50 research outputs found
Global teachers: The long-term effects of an international practicum
No full textThis paper present finding from an international practicum programme for Norwegian student teachers in Namibia. Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences offers three months international practicum programme in Namibia. The aim of the programme is to expose the students to diversity, develop their global and intercultural competence and to prepare them for teaching in multicultural classrooms in Norway. This paper is the last in a series of publications from a trailing research project following student teachers that had a 3 months international practicum in the global south (Wikan and Klein, 2017, Klein and Wikan 2019). In this paper, we examine the long-term impact of the experience. Based on a qualitative study with open-ended questions mailed to 18 former students we discuss the perceived impact of their experiences both personally and professionally, with a focus on the global teacher aspect. The main finding is that the international practicum has had a significant impact on both personal growth and professional development. They report that they feel competent to teach in a multicultural classroom, teach global issues, have broaden their worldview and global knowledge and have become more critical towards international news due to their own three months experience in Namibia. In conclusion, they have developed a cultural sensitivity and global perspective in their role as a teacher
Book Review of Unni Wikan, In Honor of Fadime: Murder & Shame. Translated by Anna Paterson.
No full textThe writer Unni Wikan, a Norwegian by nationality is a social anthropologist who has worked at various universities a professor of social anthropology. Wikan has also worked as a consultant with international organisations such as United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Program (WFP).
In this book, the author tried to explore Fadime’s (a Swedish girl of Turkish origin) honour killing case under the light of different socio- cultural traditions and immigration issues. Honour killing is one of an extreme act of violence against women which highlights their subordinated position within patriarchal societies. Since last few decades Anthropologists, social scientists, journalists and NGO’s in different parts of the world have started to raise this issue seriously through exploring case studies, writing books, articles and several projects
Cash, crops and cattle. A study of rural livelihoods in Botswana
No full textLack of economic development has lead to a growing scepticism to grand economic
development theories and strategies. The focus has shifted towards a more open-ended
perspective where the local context and poverty alleviation are in focus. As a result,
the new key concepts in the discourse are livelihoods and urban-rural linkages. The
academic interest is focused on the question: how are African households surviving
given their increasing difficult economic circumstances?
In the African context, Botswana is a special case. It is rich; it has a very small and
relatively homogenous population and has had a stable democratic development
throughout the whole independence period. Situated in the land-locked central part of
Southern Africa the peaceful and successful development of Botswana is quite an
achievement. However, Botswana’s economic progress and development has not had
the anticipated spread effects, from the urban to the rural economy, from the privileged
to the poor. Poverty amidst plenty is an often-used slogan to describe the present state
of development in Botswana. The development processes is a differentiation process,
and at the present stage a number of households live in utmost poverty, whereas
Gaborone was given the name Benz City because of the number of Mercedes Benz
around. On this background on wealth and poverty, I will show how different groups
of rural households are making a living; how the poor are managing to stay alive, how
the middle income households are planning for survival and security and how the rich
are making sure they stay rich and continue accumulating wealth. In short, the main
focus of this report is the livelihood strategies of the rural households
Utfordringer i grunnutdanningen i Namibia
No full textEnglish: The aim of this report is to describe the situation in the Namibian school system and discuss school internal and external reasons for school non-participation and poor results. By school non-participation is meant both non-enrolment and drop-out.Norsk: Utdanning og utvikling blir gjerne sett som to sider av samme sak. I denne rapporten blir rasjonale bak denne sammenhengen diskutert. Rapporten tar videre opp ulike utfordringer ved grunnutdanningen i Namibia
UNIVERSITY OF INLAND NORWAY, FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND NAMIBIA 1980-2025
No full textIntroduction
Arising out of local solidarity initiatives in the Inland region of Norway in support of the Namibian independence struggle, the collaboration between the teacher education at Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences (INN) and educational institutions in Namibia has, in the decades since independence, evolved into professional and academic partnerships that endure strongly and vibrantly today. The mode, content, and actors have shifted, but education and teacher training have consistently been at the core of this collaboration. The cooperation has transitioned from solely sending Norwegian students on teaching practicums to Namibia, to a more comprehensive approach including student and staff exchanges in both directions curriculum and course development and collaborative research projects.
In this chapter, I will investigate and provide context to the collaboration between the Faculty of Education at INN University and various institutions in Namibia, notably the University of Namibia (UNAM). I will detail and contemplate the strategic measures taken to establish a sustainable partnership spanning over 30 years
Rural development in Botswana
No full textNorsk: Utviklingen i Botswana de siste 20 årene har vært preget av
høy og stabil økonomisk vekst. Botswana er et land som har oppnådd sin
velstand gjennom råvarebasert vekst i kombinasjon med klokt lederskap, stabile sosiale og politiske forhold og ikke minst en gunstig geopolitisk
beliggenhet. Det er mulig å si at inntekten fra i første rekke diamanter, men
også kveg har blitt bruk til å økte den sosiale velferden til befolkningen.
Helsetilstanden, levealder og skoledeltakelse er på det høyeste nivå vi kan
finne i Afrika. Likevel er det stor fattigdom, økende ulikhet i Botswana og
stigende arbeidsledighet i Botswana. Det er særlig på landsbygda at
fattigdommen er stor. I denne artikkelsamlingen som består av fire artikler
dokumenterer jeg hvordan levekårssitasjoner er på landsbygda i Botswana
i dag sammenlignet med for tyve år siden. Jeg viser også hvilke ulike
levekårsstrategier landsbyghushold anvender for å overleve. Resultatene
som presenteres i artiklene er basert på to feltstudier, en i 1980 en i år
2000.English: Development is a complex process; it often leads to growth at
some places while it at the same time leads to stagnation at another place.
Development can mean prosperity for some groups and poverty for others.
Botswana has had a high economic growth rate the last twenty years – a
growth rate which has lifted the country out of the group of least
developed countries to a middle-income country. An interesting question is
what are the regional and social consequences of this growth? I will not try
to give a comprehensive answer to this question. This collection of papers
is based on a reserach prosject which startetd in 1980 and endend in years
2000. Thus, the conclusion is based upon data collected over a time span of
twenty years. By doing a re-study of the same two rural villages twenty
years after, I will be able to tell how the general development process in
Botswana has manifested itself on rural household standard of living and
their livelihood strategies. In the first article I give a general overwiev of
the development in Botswana the last twenty years. The next two articles
discuss the livelihood situation for the rural households. In the last article I
decribe the complex set of livelihood strategies which rural households
apply in order to make a living.Norges Forskningsråd og Høgskolen i Hedmar
Challenges in the primary education in Namibia
No full textEnglish: The aim of this report is to describe the situation in the Namibian school system and discuss school internal and external reasons for school non-participation and poor results. By school non-participation is meant both non-enrolment and drop-out
Norwegian secondary school teachers and ICT
No full textICT is meant to be integrated in all subjects in Norwegian schools; nevertheless many teachers are reluctant to use ICT in their own teaching. This paper explores to what extent teachers use ICT in their classroom teaching and what teacher-level factors influence the use of ICT. It draws on an analysis of 10 focus-group interviews with 10 teachers and a quantitative study of 59 teachers in three lower secondary schools in Hamar, Norway. The teachers showed commitment to ICT; however, may did not see the educational value, except for increased access to learning material and to stimulate learner motivation. Teachers also expressed lack of ICT confidence even though they have been taking part in ICT courses. A main finding is that to integrate ICT in one's own teaching is a difficult and gradual process and teachers must be given time to find their own way to merge ICT with their own teaching style
Interactive whiteboards as artefacts to support dialogic learning spaces in primary schools
No full textThe interactive whiteboard (IWB) is a technical digital medium for multiple forms of interaction - technical, physical and conceptual. It is a point of departure for this article that the IWB has the potential to support learning, given that the teacher has a dialogic teaching style. Our research is embedded in a social constructive learning philosophy implying that interaction between learners as well as learners and teacher will lead to increased insights for everyone. Dialogue is seen as a characteristic of education, but not all learner talks are dialogic; there are different types of pupil conversations - competitive, cumulative or exploratory. It is in particular the exploratory talk that has the ability to increase learning through interthinking and thus create a dialogic learning space. The article reports findings from a study of 7 primary school teachers and their use of the interactive board. The main findings are that they do not use the full potential that the IWB gives to support collaborative learning. We discuss what teachers need in order to develop their practices to exploit the potential of the IWB for creating a supportive dialogic learning space
Interactive whiteboards as artefacts to support dialogic learning spaces in primary schools
No full textThe interactive whiteboard (IWB) is a technical digital medium for multiple forms of interaction - technical, physical and conceptual. It is a point of departure for this article that the IWB has the potential to support learning, given that the teacher has a dialogic teaching style. Our research is embedded in a social constructive learning philosophy implying that interaction between learners as well as learners and teacher will lead to increased insights for everyone. Dialogue is seen as a characteristic of education, but not all learner talks are dialogic; there are different types of pupil conversations - competitive, cumulative or exploratory. It is in particular the exploratory talk that has the ability to increase learning through interthinking and thus create a dialogic learning space. The article reports findings from a study of 7 primary school teachers and their use of the interactive board. The main findings are that they do not use the full potential that the IWB gives to support collaborative learning. We discuss what teachers need in order to develop their practices to exploit the potential of the IWB for creating a supportive dialogic learning space
