Daniel Lindmark

Colonial Encounter in Early Modern Sápmi

The present chapter analyses state education of the indigenous Saami population in early modern Sweden. Making some initial comparisons between the Saami boarding school system of 1723 and the twentieth-century priest seminaries in Belgian Congo, the chapter presents two examples of Saami students opposing the acculturation policy applied in the schools. The stories of Olof in the 1670s and Anders in the 1760s highlight the role of education as a tool in the colonial power’s cultural influence on the Saami. Isolated from their native culture and under constant supervision, Saami children were exposed to intensive acculturation during their years at boarding school. While education managed to break Anders’ resistance, education placed tools in the hands of Olof, who after his schooling became an articulate advocate of Saami rights, most palpably demonstrated in an appeal to the King. In this letter, which provoked conspicuous indignation among local and regional authorities, Olof asked for permission to become a schoolmaster and minister for his Saami community. He also argued for the right to use the Saami drum by referring to its alleged function of compass. Even though Olof’s appeal had no success, he stands at the head of a long line of Saami political activists who gained the opportunity of formulating their standpoints in writing thanks to the Swedish government’s educational programmes.

Literature for Swedish Lutherans in Colonial America, 1696–1730

In bis dissertation on the Augustana Synod and its significance for the construction of nineteenth‐century Swedish—American identity, DagBlanck examined the literature issued by the Augustana Book Concern. 1 One of the most important types of literature was the textbooks, intended for use in the Swedish—American schools. Blancks analysis of their contents provides evidence that these textbooks served the purpose of constructing and implanting a certain Swedish—American identity by providing space not only for the Swedish cultural heritage, but also the American immigrant experience. Applying a similar perspective, this article discusses the significance of Swedish literature to the descendants of the New Sweden colonists at the turn of the seventeenth century. From the early 1690s and through the 1720s, the book supply comprised a major line of communication between Sweden and America. While previous research has emphasized the religious point of view and the missionary efforts conducted by Swedish authorities, the article analyses the book supply from the perspective of Swedish—American ethnic formation. Defending their rights to religious freedom and land possession, the old settlers mobilized along ethnic lines. In order to discuss what purpose this literature might have served in promoting Swedishness, the article presents an assessment of the extent and composition of the five major book deliveries to America prior to 1720. Particular attention will be paid to the construction of a special Swedish‐American literature. * This article has been written in the projects Education and Colonialism and Boundaries of Swedishness, both funded by The Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation, Stockholm, Sweden. 1 Dag Blanck, Becoming Swedish‐American. The Construction of an Ethnic Identity in the Augustana Synod, 1860‐1917(Uppsala, 1997).

Introduction: the many faces of literacy

Taylor and Francis Ltd CPDH_A_286693.sgm 10.1080/00309230701865249 P edagogica Historica 0 30-9230 (pri t)/1477-674X (online) Original Article 2 08 & Francis 44/2 00Feb uary 2008 rofess r D lLind ark d ni l.li ma k@h s oria.umu.se The 15 articles published in this special issue have been selected from among papers presented at the 28th Session of the International Standing Conference for the History of Education (Umeå, 2006) on the theme “Technologies of the Word: Literacies in the History of Education”. Reflecting the multitude of literacy concepts as well as the diversity of theories and methods in the expanding field of literacy studies, the articles represent various aspects of literacy in the history of education. Throughout history, education has employed various vehicles to convey “the word” from one person to another. Orality, reading, writing and computing represent different stages in the development of literacy. The conference theme addressed this historical evolution and paid particular attention to the transitions, practices and functions of literacy in education on individual, local, national and global levels. In the opening article, Anne-Marie Chartier addresses some of the fundamental issues in this historical process by presenting a broad overview of the development of methods and devices used in reading instruction in Western society. The author identifies certain stages and transitions regarding the contents and technologies of reading, from religious to secular contents, from plain to linguistically analysed texts, from memorising to understanding the text, and from reading without writing to reading interacting with writing. The article concludes by underlining the cultural perspective, stating that “the methods devised to teach reading have proved to be closely tied up with the written culture that brought them into existence”. The cultural practice of teaching and learning to read and write is the focus of several articles featured in the present issue. Josefina Granja Castro analyses three different methods and devices of literacy instruction launched in nineteenth-century Mexico. Developed without any visible connection to established pedagogical theories, each of these short-lived methods demonstrates various aspects of popular notions of teaching. Another study from Mexico analyses a certain type of popular literacy that prevailed despite methods and devices used in reading instruction. In her article on reading in rural Indian Mexico, 1870–1930, Ariadna Accevedo-Rodrigo finds evidence of Spanish-speaking ritual literacy. This simulated reading emerged in a culture of diglossia where the textbooks contained familiar religious texts that were supposed to be memorised and recited. However, even when the content of the texts was secularised and the teaching method stressed general decoding skills, this ritual literacy of mechanical reading without understanding still prevailed. Although the articles collected here represent experiences from Europe, America, Africa and Australia, the vast majority of the studies are still restricted to the Latin alphabet. However, John Oliphant’s text presents a history of literacy devices for the blind. Promoted by religious organisations, the British relief printing that was initiated in the 1830s gradually changed the educational conditions of the blind from an oral culture of collective reading and memorisation to a culture of silent reading of individual choice. Even though the amount of secular literature increased, especially in the USA, France and Belgium, for a long time literacy for the blind was dominated by religious literature.

“True Christianity and Civic Virtue”: Currents in Swedish Religious Instruction, ca. 1670–1870

In the history of education in Sweden, religious goals have always been intertwined with secular ones. The literacy campaign of the late 17th century was inaugurated to foster national stability and coherence by creating a confessionally-founded nation of Lutherans. The Saami mission was part of this national project, but the Saami school curriculum of 1735 reveals massive Pietist influences. In Pietist pedagogy, religious instruction was directed not only towards the mind, but also towards the will, aimed at reshaping the total personality by creating a sensitive consciousness and imprinting new moral standards.By the 18th century, the status of religion was motivated by its promotion of morality and virtue, the foundation blocks of society. In order to achieve “the improvement of the whole man, in terms of intellect, will and way of living”, the new catechism of 1810 both presented a developed moral teaching and stressed reading comprehension of essential texts in favour of the prevailing memorising tra...

Computational exploration of robotic rock loading

A method for simulation-based development of robotic rock loading systems is described and tested. The idea is to first formulate a generic loading strategy as a function of the shape of the rock p ...