Teaching in Norway

Last week I shared some basics of the structure of the upper secondary schooling here in Norway. This week I wanted to share what I’ve learned from teachers in the time that I have been here.

In my limited time in Norwegian schools, here’s what I’ve learned so far about teaching.

Because of how upper secondary schools are set up in Norway teachers have a great deal more freedom here. For example, VG1 students (first-year upper secondary students) have 5 hours of English each week, but those do not happen at the same time each day. Usually, they have one class for 2 hours one day and another for 3 another day. This may be structured differently depending on the school, but in the schools I’ve visited so far most students have English two days a week for longer blocks of time. (This is similar with other subjects as well.)

Teachers teach 3 or 4 classes a year. Some teach less, but the majority of teachers I’ve met are teaching 3 or 4.

What this means for teachers is that when they are not teaching or in meetings, they do not need to be in school. Most teachers have to be in school 31 or 32 hours a week, most of which involve teaching or meetings (during school hours), and the rest of the work they do, they can complete wherever they choose. If they want to work from home, they are trusted to do so and complete their work. When I was talking with one teacher about this and explained that in the US high school teachers are required to be at school the whole day, the response was, “well that doesn’t make for a positive teaching environment, does it?”

I have yet to meet a teacher who needs to be in school all day every day Monday through Friday like teachers in the US. If they don’t teach until 10 am one day, that’s when they come in. If they have a day with no teaching or meetings then they can stay home. Teachers are trusted to complete their work and to be in school when they are required. Often an idea that is lost in the U.S. And, these teachers are committed to their teaching and students. Like teachers in the US, they take their teaching seriously.

Another important difference is that in Norway the whole school has lunch at the same time. Even if there are 1,500 students in the school they all each lunch together. That means ALL teachers at a school have lunch together. They have a space to eat together and spend time together. They do not use this time for meetings, they use it for lunch. When I explain how lunch works in schools in the US, most teachers are amazed that our teachers don’t have to opportunity to just have lunch with one another. Imagine being able to spend even 30 minutes during the day with all your colleagues just eating lunch in the teachers’ lounge. And, having a teachers’ lounge that would fit all of you.

Every teachers’ lounge I’ve visited is large enough to fit the whole staff and is full of teachers from 11:30 to 12:00 (Around this time every day is lunch in most Norwegian schools.) Sometimes there are announcements, but usually, it is just a time to talk and eat.

Because of how classes are scheduled in Norway, teachers have meetings during school hours. They do not need to stay after school to meet with other teachers. Some schools do have after school meetings, but the majority of the schools I have visited so far find time during the school day to meet with each other. When I explain how school meetings happen in the US and that many times teachers have to stay after school for meetings, I am often asked how that works if you have children you need to pick up from school or other commitments once school is done for the day.

In Norway, teachers are also paid for any work they do apart from teaching. For example, if a teacher takes students on a trip they are paid for doing so. If teachers do anything outside their contracted teaching and planning time, they are paid for that work. This gives teachers the freedom to be more or less involved in school events and activities depending on their life circumstances and choices. And, maybe it is because I am primarily meeting teachers who are already engaged in teaching and students because they are choosing to bring in a Rover, teachers seem to be happy to do additional work because their time is valued.

I have also found that the majority of teachers in Norwegian high schools teacher more than one subject. Because of how schools and classes are set up, it is difficult to get a job if you do not teach more than one subject. Teachers are not only an English teacher. Most English teachers I meet are also foreign language teachers. They may teach English and French or English and Spanish. Some also teach religion (a required subject in Norway) or social studies. A number of teachers I have met have moved to Norway from other countries and they are often teaching Norwegian as well as their first language.

In thinking about how we teach and approach Foreign Languages in the US, the fact that all teachers teach more than one subject means that if a school chooses, they can offer a larger variety of foreign languages. Even if there is only one group of students at each year/level taking French, since the teacher is also certified in other subjects, the school can offer one section of French along with one section of Spanish, German, Russian, or whatever other languages teachers speak and can offer. I would love if that opportunity was available even in small towns (like mine) in the US.

Another difference and one that many Norwegian teachers would like to change to make more like U.S.

schools is that teachers don’t have their own classrooms. Instead, teachers have offices and go to classrooms when they teach. Most teachers share a group of offices with other teachers and that is where they do their work when they are at school and not teaching. A number of teachers have said they wish that they could have their own classroom to put up posters or leave information in the room for students.

Often in lower secondary schools, but also in upper secondary schools, students will stay in one classroom all day and teachers will rotate in. Depending on the program of study students have chosen, they may stay with the same group of students all day. For example, I visited a group of Mechanics students and they were together the entire day, and many of them the entire time they were in VGS. They had one classroom where they would have subjects like math, English, and history and then they would spend a great deal of time in the shop, learning about mechanics and completing projects

The relationship between teachers and students is different as well. I am sure I will discuss this more in a later post, but even in primary (elementary) school, students call teachers by their first names. My children both do. And, Jack even sends texts to his teacher–who responds and texts him back. This relationship is quite common. Young people are taught early on that their teachers are actual people and there is a mutual respect. Watching how teachers and students interact at the upper secondary level is much more like colleges in the U.S.

All of these elements make for a more trusting environment. Teachers are trusted to do their jobs. Students are trusted to do what is asked of them. And, there is trust that learning takes place. In most schools I have been in there has been a time when the teacher needed to leave the room to help a student, make copies, get something out of their office or a number of other things. The teachers just tell students what to do while they were gone and the students would do their work. When the Rovers commented to Norwegian teachers that in the U.S. a teacher could not leave their classroom–and in some cases leaving students alone may result in being fired–teachers were surprised, wondering why it would be such an issue.

Norwegian teachers say they take a number of pedagogical ideas from the US and are very excited to hear about teaching ideas and resources, but I have spent a great deal of my time here wondering why US teachers and schools don’t look to other countries and see what works and how teachers are treated and make changes to schools and districts based on what is effective in other places.

I know that the US is much larger than Norway, but my small town isn’t. We could easily make changes to how we structure schools to provide more freedom for teachers and students. Maybe, if we all just trusted teachers a bit more that could help. Trust that teachers actually know how to do their jobs. Trust that teachers have the best interest of students at heart. And, trust that if we give teachers a bit more freedom to create, plan, and implement their ideas our schools would start to get better.