ABSTRACT
Our aim in this chapter is to explore how recent developments in gender theory and/or research-based understandings of gender and sexual diversity are present in Finnish school cultures. To ground our arguments and to explore these broader developments in education cultures (as evidenced in written documents), we examine the topic through an analysis of observation-based school ethnography. The authors believe that the experience-based encounters recorded at one of the authors’ workplaces provide glimpses into the complex rhizomes of felt and embodied gendered experiences occurring in Finnish schools at any given time. The authors (Anniina, Tiina and Verna) are three art educators. Verna also works as a Finnish language teacher in a comprehensive school providing primary and secondary education. It is our intention to share gendered experiences recorded at a Finnish school and analyse them through the lens of our experiences gained as teachers and researchers acknowledging both praxis and theory. Our ultimate aim is to engage in projects and scholarship with others to jointly build an educational system and school culture that is truly respectful of every person’s right to experience and express gender freely. Although school cultures vary greatly due to their contexts, histories, and school-specific discourses, and further, each interpersonal and spatial encounter within schools is unique, we feel that the experiences and encounters presented within this text offer a relatable account of Finnish schools for further discussion.
