Learning to Teach in Norway: A Shared Responsibility

Abstract

It is internationally acknowledged that teachers play a major role as regards student learning, and the question of how to ensure that all teachers are good teachers draws the attention of education stakeholders also in Norway. New developments are increasingly suggesting that teacher education is a shared responsibility among policy-makers, higher education institutions and the practice field; however, how to translate such a perspective into coherent practice seems to be a challenge. This chapter proposes that teacher education forms part of career-long and lifelong learning, which starts at the point of entry to the education system and continues until the end of a teacher’s professional life. While the responsibility for teacher education programmes is shared by various stakeholders, the weight of the responsibility shifts as the teacher moves from pre- to in-service education. The connecting link of this shared responsibility is mentoring. It forms a key strategy in teachers’ workplace learning—during pre-service induction, and continuing professional learning. Whilst the focus in the mentoring literature has mainly been on the mentee, less attention has been given to the role of mentors. We discuss mentoring in the Norwegian context in light of recent teacher education reforms, and argue that mentoring is a ‘profession within a profession’, which requires unique professional knowledge and skills acquired through an academic professional education. Finally, we present an induction model which illustrates a shared responsibility for assisting newly qualified teacher in their professional learning.