Nordic Journal of Comparative and International Education (NJCIE)

Exploring the Power of Internationalization in Teacher Education

Halla B. Holmarsdottir — 2023-02-10

L’épicentre: Démocratie, ÉcoCitoyenneté mondiale et Éducation transformatoire The Epicenter: Democracy, EcoGlobal Citizenship and Transformative Education El Epicentro: Democracia, Eco*Ciudadanía Mundial y Educación Transformadora

Sigrun Wessel Svenkerud — 2023-01-27

Editorial: Inclusion in vocational education and training (VET)

Evi Schmid — 2022-11-14

“I am Sámi, but I am not a Sámi”

Anna-Maria Stenseth — 2023-01-05

This article gives voice to coastal Sámi students and explores their negotiations over being Sámi or Norwegian within the Norwegian education system. Through interviews, students share insights on the extent to which education focuses on Sámi issues and reflect upon their identity. The article explores how youths negotiate personal identity within pre-existing structures by employing Archer’s theory on structure and agency as a backdrop. The changing phases in how ‘western’ societies view indigenous practices and knowledges are applied together with (de)colonial perspectives to understand (colonial) structures. Some key findings are that the coastal Sámi students’ identity negotiations are complex, as official discourses seem to restrict them from identifying as ‘real’ Sámi, and that the local Sámi is within a discursive void due to unintended consequences resulting from the unification in the centralised education system. In focusing on students and using the educational system as a backdrop, this article seeks to deepen the understanding of how society and the educational system in particular condition students’ notions of what it entails to be Sámi and how students negotiate their identity.

School absenteeism among students in Germany, Japan, Sweden, and the United Kingdom:

Ulf Fredriksson — 2023-04-24

School absenteeism is a challenge in many countries. Still, there are few comparisons between countries, which is partly due to a lack of shared definitions of concepts. This article makes use of PISA data to compare self-reported student absenteeism in Germany, Japan, Sweden, and the United Kingdom (UK). Three data sets are used, from 2012, 2015, and 2018. The self-reported absenteeism, which is referred to as truancy in the PISA studies, was measured as having skipped a whole school day at least once in the two full weeks before students completed the PISA student questionnaire.

The results show great variation between the studied countries, from 24.4% in the UK in 2015 to 1.5% in Japan in 2012. The percentage of students who reported having skipped school is much higher in the UK than in the other three countries. The differences between the countries concerning the percentage of students reporting having been absent from school are significant for all years, except between Sweden and Germany in 2015. Germany and the UK have a similar pattern in development, with the highest percentages in 2015, while Sweden and Japan have small (albeit not significant) increases from 2012 to 2018. The UK is the only country where the changes between 2012 and 2015 as well as between 2015 and 2018 were significant.

It is not possible to see any obvious patterns between the countries that might be linked to differences related to their welfare regimes, education systems, or values. To find such patterns, it may be necessary either to include more countries in a study or to conduct more in-depth studies on each country.

Discourses of democratic education in the preparation of teachers for international contexts

Karianne Helland — 2023-04-25

This article offers a critical and comparative view of democratic education as expressed in curriculum documents of ten teacher education programmes aimed at educating teachers for international contexts. Democracy and democratic education are concepts with contested meanings, and I use the discourses of democratic education identified by Sant (2019) as an analytical tool for mapping the understandings or approaches present in the documents. Intercultural competence, global citizenship, and International Mindedness are contested and overlapping concepts which intersect with these democratic discourses. The tension between a neoliberal discourse and a traditional focus on international-mindedness and global citizenship is often described as characteristic of international schools. The “internationalist” ethos dominates course descriptions and learning objectives. While several discourses of democratic education are present, the focus is mainly individual and geared towards intercultural understanding rather than democratic competences. The idea of the student as a citizen beyond the limits of the classroom walls is not very visible, nor are concepts of power and privilege.

Reclaiming songs of wisdom in rural Bangladesh

Maria Jordet — 2022-11-21

What kind of music teaching and learning takes place among folk musicians and young ones, aiming to reclaim their oral tradition and educate new master teachers? This question will be answered by drawing on extensive fieldwork at nine song-and-music schools in rural Bangladesh, applying critical realism as a meta-theory. An overall aim is to expand views on what music teaching and learning can be, with potential implications for education beyond rural Bangladesh. The empirical material was collected through a focus group interview with 12 students in an advanced class and in-depth interviews with these students and their three master teachers. The analysis shows that the generational transmission can be seen as based on the ‘four pillars’ of music pedagogy. These are re-described through dialectical critical realism in an abductive process, showing that music pedagogy can open an ontology and dialectic on being and becoming human for the participants. Results are discussed with absence and remembrance as key concepts. The study provides practical and philosophical insights into a music pedagogy about deep learning and resonance: towards transformative praxis.

Agency is an illusion

Solveig Maria Magerøy — 2022-09-27

This article investigates student teachers’ perceptions and experiences in teacher education regarding codetermination and participation as a part of education for democracy and citizenship, along with how they visualize their future teaching in this interdisciplinary theme as teachers in schools. The data material includes 16 extensive interviews with six student teachers in their final year of teacher education in Norway. The results demonstrate a discrepancy between their perceptions and praxis concerning participation. First, the student teachers in their last year of teacher education felt the ability to participate in and through their education was present, but they chose not to take advantage of this possibility. They underlined the importance of participation and agency in education for democracy but did not seem to assign the same importance to their involvement in education. Second, when visualizing how to teach democracy and citizenship in schools, they suggested facilitating pupils’ self-determination in situations where the pupils’ decisions and participation do not change or impact anything. In so doing, they described participation and agency as an illusion; something that is important, necessary, and valuable but with no practical implications. The student teachers seemed to transfer this same illusion of pupils’ agency and participation in their planned teaching in the future.

On a Mission to Break Ground for a More Democratic School System

Tessa Eriksen Grevle — 2023-01-04

The importance of building democratic competency in the face of current global challenges cascades down into national curricula. Illustratively, in 2020, Norway introduced a new national curriculum that conveyed an expectation that students should experience a democratic school society in practice. In response to this new curriculum, in 2019, an upper secondary school in Norway decided to embark on a mission to develop and implement a new pedagogical model. The ambition was to increase the students’ sense of codetermination and participation in school, the local community, and society at large. Subsequently, an interdisciplinary pedagogical model has been in development at the school, in which the subject content is organized according to overarching topics. These topics are presented to students as quests called learning missions.

Through in-depth interviews with teachers and leaders currently working on developing the new pedagogical method at the school, the current article investigates the challenges and opportunities the participants encountered in this process. The data have been coded through a stepwise deductive-induction method and analyzed using Bernstein’s concepts of classification and frame. The participants identified the inflexible organizational structures of the school—such as the school administrative system, the building, assessments, and the set timetable—as aspects that made it challenging for the school to depart from the dissemination-based approach to education. Inversely, the implementation of interdisciplinary topics in the Norwegian National Curriculum is one example of a structural change that the participants thought had opened up more flexibility. However, the participants experienced that this flexibility was not extended into the regulations controlling how time is spent in school or the assessment forms. Hence the article concludes that structural changes are necessary to enable the growth of pedagogical models that can increase students’ codetermination, active participation, and real-life experiences in schools.

What makes supported internships an effective approach to VET?

Jill Hanson — 2022-11-14

Internationally, there have been varied attempts to secure the inclusion of young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) in Vocational Education and Training (VET). This paper investigates supported internships (SIs), which are programmes that include college courses in numeracy and literacy, workplace learning, and broader life skill development. Drawing on an empirical study of one SI in England, this paper focuses on the pedagogic structure of SIs to explore how systematic instruction combines with elements of the workplace environment to bring about successful vocational learning for young people with SEND. It considers whether the expansive-restrictive conceptualisation of apprenticeship learning explains successful outcomes within an SI. A case study approach using a qualitative methodology of semi-structured interviews was adopted to explore the experiences of people involved in the SI. These included two job coaches, four colleagues, six interns and three graduates from the SI. Thematic analysis revealed this SI facilitates workplace learning for young people with SEND because it models an expansive (not reductive) approach to internships. Systematic instruction did not result in restrictive learning because of role design and broader organisational features. A key facilitating aspect was that the design of the internship fostered opportunities to develop identity through crossing boundaries. Implications for the design of SIs (to facilitate social inclusion and ensure employment outcomes for young people with SEND) are discussed.

Why Is It So Difficult to Contribute to Social Inclusion Through Vocational Education and Training?

Markus Maurer — 2022-09-27

This paper compares “recognition of prior learning” (RPL) schemes in four countries, to find out the impact of VET policy reforms on social inclusion. The study finds that RPL schemes have only made limited contributions to social inclusion in these countries, for the following reasons: firstly, there are challenges in upper secondary VET, which, in all four countries, requires a substantial level of general education and transversal competencies, on which the key educational policy actors are not willing to compromise. Secondly, some countries used RPL to provide access to non-formal qualifications. Still, such schemes were only successful when those non-formal qualifications were already well-established in society and the labour market (prior to having been made accessible through RPL). The article argues that, for RPL to contribute more to social inclusion, schemes need to be less complicated and should also include complementary education and training provisions for all those who lack work experience in sectors where access to employment depends on certain qualifications.

Å velge bort læring i skolen til fordel for læring i praksis: En casestudie om veien frem til fagbrev via praksisbrev

Åshild Tårnesvik — 2022-09-20

This article focuses on the training practice scheme, a two-year apprenticeship scheme that was implemented as a measure to reduce dropouts from vocational education and training (VET). After completing a two-year apprenticeship, apprentices may continue their training to obtain a full trade certificate. In this article, we examine how the scheme contributes to inclusion in regular VET. Based on interviews with ten apprentices who continued their education and training in a regular apprenticeship after a two-year apprenticeship, and interviews with their supervisors in apprenticeship training, this article presents two case studies. The apprentices’ narratives about school reveal negative educational experiences, feelings of disengagement, failure and exclusion, leading both of them to withdraw from school and construct an identity as practically-oriented learners. During the first year of upper secondary education, both were offered a two-year apprenticeship in sales. The two case studies show how practice-oriented learning provided opportunities to experience success and mastery, a sense of belonging, and the feeling of being members of communities of practice. The article argues that these experiences contributed to a shift in the apprentices’ self-view and thereby created opportunities for learning and motivation to continue education and training.

Stödpraktiker i relation till arbetsplatsförlagt lärande i svensk gymnasial lärlingsutbildning

Enni Paul — 2022-09-19

This article explores educational support practices during workplace-based learning in upper secondary apprenticeship education in Sweden. Many students in need of educational support attend upper secondary VET, but how they are supported in relation to workplace-based learning has not been investigated in any extensive way. 15 semi-structured interviews with upper secondary VET-school personnel were conducted. Through the use of concepts from the theory of practice architectures three different support projects embedded within three practices were identified: a workplace socialization project; a qualification project; and a social-pedagogical project. These support practices were conditioned by how students were viewed; the allocation of resources at the local schools, and the schools’ possibilities to influence the workplaces. The study concludes that support for workplace-based learning is shaped as a one-sided responsibility falling on the schools. Although apprenticeship education might fit some students in need of support, many of them are left without any support during the workplace-based learning part.

Interventions for Inclusion in TVET through Private-Public Development Partnership in Ethiopia and Zambia

Samson Melesse — 2022-09-19

The study is about reconfiguring Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) through Private-Public Development Partnership (PPDP) for the inclusion of disadvantaged groups in Ethiopia and Zambia. A PPDP is a cooperation between national and foreign actors targeted at development activities and is a governmental strategy to increase the standard of TVET, including strategies to include disadvantaged learners. This article focuses on two PPDPs, one comprising a TVET college in Ethiopia and another in Zambia. The aim is to analyse and compare the curricular strategies of these two PPDPs to revamp TVET for the inclusion of disadvantaged learners. Data was generated through document analysis, interviews and focus groups. The findings indicate that both PPDPs served as an intervention to the TVET institutions, thereby including disadvantaged learners in contexts of huge inequality of opportunities. The article points to tensions relating to inclusion, particularly about how global educational policy trends contend with the realities in local labour markets and the needs of TVET graduates who will work therein.

Reengaging in their future

Øyvind Laundal — 2022-11-14

This study aimed to explore how students describe their preparedness for education and training after attending the additional school year following lower secondary school. The main purpose of the additional school year is to prepare youths for upper secondary school. The aim is to increase their chances of completion by providing students with an adapted and flexible schooling arena. The target group are students who have completed lower secondary school but are at risk of early school leaving (ESL) due to numerous risk factors, such as low academic achievement, lack of a sense of belonging to the school, or lack of parental involvement. Little is known, however, about how students experience preparedness for future education after attending an additional school year. Drawing on the theoretical underpinnings of disengagement and re-engagement, the present study addressed this gap by examining how 17 youths (age 16) attending the additional school year experienced readiness for future education and training. Data comprised individual interviews with youths in the target group. The reflexive and thematic approach to analysis indicated that students’ experiences of preparedness were characterized by a process of re-engagement in the present and for the future, including social, academic, and practical preparedness. Preparedness is discussed as many-faceted, intertwined with affordances of alternative schooling, and a process of re-engagement. Implications for alternative and conventional schooling are discussed.