Nordic Journal of Comparative and International Education (NJCIE)
https://journals.oslomet.no/index.php/nordiccie
<p><em>The Nordic Journal of Comparative and International Education (NJCIE) </em>is the only journal in the Nordic countries specifically addressing themes within our field and serves as a connecting node for comparative scholars in, or interested in, the region. NJCIE is a <a href="https://www.scienceeurope.org/our-priorities/open-access/diamond-open-access/">Diamond Open Access</a> journal following the Science Europe initiative working to strengthen Diamond Open Access in scholarly publishing.</p> <p>We invite papers that seek to analyze educational discourse, policy and practice and their implications for teaching and learning, and particularly invite papers investigating topics through an interdisciplinary lens focusing on new insights and fostering critical debate about the role of education in diverse societies. <em>NJCIE</em> is concerned with the interplay of local, national, regional and global contexts shaping education. The ways in which local understandings can bring to light the trends, effects and influences that exist in different contexts globally highlight the general understanding of Comparative and International Education in <em>NJCIE</em>.</p> <p>All papers should include a comparative and/or international dimension. Furthermore, all contributions must engage with wider theories and debates in the field of comparative and international education and include a Nordic and/or global perspective.</p> <p><em>NJCIE</em> invites Nordic and international contributions alike. The journal includes research from all geographic regions in the world. The journal invites contributions in English and all official Nordic languages. <em>NJCIE</em> aims for four issues per year.</p>Oslo Metropolitan University & University of South-Eastern Norwayen-USNordic Journal of Comparative and International Education (NJCIE)2535-4051<p><strong>Declaration on copyright</strong></p><ul><li>The author/s will keep their copyright and right of reproduction of their own manuscript, with the work simultaneously licensed under a <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" target="_new">Creative Commons Attribution License</a>, but give the journal a permanent right to 1) present the manuscript to the public in the original form in which it was digitally published and 2) to be registered and cited as the first publication of the manuscript.</li><li>The author itself must manage its financial reproduction rights in relation to any third-parties.</li><li> The journal does not provide any financial or other remuneration for contributions submitted.</li><li>Readers of the journal may print the manuscripts presented under the same conditions that apply to reproduction of a physical copy. This means that mass reproduction of physical copies or production of copies for commercial purposes is not permitted without the agreement of the author/s.</li></ul>Exploring Interdisciplinary Approaches to Education for Sustainable Development
https://journals.oslomet.no/index.php/nordiccie/article/view/5877
Robert J. DidhamHiroki FujiiGregor Torkar
Copyright (c) 2024 Robert J. Didham, Hiroki Fujii, Gregor Torkar
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2024-05-242024-05-248310.7577/njcie.5877Sustainable Development, Education and Learning: The Challenge of Inclusive, Quality Education for All
https://journals.oslomet.no/index.php/nordiccie/article/view/5855
<p><em>Review of the book authored by Victoria W. Thoresen, Agenda Publishing, 2023</em></p>Hiroki Fujii
Copyright (c) 2024 Hiroki Fujii
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2024-05-242024-05-248310.7577/njcie.5855Redefining TVET Leadership in Kenya
https://journals.oslomet.no/index.php/nordiccie/article/view/5820
<p>The alignment of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) with industry needs is pivotal for achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs) in Kenya. Yet, reliance on global commitment mechanisms, primarily voluntary national reviews (VNRs), has proven insufficient. This forum piece argues for a strategic transition towards voluntary local reviews (VLRs) and <span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">incorporating indigenous philosophies, such as <em>Harambee</em>, to better align TVET with SDG objectives</span>. This transition is essential for fostering inclusive, equitable learning environments, enhancing workforce preparedness, and facilitating a community-centric educational model that effectively addresses local needs while contributing to global sustainability goals. Additionally, this forum piece underscores the need for institutional social change to resolve contradictions in current policies that hinder educational systems from reaching their goals. Drawing from a comparative study of TVET governance models in Nairobi, Kenya, and Pittsburgh, USA, this forum piece illustrates how different approaches can align TVET systems with localized educational demands and SDG frameworks, highlighting policy innovation, leadership development, and community engagement as key strategies for redefining TVET leadership.</p>Jeffrey MatuWilliam Rothwell
Copyright (c) 2024 Jeffrey B. Matu, William Rothwell
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2024-08-272024-08-278310.7577/njcie.5820Teaching and Learning Sustainable Consumption: A Guidebook
https://journals.oslomet.no/index.php/nordiccie/article/view/5815
Gregor Torkar
Copyright (c) 2024 Gregor Torkar
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2024-05-242024-05-248310.7577/njcie.5815A Tribute to Professor Wing On Lee
https://journals.oslomet.no/index.php/nordiccie/article/view/5752
Karen ParishHeidi BisethHalla B. HolmarsdottirAihua Hu
Copyright (c) 2024 Karen Parish, Heidi Biseth, Halla B. Holmarsdottir, Aihua Hu
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2024-01-302024-01-308310.7577/njcie.5752High School Teachers’ Adoption of Generative AI
https://journals.oslomet.no/index.php/nordiccie/article/view/5736
<p>In 2023, the breakthrough of generative artificial intelligence (AI) led to its adoption. While some teachers expressed frustration over pupil misuse of generative AI, others advocated for the availability of a school-relevant chatbot for pupil use. In October 2023, a local chatbot intended to meet that goal was launched by Oslo Municipality. After six weeks, an investigation was conducted to examine how 246 teachers perceived the opportunities and limitations of this new technology. The examination used structural equation modelling to explore antecedents of instructional AI utility. The analysis shows that the pathway between instructional self-efficacy and AI utility has the highest positively charged value, while the pathways between management and AI utility have low numerical value. This last finding can be interpreted as the influence of untapped management potential and must be seen in the context of the fact that no guidelines for the use of AI in schools existed when the survey was conducted. In addition, the pathway between colleague discussion and AI utility has relatively low numerical values. The potential for learning through discussion among colleagues can be utilized to an even greater degree. The pathway between management and colleague discussion is remarkable. Implications are discussed.</p>Eyvind ElstadHarald Eriksen
Copyright (c) 2024 Eyvind Elstad, Harald Eriksen
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2024-05-082024-05-088310.7577/njcie.5736Exploring Child Standpoint Theory in Early Childhood Education
https://journals.oslomet.no/index.php/nordiccie/article/view/5713
<p>This empirical study in Bangladesh explores the potential of Child Standpoint Theory in constructing and reconstructing the child in early childhood education (ECE) and its role in facilitating cross-cultural comparisons in and of ECE systems. The <em>comparative gaze</em> is considered for ways of scholarly investigation in the context of ECE system <em>messiness</em>. The paper suggests viewing children as relational ethnographic units of comparisons for comparing the conditionality, contextual elements, and temporality of each child's education across cultures through a three-fold approach. Spanning method and theory, the approach combines the notion of the entangled researcher and the comparative case study tool of tracing with Child standpoint theory. Findings are presented through a comprehensive visualization of a ‘child’ going through the ECE system during a day as a pathway to deeper analysis of facets underpinning ECE from a bottom-up rather than top-down approach.</p>Annica Källebo
Copyright (c) 2024 Annica Källebo
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2024-08-272024-08-278310.7577/njcie.5713Opportunities and Dilemmas in Interactions between the Education Sector and Academia
https://journals.oslomet.no/index.php/nordiccie/article/view/5708
Mari-Ana JonesTessa Eriksen GrevleErlend DehlinTony BurnerSara Bubb
Copyright (c) 2023 Mari-Ana Jones, Tessa Eriksen Grevle, Erlend Dehlin, Tony Burner, Sara Bubb
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2023-12-212023-12-218310.7577/njcie.5708International Master’s Degree Students’ Experiences of Support at a Finnish University
https://journals.oslomet.no/index.php/nordiccie/article/view/5693
<p>This phenomenographic study explores international master’s degree students’ ways of experiencing support in Finnish higher education. The study draws on Schlossberg’s Transition Model and the Culturally Engaging Campus Environments Model as a conceptual framework. The phenomenographic analysis of 17 interviews with international master’s degree students identified four ways of experiencing support as: (a) study system adjustment, (b) learning enhancement, (c) personal growth, and (d) autonomy development. The findings identified participants’ experiencing support in relationships, use of information, communication, services, the flexibility of studies, learning and study environments. The presence of two indicators, Humanizing Educational Environments and Availability of Holistic Support suggested that the campus environment was culturally responsive to academic and personal support of international degree students. The findings contribute to the understanding of support for international degree students in higher education and may be used to develop services to support international degree students’ social, cultural, and career integration into host communities.</p>Anduena BalloSotiria VarisCharles MathiesKalypso Filippou
Copyright (c) 2024 Anduena Ballo, Sotiria Varis, Charles Mathies, Kalypso Filippou
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2024-03-172024-03-178310.7577/njcie.5693Future Teachers Conceptualizing Democracy in Pre-war Ukraine, in Palestine, and Norway
https://journals.oslomet.no/index.php/nordiccie/article/view/5665
<p class="Abstract"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 125%;">This article presents a qualitative study of future teachers’ conceptions of democracy in Ukraine, Palestine, and Norway during a pre-war and pre-pandemic period. In recent years, there has been a noticeable decline in the understanding of the democratic concept and reduced engagement, particularly among youth, coinciding with an assumed global recession of democratic recession. However, democracy also evolves with societal developments, whereas education holds the mandate to renew democratic values in society. This study therefore aims to explore student teachers’ own definitions of the democracy concept. Employing a grounded theory approach, we compare the written responses of 619 student teachers from Ukraine, Palestine, and Norway. The analysis reveals that despite different emphases, democracy is articulated along five dimensions: 1) political systems, 2) political culture, 3) values, 4) actions, and 5) actors. However, the study also indicates a striking finding: To our surprise, there were many identical responses across the data material, interpreted as <em>wikied</em> copy-paste responses, which indicate a distance and irony towards standardized democracy concepts. Consequently, democracy education is in a limbo between standardization and fostering new dimensions, whereas the teachers’ tasks will be challenging in providing democracy concepts born anew for the next generation.</span></p>Ingrid ChristensenLarysa Dahl KolesnykSami AdwanTetiana Matusevych
Copyright (c) 2024 Ingrid Christensen, Larysa Dahl Kolesnyk, Sami Adwan, Tetiana Matusevych
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2024-09-062024-09-068310.7577/njcie.5665Futures Thinking in Middle School Science Textbooks
https://journals.oslomet.no/index.php/nordiccie/article/view/5647
<p>This research aims to illuminate the characteristics of "Futures Thinking" components within the interdisciplinary units of "Science, Technology, and Humanity" and "Nature and Humanity" and "Sustainable development" within Japanese middle school science textbooks. Grounded in pre-existing literatures, this research meticulously organizes the essential competencies of future-oriented thinking into three distinct components: "Envisioning the Future," "Predicting the Future," and "Planning for the Future." Each component is further broken down into more precise indicators. For "Envisioning the Future," indicators include perspectives on "Multiple Futures," the "Science of Future," and "Hope and Fears." For "Predicting the Future," we delve into the "Scenario" technique, alongside "Forecasting" and "Backcasting" strategies. "Planning for the Future" assesses the "Precautionary" approach, "Evaluating Action," and understanding "Risk and Changes." The research involved a cross-sectional analysis of content types (such as texts, diagrams) and contexts (individual, regional, national, and global), determining the presence or absence of these indicators. The findings reveal: (1) a more frequent articulation of these competencies within the "Science, Technology, and Humans" unit, (2) a scant representation of "Multiple Futures" and "Scenario" methods among the nine indicators, (3) a prevalence of explanatory text in presenting these concepts, and (4) a consistent inclination towards a global context in the textbooks' narratives. These insights imply an extant gap within the current pedagogical tools, underscoring the importance of an expanded, multifaceted approach to teaching these competencies. The implications for future curriculum development and instructional strategies in middle school science education are profound, necessitating a more integrated approach that resonates with the uncertainties and possibilities of the future.</p>Khalifatulloh Fiel'ardh
Copyright (c) 2024 Khalifatulloh Fiel'ardh
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2024-05-242024-05-248310.7577/njcie.5647Interdisciplinary Teaching Scenarios on Sustainable Development in Croatia
https://journals.oslomet.no/index.php/nordiccie/article/view/5630
<p>This paper reflects on the project for the creation of teaching scenarios for the curricular Interdisciplinary Topic of Sustainable Development, which addressed a wide variety of subjects in Croatian primary and secondary schools. The paper intends to provide insight into potentially replicable approaches for the creation of teaching resources in similar contexts. The paper aims to identify (1) the project’s approaches that stimulated interdisciplinary collaboration during the creation of the teaching scenarios, and (2) the project’s approaches that could facilitate the adoption of the teaching scenarios by a wide variety of subject teachers. The approaches are explored through observation and reflection by the author, who was the key expert and development leader for the teaching scenarios. The interdisciplinary creation is found to be stimulated by creating conditions for authors to explore sustainable development with an awareness of their subject’s important role in it while paying attention to team relationships, processes, and results, including in online collaboration spaces. The teaching scenarios are found to be more likely to support a multidisciplinary type of implementation than an interdisciplinary one due to teaching activities mostly being not integrated enough to enable team teaching. This, however, allows more enthusiastic individual teachers to use the activities autonomously. The scenario adoption may be supported by the efficient simultaneous addressing of subject outcomes and sustainable development outcomes, by the adaptability of teaching activities, and by the connection between scenario topics and real life, including the life of the school community and wider communities.</p>Veljko Armano Linta
Copyright (c) 2024 Veljko Armano Linta
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2024-05-242024-05-248310.7577/njcie.5630Education Beyond Green Growth
https://journals.oslomet.no/index.php/nordiccie/article/view/5618
<p>Despite the continued popularity of education for sustainable development (ESD) and expanded calls for educators to inspire hope in the face of the climate and nature emergency, scholars from varied disciplines and knowledge systems have pointed to the disavowed social and ecological costs of the promise that we can continue pursuing infinite economic growth on a finite planet. In this article, we offer an alternative approach to education grounded in a regenerative inquiry methodology. Regenerative inquiry can prepare people to honestly confront the limits and harms of “green growth” and support them to “grow up” by expanding their capacity to navigate complexity and uncertainty and activating a sense of intergenerational responsibility. We also offer an example of how this methodology was mobilized in the context of a year-long transdisciplinary program focused on the climate and nature emergency.</p>Sharon SteinVanessa AndreottiCash AhenakewRene SušaLisa TaylorWill ValleyDino SiwekCamilla CardosoCarolina “Azul” DuqueBill CalhounShawn van SluysDani PigeauDani D’Emilia
Copyright (c) 2024 Sharon Stein, Vanessa Andreotti, Cash Ahenakew, Rene Suša, Lisa Taylor, Will Valley, Dino Siwek, Camilla Cardoso, Carolina “Azul” Duque, Bill Calhoun, Shawn van Sluys, Dani Pigeau, Dani D’Emilia
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2024-05-242024-05-248310.7577/njcie.5618“Because they have technology”
https://journals.oslomet.no/index.php/nordiccie/article/view/5627
<p>Over the last forty years, the concept of sustainable development has gained attention in large parts of the world. With it comes the need for comparative research on how the concept is understood in different contexts.</p> <p>This article is a comparative discourse analysis of how Tanzanian and Norwegian secondary school teachers conceptualize sustainable development. By applying Laclau and Mouffe’s (2014) discourse apparatus, I trace articulations of sustainable development across Tanzanian and Norwegian discourses.</p> <p>The findings indicate that the Tanzanian teachers in the study primarily conceptualize sustainable development within a socioeconomic discourse, while the Norwegian teachers are rooted in an environmental discourse. The teachers are also embedded in a Western exceptionalism discourse constructed around the myth of “the West” as sustainable, and favour solutions emerging from Western technology and innovation. However, the study also finds that there is a critical discourse opposing this articulation of “the West”.</p>Øyvind K. Mellingen
Copyright (c) 2024 Øyvind K. Mellingen
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2024-05-242024-05-248310.7577/njcie.5627The transformative potential of textbooks
https://journals.oslomet.no/index.php/nordiccie/article/view/5622
<p>Education is recognized as crucial in addressing unsustainable practices, such as food waste. One of the aims of interdisciplinary food education in basic education is to promote sustainable food waste behavior, which can be promoted by transformative learning. This study examined how food waste is addressed in nine Finnish basic education textbooks. The content related to food waste and the pedagogical style of the texts were analyzed from home economics, biology, and geography textbooks designed for secondary level education (grades 7–9, age 13–16). The results were analysed to assess their potential to promote transformative learning. All of the textbooks approached the topic of food waste from the perspective of their own subject, and none presented it as an interdisciplinary phenomenon. Home economics textbooks focused on students' perspectives, emphasizing food waste reduction and waste sorting. Geography textbooks frequently explored the topic in the context of the food supply chain or at a global level, while biology textbooks primarily addressed the sorting of food waste. The textbooks primarily used a neutral text style focusing on information transmission. In some contexts, a persuasive style was employed to encourage critical thinking and action. The participative style, which encourages active student engagement, was utilized the least in all textbooks, and primarily for exercises. By integrating learning-supportive text styles (such as participative and persuasive), including student tasks related to food waste, and fostering an interdisciplinary understanding of food waste, textbooks have the potential to transform student learning and engagement in sustainable food practices.</p>Milja PollariMinna AutioAnna-Liisa Elorinne
Copyright (c) 2024 Milja Pollari, Minna Autio, Anna-Liisa Elorinne
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2024-05-242024-05-248310.7577/njcie.5622