Case Study of a Sustained Educator Partnership between the U.S. and Norway (original) (raw)
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• Teacher education plays a central role in education and relates to various stakeholders of education. Currently, teacher education is not perceived as the sole responsibility of higher education institutions, and they are expected to work closely together with other partners. In this paper, the concept of 'partnership' is defined and mutual benefits and challenges in partnerships with disciplines and institutions beyond teacher education programs are briefly discussed. Issues related to partnerships with students are addressed, and the last part of the paper discusses the partnership between teacher education and the practice field with examples from Norway. Three models illustrating such partnerships are described. The central argument of the paper is that partnerships in teacher education need to go beyond rhetoric.
Building Partnerships in a Global Society: The Internationalization of Education Programs
adulterc.org
This interactive session will explore the role of educators in a rapidly changing global society. The theoretical framework is based on a critical pedagogical approach. The focus is on discussing values, beliefs and assumptions, inherent power relationships and how these areas impact on the development of International educational partnerships.
Nordic Journal of Comparative and International Education (NJCIE)
2020
Teacher education is supposed to be able to offer student teachers professional learning that will enable them to deal with the academic and social needs they may be confronted with in school. This calls for teacher education based on a coherent and meaningful division of labour between the learning activities that take place on campus and in placement schools. This has proved difficult to achieve. Research shows a significant gap in the way teacher education is organised. The purpose of this article is to contribute to the development of a theoretically grounded account of the so-called “theory-practice” gap in teacher education, which can move us beyond the simple dichotomies that currently seem to annoy much research and practitioners’ interest in this field. We argue that achieving such an account will require the expansion of more equal and mutually negotiated professional learning in teacher education, that can contribute to enhancing student teachers’ professional learning, o...
Intercultural Partnerships That Foster Cultural Competence
2021
Institutions of higher education (HE) are emphasizing their capacity to (a) foster equitable access; (b) incorporate global perspectives into teaching, learning, and research; (c) build international and intercultural competence among students, faculty, and staff; and (d) establish relationships and collaborations with people and institutions throughout the world. At Minnesota State University, Mankato, instructors have responded to this emphasis with a specific course for pre-service teachers: Human Relations in a Multicultural Society. Based on this experience, the authors based the course on a foundational theory and engaged in scholarship related to teaching and learning. Adaptations were made in one major assignment, a cultural partnership, so that college students could diversify their perspectives and enhance their intercultural skills, even during a pandemic. For three semesters during the pandemic, instructors facilitated virtual "buddy" matches with students at a university in Armenia (English language classes in Spring 2020) or with students in various US cultures (Alaska Natives in 2020-2021). The series of related assignments included establishing a partnership, interviews, shared virtual activities, and reflection. This report briefly reports the analysis of data collected with the IDI in Spring 2020, the latest semester for which data was available for this project.
Journal of Education and Educational Development, 2019
This report introduces an innovative research project about the dialogue among teacher trainees from UK, Norway and Pakistan, about a literary work, in a virtual environment. This project involved us, fi ve English in Education academics from the three contexts, as researchers who gathered, analysed and reported on the international data collaboratively. We refl ect on our experience as international researchers and the benefi ts we found in this type of association across borders for future teachers. This work has implications for teacher education and the methodologies used can be benefi cial for future researchers and teacher educators.
Local and global challenges in a Nordic context: working with teacher students in the Spica network
Research in Action, 2018
This paper explores how an international network of teacher education institutions can contribute to strengthen future teachers in their work with sustainability and citizenship. In particular, we focus on how internationalisation in combination with local contexts can be a point of departure for building relevant global knowledge. With a Nordic perspective on teacher education, we present an example of how short-term mobility offers an arena for interdisciplinary work with sustainable development
The role of culture in culturally compatible education
This study captured a moment of conflict between Danish and Greenlandic educational leaders as they engaged in a joint endeavor to implement Greenland's nationwide reform. After adopting the Standards for Effective Pedagogy developed by the Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence (CREDE), reform leaders were in disagreement on two strategies that explicitly used Greenland's Native culture to teach. This study analyzes reform leaders' arguments on the disputed Standards, Contextualization and Modeling. Results indicate that while both groups were committed to the task, their goals for implementation differed. Greenlandic reform leaders were concerned with whether the use of the two Standards would increase and strengthen Native representation and identity. Danish reform leaders were interested in understanding the best way to use the pedagogy in Greenland's educational context. This study points to the complexity of joint endeavors in post-colonial societies, particularly where Native cultural revitalization is the goal. Although it is easy to dismiss conflict and resistance as a product of post-colonialism, arguments made by each side should be analyzed for its contribution to the overall goal of educational reform. I n many post-colonial contexts, indigenous reform leaders are changing their educational systems to reflect the values and cultures of their Native communities. To accomplish their goals, subordinated groups may need to elicit the assistance of the dominating group until they are self-sustaining (Kaomea, 2005). These joint tasks may incite conflict as group members' negotiate different perspectives for what is best in the education of Native students. This study captures a moment of conflict between Greenland's reform leaders in the implementation of a nationwide reform. As part of the reform process, Greenland's Ministry of Education officials adopted the Standards for Effective Pedagogy developed by U.S. researchers at the Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence (CREDE). Initially, Danish and Greenlandic reform leaders embraced the pedagogical model citing its appropriateness in the Greenlandic context. In time, Danish reform leaders strongly resisted Contextualization and Modeling, two Standards that make explicit use of culture to teach.
Acta Didactica Norge
This paper draws upon recent research on program features that characterize powerful teacher education. Based upon research and scholarship in the U.S., suggests that teacher education programs need to promote a clear vision of teachers and teaching; must be coherent, reflecting a shared understanding of teaching and learning among faculty and students; and finally, that they need to be built around a strong core curriculum deeply tied to teaching practice. However, we know little about whether these features also characterize powerful teacher education programs in other countries. To start to address that gap, I describe research from two separate studies, one conducted in the United States and one in Norway. Both studies examined the visions, coherence, and relationship to practice in a range of teacher education programs. In this second paper, I share the findings from the Norwegian study. An opportunity to look across two contexts at the same features helps provide some initial ...
"The Nordic countries have much in common, not only historically, but also culturally and linguistically. A common labour market and strong co-operation have existed between the countries for many years. For example, these countries have had an employment and educational mobility policy, which resembles that which the EU is currently implementing. Moreover, the Nordic welfare state model, based on the rights of individuals to a decent life and equal opportunities for social promotion, is viewed as best achieved through education. In the Nordic countries free and equal access to education at all levels has played an integral role as regards ensuring equal educational opportunities. It is safe to say that education has long been seen as one of the pillars of Nordic societies, with a long history of literacy. While the Human Development Report recognizes the Nordic countries overall as some of the best countries in the world in which to live, it simultaneously lists a number of countries in Africa, for example, at the bottom of the list. Given the high levels of democracy, education, income and public wealth, the Nordic countries have historically been committed to development co-operation in the name of solidarity, such as it is reflected in development policies, the aim of which is the support of many of the world’s poorest countries. In addition to clearly defined priorities with development policies in such areas as the environment and climate change, crisis prevention and support for peace processes, the Nordic countries underscore the importance of education, especially as regards its capacity to effect change in the aforementioned areas. Despite overall similarities, there are many features of the individual Nordic countries that make them distinctively different. In this volume some of the differences are manifest in the chapters, written by the sixteen comparativists whose work is presented herein. This volume aims to provide insight into the diversity of research being conducted in the northernmost parts of Europe. Although it would be incorrect to assert that research in this far away part of Europe represents something drastically different than that done in other parts of the world, it would be equally incorrect to maintain that being at the outskirts, on the cusp, or on the periphery – whichever way one wishes to describe the position of the Nordic countries in relation to the rest of the world – does not influence the ways in which educational processes, phenomena and their consequences are viewed. "