This article is concerned with presenting a qualitative study of teachers dealing with undemocratic attitudes in secondary school. The research question was: how do teachers teach when the aim is to remove undemocratic attitudes and prevent the formation of undemocratic attitudes? The research group which was part of the study established…

In numerous countries, the widening participation of underrepresented groups in higher education has become an official part of education policies. However, inequalities continue in some areas, including refugees' participation. Norway hosts many refugees, but little is known about the social inclusion of refugees into higher education in the…

This study examines how videos may support participants' learning in the Information and Communication Technology Massive Open Online Course (ICTMOOC) aimed to develop digital skills with pre- and in-service teachers in Norway and provides an insight into how teachers' interactions with videos may contribute to enhancing their agentic capacity to…

Inspired by a posthuman philosophy, this paper explores sustainable natureculture kindergarten praxis as a pragmatic transcorporeal collective engagement with the present and sustainable future events to come. The point of departure is the economic argument for implementing science, technology, engineering and mathematics education within early…

This article considers the Sámi understanding of time and place in pedagogical settings. The study is based on research material gathered at Sámi schools and from teaching conducted in the Sámi language. These data were combined to develop a theoretical review of teacher education from a metatheoretical perspective. The research challenges…

This case study examines a Nordic on-line course on gender equality promotion in education, in which principals, teachers, school staff and gender equality activists engaged in dialogue regarding contents and practices. The on-line course was designed with reference to promising practices identified in a previous Nordic network project. The…

The Nordic educational welfare model was implemented to support social justice and equal opportunities for all. After the fall of the Berlin wall the welfare model is weakened due to influences from international and global trends. It is found that with the introduction of new public management steering of public welfare and the decentralization…

The purpose of this article is to carry out a critical inquiry of comparative education by using an example of a comparative programme within kindergarten teacher education in Norway. The article discusses the inclination, in cross-cultural comparative studies, to emphasise cultural essentialism, to evaluate educational practice from a…

The lesson study (LS) model, which originated in Japan, has become popular all over the world. This article will highlight some of the challenges encountered when the LS model was picked up and introduced in a local school context in a Norwegian municipality. The article views this process in the light of research on LS-model transfer into local…

The article presents the concept of rhetorical agency to understand and analyse the parallel and paradoxical agencies teachers are offered, and limited by, under discourses of globalisation within education. The paper identifies typical arguments, reactions, narratives and metaphors of globalisation. It discusses some of the consequences these…

Norwegian society is becoming increasingly heterogeneous. In order to meet challenges and provide conditions for high quality kindergartens "The National Kindergarten Act" and the "Norwegian Framework Plan for Kindergartens" are under revision (period 2013 to 2016). A central challenge of this is how to formulate ideas that…

This article will show how the global educational policy expectations of being a "self-managing learner" unfold in the context of two school organisations in Norway, and contribute to the exclusion of so-called newly arrived minority language students. The theoretical framework is Niklas Luhmann's theory of the global educational system,…

This paper discusses the emergence of assessment for learning (AfL) across the globe with particular attention given to Western educational jurisdictions. Authors from Australia, Canada, Ireland, Israel, New Zealand, Norway, and the USA explain the genesis of AfL, its evolution and impact on school systems, and discuss current trends in policy…

Current Norwegian curricular guidelines oblige schools to educate citizens with a critical perspective on society. From a discourse theoretical perspective, this obligation implies that various school subjects, and in particular social studies, offer discourses on social issues that allow for different points of view and critical evaluation.…

The convergence of Islam and national and cultural identity in Europe, exacerbated by external events like a murder, assassination, riot, embassy bombing or even a satirical cartoon, has the potential for disrupting civic order and eroding movements towards cultural assimilation and national integration. Clearly, fundamentalism in any religion,…