Education in the Circumpolar North faces unique challenges due to its diverse communities, long distances, and resource limitations. In rural and remote schools, teachers must navigate these factors while fostering inclusive and equitable education (Reagan et al., 2019). This paper explores the concept of Arctic Pedagogy, which emphasises the interconnectedness between people, place, time, language, culture, and community, and its role in developing teacher self-efficacy in northern education contexts. Arctic Pedagogy challenges the dominance of Anglophonic education practices that often ignore Indigenous knowledge and cultural perspectives, advocating instead for a pedagogical approach grounded in the lived experiences of northern communities. Teacher self-efficacy, defined as the belief in one's ability to effectively teach and meet student needs, is vital in these contexts where educators frequently face professional isolation, multi-grade classrooms, and the challenge of teaching outside their core competencies (Bandura, 1997; Knoblauch & Chase, 2015). Building self-efficacy among teachers in rural schools requires pedagogical training and understanding of the ecological, cultural, and historical contexts of the communities they serve. This highlights the importance of relationality and contextuality with understanding of place-based and community-centred approaches in teaching profession. The presentation will discuss how teacher education programs could develop their approach in recognising the importance of local cultures, languages and traditions. By focusing on place-based education and culturally responsive pedagogy, teacher educators can prepare teachers to become active members of the community they serve and shape their pedagogy in response to the needs of students (Vijayavarathan-R et al., 2022). In addition, the presentation will challenge mainstream pedagogies that often disregard Indigenous ways of knowing and teaching. Arctic Pedagogy offers a way forward by centring cultural and ecological sustainability and community engagement. This presentation is based on the discussions of interdisciplinary collaboration of the New Northern Pedagogies Group (NNPG). The group promotes Arctic Pedagogy principles, and our presentation suggests that integrating these principles into teacher education programs can enhance teacher self-efficacy and retention, helping to ensure that teachers are well-equipped to provide meaningful, culturally relevant education. By doing this, teacher education programmes in the circumpolar north can better support the diverse and resilient communities it serves.

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