This open access book is the first account of the whole diversity of teacher education in the Nordic region: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, the Åland Islands ...and Sápmi (where the Sámi people live). Today, large parts of the world are looking to the Nordic model of social organization, and interest in the Nordic comprehensive school system and teacher education arrangements is no exception. A good education is a key to prosperity and well-being. And the quality of students’ education is undoubtedly linked to the quality of their teachers’ education. While teacher education in the Nordic region is globally admired, it also faces new challenges. The leading scholars writing in this volume discuss the challenges and opportunities that professional environments are facing. By providing solid portraits of each area as well as analyses across the region, this book will be a great resource to students, academics in teacher education and schooling as well as social scientists and policy-makers inside and outside the Nordic region. This is an open access book.
After the Second World War, the Scandinavian countries grew closer, with improving their education systems a common ambition. There are striking similarities in the change processes that occurred in ...the design of schooling in these countries. Sweden led the way to an expanded comprehensive school system where differentiated instruction became undifferentiated, with Norway following after. Denmark underwent a similar but delayed evolution. Despite certain fundamental problems faced by lower secondary schools, this model shows path-dependent characteristics. The present study examines why this model, which has been referred to as the Nordic model of education, has enjoyed such an enduring influence.
This book is an attempt to raise questions and start a debate. It presents new research relevant to a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities inherent in educational technology and ...strategies are discussed in relation to handling these challenges. Rather than presenting ready solutions, the book attempts to provoke debate and to contribute to a firmer grasp on reality. The chapters in this volume offer an up-to-date discussion.
Trade and contact between people in the northwest corner of Europe and other parts of the world can be traced far back in time. The attacks and raids of Vikings created terror in parts of Europe, but ...through Christianization, the people in the north gradually assimilated the values of the other European regions. The transnational Catholic church influenced the order of several societies. Schools in the Nordic region at first provided training for the priesthood. With the Reformation, the transnational influence of the Church was greatly weakened. In the 18th century, societal authorities introduced a new school model: mandatory public school for all. This public school helped spread literacy and more in-depth knowledge of Christianity. Over time, the idea emerged that schools should serve a broader purpose than spreading Christian knowledge; the need for teacher education was recognised as a logical consequence. Substantial improvements to the school system took place through trained teachers and the expansion of schools’ content. The changes in Nordic societies laid the foundation for and were influenced by improvements in the school system, indicating a renewal of the school systems. Teacher education evolved from a seminary-based education with many general education elements, to an extended education.
Adequate self-efficacy is useful for motivating individuals to engage in continued improvement. This study explores the potential antecedents of instructional self-efficacy beliefs among Norwegian ...student teachers attending a programme for secondary school teachers. The most important finding was the strong association between the student teachers’ perceptions of digital competency to resolve challenges relating to information and communication technology (ICT) in schools and their instructional self-efficacy, which was explored via two dimensions: (1) self-efficacy for maintaining discipline and (2) self-efficacy for influencing students’ use of ICT in the service of learning. Implications for practice are discussed. We argue that digital competency among student teachers is important for sustaining instructional self-efficacy in technology-rich classrooms.
Mange evalueringer har vist, at lærerstuderende bruger beskeden tid på at studere. I denne undersøgelse undersøger vi indflydelsen fra udvalgte faktorer, som er relateret til lærerstuderendes ...studieintensitet, baseret på undersøgelsesdata og strukturel ligningsmodellering. Analyserne bygger på svar fra 1224 lærerstuderende på fire forskellige campusser. Den vigtigste konstatering er, at studenternes selvdisciplin og akademisk pres skiller sig ud som de vigtigste faktorer, som har betydning for de studerendes studieintensitet. Hvis et lavt niveau af studieintensitet betragtes som et problem, kunne stimulering af de lærerstuderendes selvdisciplin i studiearbejdet og en skærpelse af arbejdskravene i de campusbaserede elementer af læreruddannelsen være et muligt middel. Implikationer for praksis og videre forskning diskuteres.
Noen videregående skoler har prøvd ut en ordning med karakterfritt semester for at elever skal kunne ha sterkere fokus på forbedringsinnsats på basis av lærernes formative tilbakemeldinger og mindre ...fokus på prestasjonsmessig oppnåelse. Formålet med denne studien er å utforske norsklæreres erfaring med ordningen. Flere teoretiske linser kombineres for å forstå det mangefasetterte fenomenet som elevers læringsarbeid i karakterfritt semester omfatter. Hovedkonklusjonen er at norsklærere i videregående skoler i overveiende grad har positive erfaringer med karakterfritt semester: Karakteroppmerksomheten avtar med denne ordningen, og fokuset blir desto sterkere på elevers oppmerksomhet om læringsframgang basert på lærerens tilbakemeldinger. Lærerne oppfatter at arbeidet blir mer preget av å gi tilbakemeldinger som elever kan bruke for å forbedre sine tekster, og i mindre grad dokumentasjon for å begrunne karakter som ellers ville ha vært gitt. Ordningen ser ut til å skape mindre stress for elever som ellers ville oppleve det som plagsomt å oppnå en karakter lavere enn aspirasjonsnivået. Lærerne ser heller ikke ut til å mene at høytpresterende elevers arbeidsinnsats svekkes av karakterfritt semester.
English abstract
English title: Norwegian language arts teachers’ experiences with grade-free semester: room for improvement efforts for the student and greater focus on formative feedback from the teacher?
Some upper secondary schools in Norway have tried out a scheme with a grade-free semester in order for pupils to be able to have a stronger focus on improvement efforts on the basis of the teachers’ formative feedback and less focus on performance-related achievement. The purpose of this study is to explore teachers’ experience with the scheme within the subject named Norwegian. Several theoretical lenses are combined to better understand the multi-faceted phenomenon that pupils’ learning work in a grade-free semester includes. The main conclusion is that teachers in the subject Norwegian have predominantly positive experiences with a grade-free semester: the grade attention decreases while the focus on students’ attention to learning progress based on the teacher’s feedback increases. For the teacher, the emphasis shifts to feedback that pupils can use to improve their texts and to a lesser extent documentation to justify the grade that would otherwise have been given. The scheme seems to create less stress for pupils who would otherwise find it troublesome to achieve a grade lower than the aspiration level. The teachers also do not seem to believe that the work effort of high-performance pupils are weakened by a grade-free semester.
The chapters in this volume offer the most thorough, up-to-date discussion on the challenges of technology use in school education. In tackling the critical issues created by technology, this book ...provides an important resource for student teachers, teachers, education scholars and those interested in a critical examination of digital expectations and experiences in school education.
The focus in this study is on the antecedents of Icelandic student teachers’ instructional self-efficacy in classroom management and ability to support learner engagement. We examine how student ...teachers’ instructional self-efficacy relates to their experience in the teacher education programme, including campus preparation and practice teaching in schools. Data were gathered from 191 compulsory school student teachers. The results show that experiences with problem behaviour in the classroom are negatively related to student teachers’ efficacy in classroom management. Further, perceptions of the relevance of campus experiences are strongly related to student teachers’ efficacy in classroom management. The implications for practice and future research are discussed.
The purpose of this study was to explore antecedents of Finnish and Norwegian student teachers’ prospective commitment to work as teachers or pursue other careers. Are student teachers’ perceptions ...of coherence between the theoretical and practical elements of the teaching programme related to their commitment to work as teachers or to pursue other careers? For Finnish student teachers, strong associations emerged between the theory-practice interaction in supervision and student teachers’ prospective commitment to work as teachers. Norwegian student teachers exhibited strong associations between personalised feedback and their prospective commitment to teaching. Implications for practice and further research are discussed.
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