Joke Dewilde
PhD Candidate
Hedmark University College and
University of Oslo
Diverse Teachers : The Norwegian Case
Briefing Notes
Demographic Details - Norway
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
Population pr. 01.10.2010: 4.9 million
Migrant population pr. 01.01.2010: 11.4%
o Largest number in Oslo: 27%
o 215 different nationalities
o Approx. 47% from Europe, 36% from Asia, 12% from Africa and 3% from Latin and
Central America
Demographic Details - Norwegian Compulsory School
Pupils: 620,000
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Pupils receiving differentiated Norwegian education: 40,017
Bilingual teachers: 4% of the total teaching force.
Relevant Programmes and Policies
Main policies
Prior to 1997
Aim: functional bilingualism
After 1997
Mainstreaming, by incorporating all newly-arrived bilingual pupils in ordinary classes.
Model: transitional education, i.e., bilingual pupils’ home language is only used during a transition
phase, until their Norwegian is sufficient enough to follow mainstream teaching.
Consequence: more focus on a special form of Norwegian education (Basic Norwegian for Language
Minorities). Detrimental effects on mother-tongue instruction (Rambøll Management 2009).
At the same time: authorities wished to strengthen the position of bilingual teachers in the
Norwegian school system. A new BA for bilingual teachers was established (see below).
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Relevant Programmes
Bachelor for Bilingual Teachers (Faglærerudanning for Tospråklige)
In 2006, only 3% were minority students. Even at Oslo University College, situated in a largely
multicultural population, the proportion of minority students recruited to regular teacher education
has remained stable at only 4% for a number of years (Ringen & Kjørven 2009).
To increase the diversity of teacher candidates, Hedmark University College (HUC) was asked by the
Ministry of Education and Research to chair a group of nine university colleges to develop the
program, known as the University College Cooperation in Norway (Høgskolesamarbeidet i Norge). 1
In 2004, the first students were enrolled. By 2008, the programme had enrolled more than 500
students and more than 100 had received a BA (figures from 2008).
The BA programme was designed to recruit bilingual teachers already working in the Norwegian
compulsory school and to improve their formal and real competence as professional teachers.
The ambition was to design the programme in such a way that the students’ academic merit from
the home country and elsewhere would be recognised and given formal credit as part of the
programme.
Module in “Multicultural Pedagogy”
Many University Colleges offer a voluntary module in multicultural pedagogy for teacher all training
students.
Other Facts
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On bilingual/mother-tongue teachers in a study by Rambøll Management (2009):
o In 2008, on behalf of the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training, Rambøll
Management mapped the competence of, amongst others, 164 bilingual
teachers/mother-tongue teachers, using electronic questionnaires.2
o Half of them have been temporary employed for more than 4 years.
o Half of them teach at two or more schools.
o 21% lack a formally approved teacher education. Figures from GSI (Norwegian
compulsory school information system) indicate, however, that among mother-tongue
teachers a total of 45% lack formal qualifications. This number is based on school
leaders’ reports on the number of teachers, both with and without formal qualifications,
at their school. Two reservations have to be made about this number; it is possible for
the same teacher to be counted several times if he/she is listed by school leaders from
several schools. In addition it is not certain that all school leaders are fully aware of the
requirements for qualification for mother-tongue teachers, as these vary from the
qualification requirements for teachers in general.
o 62% have relevant experience from their home country.
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2
www.hihm.no (Only in Norwegian)
http://www.utdanningsdirektoratet.no/upload/Rapporter/2008/kompetansekartlegging.pdf
(summary in English)
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On bilingual/mother-tongue teachers who have taken the BA for Bilingual Teachers, in a study
by Valenta (2009):
o Valenta collected data in 2008 during a national evaluation of the BA for Bilingual
Teachers. He interviewed twenty-two students and conducted a questionnaire involving
one hundred mother-tongue/bilingual teachers.
o Only 1/5 of the students teach both minority and majority pupils in different school
subjects.
o Valenta argues that bilingual teachers use any opportunity to disassociate themselves
from their bilingual teacher roles and seek a way out of this profession.
REFERENCES
Rambøll Management. (2009). Evaluering av praktiseringen av norsk som andrespråk for språklige
minoriteter i grunnskolen.
Ringen, B.-K., & Kjørven, O. K. (2009). The design of a teacher education program for bilingual
teachers in Norway. In O. K. Kjørven, B.-K. Ringen & A. Gagné (eds.), Teacher diversity in
diverse schools: Challenges and opportunities for teacher education (131-143). Vallset:
Oplandske bokforlag.
Valenta, M. (2009). 'Who wants to be a travelling teacher?' Bilingual teachers and weak forms of
bilingual education: The Norwegian experience. European Journal of Teacher Education,
32(1).
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