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This chapter looks at studies done in the field of Sami literacy research between 2010 and 2022 and looks at some interesting new developments and community initiatives within Sami literacy studies that have yet not been fully investigated. The chapter reveals an emerging field of study and pedagogical and didactic development that enter the Indigenous literacy landscape, which is often loaded with linguistic input and literacy content in languages other than Sami. The complexity of the context is reflected, among other things, in the empirical studies that have investigated the writing processes of multilingual language learners in Sápmi. The learners often view, or experience, writing in the Indigenous heritage language as less fluent and more laborious than writing in the state majority languages, or even in English. Policy document analysis suggests that the steering bodies do not treat the locally spoken and learned heritage languages as equal to the majority languages, which creates an inherent literacy gap between the languages. Attitudes and language ideologies among the learners and teachers have the potential to create negative hierarchical views on languages, writing, and language learning. Development of research, practical training, and community initiatives, as well as implementation in teacher training, is needed to counteract views, ideologies and practices that may undermine the future of local literacies and that put the growth of future generations of Sami writers at risk.

Sámi education is a shared, and simultaneously divided, enterprise of four nation states. Sámi writing instruction is also influenced by the writing didactics of the majority languages. This chapter investigates the appropriateness of one non-Indigenous model for writing instruction in the North Sámi context. This chapter suggests that although the model can to a large extent describe many discourses for the Indigenous Sámi context, there is a need to expand the layers of the model.

Literacy research is the field of study that is interested in writing and reading, and in all activities, contexts, and ideas that are connected to texts, their production and interpretation. Within this field, several studies have been conducted in Indigenous multilingual contexts, but only a few of such studies mention Indigenous research and its principles. More importantly, explicit Indigenous methodologies are still absent from literacy studies, making it difficult to reflect upon methodological choices. Based on a comparative study of two literacy projects conducted in an Indigenous Sámi context, this chapter suggests that a first step toward the implementation of Indigenous methodologies is an awareness of Indigenous research principles. Awareness of the principles is required before they can be respected and followed, and before new methodologies can be discussed. This chapter suggests that it is also possible to consciously move towards methodologies that align with Indigenous research principles in literacy studies. In the best case, careful consideration of methodologies and guiding principles can lead to an understanding of the literacy landscape from unique perspectives that follow from collaboration, inclusion and mutual respect.

About 10 % of all pupils in grades 1–10 who learn Sámi in Norwegian schools live in the city of Tromsø. This group totalled 232 pupils in the school year 2020/2021, and the pupils went to over 20 different schools. Almost all were pupils of North Sámi, and a handful also received instruction in South Sámi. In Umeå in Sweden, 42 pupils attended mother tongue classes in Sámi in the winter of 2021, divided among five different Sámi varieties, reflecting the diverse composition of the Sámi population in the area. In neither city, the Sámi pupils exceed 3 percent of their municipal peer group and they are embedded in local communities dominated by the national majority languages (Norwegian and Swedish). We discuss the challenges and opportunities that Sámi children who grow up in two urban environments face when reclaiming, maintaining, and developing their indigenous heritage language. We report from piloted language (re)vitalisation activities, 'language showers' (giellariššu), which regularly gathered pupils from different schools for activities in Sámi and were led by adult proficient speakers with the goal to strengthen the pupils' language skills and the social bonds between children who otherwise do not meet on a regular basis.

Samisk pedagogik och ämnesdidaktik har haft nästan en mytisk klang över sig trots att det sedan 2000-talet har funnits gedigna modeller som baserar sig på den samiska kunskapssynen. Den här narrativa artikeln har som ambition att beskriva vissa grundantaganden, villkor och kontexter som länkas ihop med den kunskapssynen, och som idag är med på att diktera villkoren för samisk grundutbildning i fyra länder. Artikeln är en introduktion till ämnet och ett viktigt och mycket omfattande kunskapsområde presenteras i stora drag och utifrån ett lärarperspektiv som har sin grund i många års fältstudier och skolforskningsprojekt.