National minorities, national self-awareness and intercultural learning processes among student teachers in Sweden

Resumen

A period of nationalism during 200 years has led to a predominant image of Sweden as a cultural, religious and linguistic homogenous country. Even though this historical homogeneity has often been emphasized, it is a myth that can be deconstructed. Like most other nations, Sweden has always had a diverse population. Since the year 2000, Sweden has recognised the Samis, Tornedalers, Swedish Finns, Roma, and Jews as official national minorities in the country. This paper discusses how an intercultural approach in a course for student teachers concerning the five national minorities can challenge hegemonic monocultural and monolingual discourses of national self-awareness in the master narrative of the country, and how an inclusive discourse of a “democratic credo” in relation to the minorities, can develop among the student teachers.