledge and global awareness of American upper-level undergraduate university students in a large teacher education program. The context for the study involves the educational implications to which scholars and policy-makers increasingly call attention. Many of the perceived implications of globalization suggest a challenging and significant role for teachers in a time of change. On measures of geopolitical …
Imagining the Academy: Higher Education and Popular Culture
Introduction: Exploring the Crossroads of Higher Education and Populat Culture - Gunilla Holm, Susan Edgerton, and Toby Daspit Part I: Whither the Ivory Tower? 1. Pictures of an Institution: Intellectual Work and the Popular Film - Jo Keroes 2. Rap (in) the Academy: Higher Education and Cultural Studies - John Weaver and Toby Daspit 3. Anxiety Toward Higher Education: Dying for Thirtysomething - Scott Vander Ploeg 4. Tangled Shadows: Academic Sta…
The perceptions of knowledge and learning of Amazonian indigenous teacher education students
This study focuses on the perceptions of knowledge and learning by indigenous students in an intercultural bilingual teacher education programme in Amazonian Ecuador. The study framed within postcolonial and critical theory attempts to create a space for the indigenous students to speak about their own views through the use of photography and researcher-respondent discussions. We found that the students conceptualised knowledge and learning prima…
The discourse on multicultural education in Finland: Education for whom
Finland is experiencing increased immigration and therefore increased cultural diversity in its schools. This paper examines the multicultural education discourse in Finland by analysing the national and municipal curricula for the comprehensive school, educational policy documents and teacher education curricula. The focus is on how multicultural education is talked about and whether it is aimed at all students or only at immigrant students. The…
Teaching minority students within minority schools: Teachers’ conceptions of multicultural education in Swedish‐speaking schools in Finland
Finland is experiencing increased cultural diversity due to immigration and is facing challenges in developing multicultural education (ME) in schools. There is a Swedish‐speaking minority in Finland, and immigrant students entering Swedish‐speaking schools hence become a minority within a minority. In this study, using open‐ended interviews, we explore the views of Swedish‐speaking teachers of ‘minority within a minority students’ and of ME. We …
Participatory photography: Language Minority Teenagers' Sense of Belonging
This article discusses the different ways of using photography as a research method in social sciences, especially how using participatory photography with young people and children is explored. The advantages of making teenagers and children co-researchers as well as some of the issues that emerge, like lack of control over the data collection and ethical issues, are examined. A case study on language minority teenagers’ identifications with and…
Migrant Stay-at-Home Mothers Learning to Eat and Live the Finnish Way
Integration programmes can be seen as a space where migrants can acquire language skills and context-relevant skills and achieve an autonomous position in society. This article explores an integration and language course for stay-athome migrant mothers and their young children in the capital region of Finland. Ethnographic data were collected through participant observations, open-ended in-depth interviews and photographs. The results show how th…
Contemporary Youth Research: Local Expressions and Global Connections
A major new resource book for academics and students of youth studies, this work offers a rare comparative review of a field which is often focused on the local or national situation. Drawing together authors from across the world, the book combines assessments of the theory, methodology and practice of youth research, and the impact of globalization on this field of study. A particular strength of the text is its exploration of theoretical issue…
Taking steps towards institutionalising multicultural education – The national curriculum of Finland
Internationally multicultural education research has pointed to the need to move from superficial to social justice-oriented multicultural education. However, realising this goal in policy and practice is a challenge. This study takes Finland as a case and examines the discursive developments of multicultural education in its national curriculum 1994–2014. Despite being a country which is known for emphasising equity and equality in education, su…
Essentializing vs. non-essentializing students’ cultural identities: Curricular discourses in Finland and Sweden
This article examines how students’ cultural identities are discursively constructed in the Finnish and Swedish national curricula for the compulsory school. The aim is to illuminate the manifold discourses on cultural identity which prevail within Nordic educational policy. The study employs a critical multicultural education and postcolonial perspective with a particular focus on essentialist and non-essentialist views of identity in the curric…
Diverging discourses on multicultural education in Finnish teacher education programme policies: Implications for teaching
The necessity to include multicultural education policies and practices in schools and teacher education has been widely recognized both in Finland and internationally. However, terms such as ‘multiculturalism’ and ‘multicultural education’ have contested and vague meanings in educational discourse. This paper investigates discourses on multicultural education from critical multicultural education and postcolonial theoretical perspectives. The fo…
Intercultural education in transition: Nordic perspectives
Over the last several decades intercultural education has played a key role in many educational policies and practices, both across the Nordic countries and internationally. In this article we examine current conceptual discourses on intercultural education with an emphasis on developments in the Nordic research context. The analysis shows how the concept of intercultural education and its focus on “culture” has been criticised in the Nordic coun…
Justice through education in the Nordic countries: Critical issues and perspectives
The Nordic countries are often listed at the top in indexes of the happiest, most democratic and most equal and fair countries in the world (https://www.nordforsk.org/en/programmes-and-projects/pro
Nordic discourses on marginalisation through education
The purpose of this article is analysis of discursive marginalisation through education in Nordic welfare states. What knowledge do Nordic research discourses produce about marginalisation through education in Nordic welfare states? What are the Nordic contributions to research discourses on marginalisation through education? We apply a discourse theoretical approach and analyse 109 peer-reviewed publications on marginalisation by the Nordic Cent…
He failed to find his place in this school’ – re-examining the role of teachers in bullying in a Finnish comprehensive school
Bullying has been conceptualised as a phenomenon that focuses mainly on individuals and individual behaviour. We seek to broaden the discussion on bullying by describing and defining how teachers participate in and/or enable bullying, and to thus expand the notion of bullying as individual behaviour to include actors, norms and processes. This study is based on ethnographic observation and interview data that were gathered in 2013–2016 in one hig…
Becoming integrateable: Hidden realities of integration policies and training in Finland
This article scrutinises the normalised realities behind integration policies and training for refugees and immigrants that are claimed to be inclusive. The ‘great narrative’ of Finland has been focused on equal opportunity via education and training, which makes it even more important to examine the hidden realities and how such realities affect the integration process. We focus on labour market-oriented integration training, since employment is…
Photography as a Research Method
This chapter discusses the development of photography as a research method in the social sciences. It describes the different types of photographs used, such as archival photographs and photographs taken by the researcher, and it focuses especially on photographs taken by participants. The uses of different approaches to obtain photographs and issues of interest concerning each approach are presented. The most common approaches to analyze photogr…
Refugees here and Finns there’ – categorisations of race, nationality, and gender in a Finnish classroom
Schools represent a central meeting place where societal inequalities are reproduced and questions of social justice become important. This study focuses on categorisations related to race, nationality, and gender in interactions in Finnish teaching environments, as well as teacher reflections on these situations. We discuss the implications of the categorisations on social justice and the role of the teacher in these situations. We conducted vid…
Diversity as the new normal and persistent constructions of the immigrant other – Discourses on multicultural education among teacher educators
The aim of this study was to explore the role of social justice in multicultural education taught in teacher education. The study investigated discourses on multicultural education among Finnish teacher educa-tors, and the subject positions constructed in them. Discourse theory analysis revealed six discourses on multicultural education, ranging from conservative to liberal and critical, with liberal discourses having the most articulations. Alth…
Sociology (28 works) · Pedagogy (17 works) · Political science (16 works) · Psychology (15 works) · Global Education and Multiculturalism (13 works) · Social science (12 works) · Gender Studies (10 works) · Law (8 works) · Gender Studies (7 works) · Immigration (7 works)