The battle about the school building – the history behind the new wave of open plan schools in Norway

Abstract

During the last years we have seen examples of hard battles regarding the architecture of new school buildings in Norway. In this article, I give voice to four central figures in this debate: the former Minister for Education and Research, Kristin Clemet; the leader of the teachers’ union Norsk Lektorlag, Gro Elisabeth Paulsen; the director of the Department for school buildings in Oslo, Harald Øvland; and the last voice belongs to the main safety representative for the teachers in Oslo, Knut Myhrer. These voices will shed light on questions like: who wanted the open plan schools (baseskoler), why the open plan schools were welcomed, who opposed the open plan schools, and why there was opposition. The quartet will also shed light on the eventual relation between the new curriculum reform Knowledge Promotion (Kunnskapsløftet) and the new open plan schools, and also to what degree the teachers have participated in the process of developing these new school buildings.