Finland and Sweden: Muslim Teachers as Cultural Brokers

This chapter focuses on the experiences and perspectives of Muslim teachers, who serve informally as “cultural brokers” in Finnish and Swedish schools. It begins by reviewing research on minority teachers and their roles as cultural mediators, as well as on Muslims in European public education. After that, the contexts, methodology and results of a case study are presented. The data includes semi-structured interviews with 14 “cultural broker” teachers. The results present the tasks of cultural brokering, as well as teachers’ perceptions of what makes a good cultural broker and how this role should be developed. The chapter includes a critical discussion on what is expected of minority teachers; they are not a homogenous group and their willingness to take on the tasks of cultural brokering depend on the nature of their jobs. The simplistic view of cultural broker teachers as role models for minority students is scrutinized, likewise the ways of outsourcing “all things multicultural” in the school to them.