Pigga Keskitalo

In a time marked by ecological crisis, digital disruption, and shifting geopolitical orders, education is called upon to address increasingly complex and urgent questions. This keynote explores how Sámi education—rooted in Indigenous knowledge systems, intergenerational responsibility, and cultural continuity—offers critical insights into the future of teaching and learning. Drawing on the concept of ecologies of knowledge, the talk foregrounds the coexistence and interdependence of multiple ways of knowing—spiritual, embodied, land-based, oral, linguistic, and experiential—that are rooted in specific places, histories, and communities. This ecological view challenges dominant, standardized, and extractive models of educational research and policy by emphasizing knowledge as relational, context-bound, and co-produced. In Sámi contexts, education is not only about acquiring formal knowledge, but also about sustaining language, land-based practices, and kinship obligations across generations. This presentation engages with the challenges and possibilities facing Sámi teacher education today, including digital transformation, the revitalization of Sámi languages, and the ethical dimensions of teaching in Indigenous contexts. Emphasis is placed on the role of educators as cultural mediators and knowledge bearers who navigate between policy pressures, community needs, and the lived realities of learners. By centering Sámi perspectives and pedagogical practices, the keynote argues for an expanded understanding of what counts as knowledge, who is recognized as a knower, and how education can contribute to epistemic justice. It contends that Sámi education, in its diversity and resilience, not only resists colonial legacies but also models future-oriented and ethically grounded approaches to teaching—approaches that are urgently needed in a world in transition.