Course content

Development and Management of the School

The course will take a macro perspective on the school, emphasizing how decisions made at the societal level affect the school. This perspective is illuminated both historically and in relation to the current situation. In the seminars, the connections between the main themes of the course will be elaborated and processed, and the semester plan provides a detailed overview. The central content of the course includes these four main themes:

• Education Policy and Governance (critical analysis and pedagogical reflection)
• The History of the Norwegian School and the Development of the Teaching Profession (teacher role and school development)
• Outline of the History of Education (the roots and impact history of pedagogy)
• Room for Change (collaboration, professional development, and professional ethics)

Learning outcome

KNOWLEDGE

The student:

• has knowledge of various political, pedagogical, and practical views on the school’s activities.
• has knowledge of the development of views on the school’s mission, the teacher’s role, and the school’s organizational structure.
• has knowledge of the opportunities teachers have to influence the school’s development in the public sphere and shape their own practice in a local, collegial community.
• has knowledge of the role of the contact teacher in light of collaboration and development work in the school.
• has knowledge of connections in the educational pathway related to collaboration and development work at the system level.
• has knowledge of collaboration with other actors relevant to the school’s activities at the system level.

SKILLS

The student:

• can analyze various historical views on education based on underlying views on humanity and society and the fundamental values in the educational framework.
• can reflect on how teaching can accommodate student diversity.
• can contribute to innovation processes and take responsibility for collaboration and development work that promotes academic and pedagogical innovation in the school.
• can plan and participate in research-based development and change processes in the school and critically evaluate these afterward.
• can, based on research-based and profession-oriented knowledge in pedagogy, conduct and communicate their own research in accordance with scientific principles for both qualitative and quantitative research.

GENERAL COMPETENCE

The student:

• can independently argue academically about their own pedagogical practice and the school’s democratic function.
• can reflect on the teacher as both a bearer and renewer of a historical heritage and a changing societal mandate.
• can discuss the relationship between different views on teaching and knowledge with a view to facilitating and justifying their own practice.
• can handle dilemmas and pressures between state and municipal governance and the teacher’s professional autonomy and freedom of expression.
• can critically analyze societal debates on education policy and the school’s value base.

Learning methods and activities

The working methods in PEL 4 vary between lectures, student-active seminars, group work, and individual work. Collaborative learning is emphasized. There are mandatory work requirements where students must demonstrate academic insight into the course’s thematic areas and the development of their own teacher identity. The teaching is aimed at enabling the student to formulate, discuss, and communicate about pedagogical issues within the course’s themes. Emphasis will be placed on the connection to the practice field both as a study field and as an arena for professional practice. The course will incorporate current societal issues related to education and school.

Compulsory assignments

• Mandatory assignments according to emnebeskrivelsen

Specific conditions

Recommended previous knowledge

The student must have received a passing grade in 1st-3rd year of the study programme, in addition to PEL 3.

Required previous knowledge

The student must have passed the subject area LÆR1000 "Knowledge learning and education in teacher profession" in additon to PEL 1 and PEL 2 (30 SP), or equivalent.

Course materials

The final syllabus and semester plan will be published on Blackboard before the start of study.

Credit reductions