How Sami teachers' development of a teaching unit influences their self-determination

Five teachers from a Sami lower secondary school participated in two workshops on culturally-responsive mathematics teaching. During the first workshop, the teachers chose to focus on developing a unit about lavvu, the Sami tent, to be taught between workshops. Their experiences are analysed with respect to Self-Determination Theory, which claims that all humans have a basic need for autonomy, competence and relatedness to others. The analysis of teachers' written notes reveals that the need for autonomy appeared as a need for inspiration and for courage. The need for competence concerned relating mathematics teaching to the two community resilience factors i) Sami language competence and ii) traditional ecological knowledge. The need for relatedness to others was linked to Indigenous peoples, other teachers at their school, and teachers at other Sami schools.