LNCE10220 "One school for all" - including exceptional children (Autumn 2022)

Higher Education Entrance Qualifications.

Applicants with Certificate of Upper Secondary Education from other than the Nordic countries can be granted dispensation from the requirement of proficiency in the Norwegian language on condition of documented proficiency in the English language, cf. Regulations for Admission to Study Programmes at Østfold University College, section 3.

Why do people feel disenfranchised when living in a democratic country? How can children be excluded when attending universal and inclusive state institutions like schools and kindergartens? In this module, students will learn to exercise ethical and historical discrimination around the techniques of people management and inclusion that have informed pedagogical theory and practice in modern times, with particular focus on the Norwegian model of 'one school for all' as a case study running through the entire syllabus.

Particular attention will be given to exercises of mapping, screening and assessment for learning. Alternative models of listening to marginal voices and weird perspectives from history and anthropology will also be considered, as students learn to use, change and reject various forms of integration, and develop an awareness to normalization and social difference in the classroom.

Knowledge

The student

• can trace the historical roots of the 'one school for all' model
• can recognise and give an informed description of recurrent pedagogical practices of inclusion
• can give an account of alternative practices of expression and listening.

Skills

The student

• can critically analyse the history of Norwegian inclusive school and its pedagogy
• can discuss historical and contemporary examples of non-normal behavior and marginal insights.

General competence

The student

• can engage in and critique educational practices that listen to, assess and categorise marginal voices.

The course goes through three phases:

1. An introduction to Norwegian school and kindergarten history, with particular emphasis on the background of the 'one school for all' thinking, and the inclusion and exclusion of various groups;
2. Learning about techniques for handling diversity in inclusive schools and nurseries, including mapping, screening and assessment for learning, and workshops in these tools, together with analysis of the data they produce
3. Identifying and analyzing techniques for listening differently to different voices in the classroom and society.

Lectures, workshops, literature and data analysis.

The following required coursework must be approved by teacher before the student can take the exam:

• 80% approved attendance
• Two days of compulsory workshops
• One oral presentation containing a data analysis (groupwork) with individual note (approx. 500 words)

Home exam (3 days) on a given topic (2000-3000 words).

Marks A-F. A indicating excellent, and F indicating fail.