Psykologisk kontrakt med studenter i høyere utdanning

In this article, we present how a shared psychological contract was negotiated with students at the Practical Pedagogical Education for Vocational Teachers (PPU-Y) at the beginning of the program, autumn 2016. A modified version of the nominal group technique (NGT) was used in groups and in whole class negotiations. General themes representing the individual students as well as common expectations of the role of the teacher and their own role as students were identified. The findings show that the students have a high degree of relational expectations to the teacher, expect structure and predictability in the study, and expect relevance between education and objectives of education and that individual expectations to the teacher and the negotiated psychological contract in class are relatively similar.

En dags praksis: Hvordan bidra til at studentene finner sammenhengen mellom teori og den virkelige verden?

This chapter revolves a one-day practice for 200 pedagogy students at three primary schools in the municipality. The practice is completed in March when the students have studied the vocation for eight months. Lectures and seminars build up to this takeover in advance. The week before the day of practice, the students are out in the practice schools and observe the class they are going to take over and talk to the teachers at the school. Practice reports, reflection notes and logbook notes show that no matter what we do to link theory to practice at class, it is the one day in the role of teachers at a school that seems to make the big difference. When students become responsible for a class, they behave in a completely different way than when they are responsible for teaching fellow students. At the practice school, they show up well in advance and take the responsibility they have received. The students’ behaviour after the school takeover may indicate that the experiences from the real world, with associated responsibility, have given increased understanding of the vocation, which in turn contributes to increased motivation for the study programme.

Veiledningssamtale for første års studenter: Et innspill til praksisnærhet og studiekvalitet

This chapter deals with counselling for first-year students as a way to strengthen motivation and mastery. Based on the model ForVei – preparatory counselling, it is argued for the relevance of the counselling conversation as a part of follow-up and study programme quality in higher education and the time of mass education. ForVei is based on the basic values MSHRL – Met, Seen, Heard, Respected, Equal, which is central to the way the conversation is conducted. It is the student’s motivation, mastery and well-being that are the main focus of ForVei, which is now practiced at several universities in Norway, such as the University of Oslo and Nord University. The chapter contains examples from our own research project on ForVei – counselling at INN University, where career guidance is a theme, as well. In the perspective of the student’s motivation and experience, counselling and learning theory are used, among others, with Vance Peavy’s constructivist Socio-Dynamic Counselling and Mark S. Savicka’s concept of self-efficacy. The latter, for example, helps to shed light on differences in self-perception and belief in one’s own resources and abilities. The chapter deals with these and other topics in light of study programme quality and ForVei – counselling for first-year students.

Å skrive om hendelser fra egen praksis

In this chapter, 60 reflection notes written by 20 students of continuing education for advisors in NAV are analysed. The research question is: What do the texts tell about the students’ learning within the relationship between theory and practice? The intention of the chapter is to shed light on how the writing activity affects the students’ thinking about their practice. The analysis follows two axes: on the one hand, the level of learning found in the texts is examined – how the learning is expressed in changes in behaviour/actions, and in thinking/assessment. The second axis shows the students’ capacity for abstraction (theory formation) and for concretization based on theories. When these axes are put together, four categories emerge, which show different nuances in the relationship between theory and practice: 1) Synthesis (think ‘up’), 2) Analysis (think ‘down’), 3) Concepts promoted for practice, and 4) Testing of new methods. The analysis shows that the students commute unproblematically between these categories. Practice is both a necessary breeding ground for learning and a benchmark for learning. Practice does not contradict theory. The writing activity helps to clarify theory and develop students’ abstraction abilities. The teachers’ responsibility is to formulate high quality assignment texts that bind together theory and practice and that would prompt the students to stretch their mental borders. The analysis categories developed in this chapter can help teachers successfully face this task.

Å lære om seg selv gjennom å observere andre

The master’s level course in social science and pedagogy, ‘Communication in professional contexts’ at Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, is the basis for this chapter. In the course, the students carry out observations of real-life interaction situations in different occupational contexts, and reflect on these through written work and in group counselling. The chapter presents these practice-oriented working methods as well as explains students’ experiences. The most important learning objective of the programme is that the students will become more aware of their own preconceptions and values in the professional meetings. The purpose of the chapter is to shed light on what may be the value of the chosen working methods in particular, in order for the students to experience this awareness – in themselves – and as valuable for their own professional practice.

Praksisnær undervisning – nytt begrep og ny realitet?

The task of mediating meanings of what may be constituted as ‘practice’ and ‘theory’ – its differences of kind and essence – and their commonalities or unions in the everyday of students – and the professions they are being prepared for, is demanding. The introductory chapter seeks to introduce a multitude of angels to view the phenomenon by. There is a political angle about how we make students better prepared for their future vocational contribution to the society, so that their human capital is realised as soon as possible in the knowledge economy. The humanistic angle suggested in the chapter deals with the personal and social development of the students. There is also a philosophical angle available to interprete how thinking and reasoning is a matter of shifting modes with acting and doing – and reflecting on the relations between them. The chapter uses the framework adapted from Ernest Boyer to project where we as academics are in the landscape of higher education: in the disciplines or in education of professionals.

Praksisnær undervisning – en forutsetning for innovasjon og entreprenørskap!

In this chapter I examine the importance of the concepts of entrepreneurship and innovation in an educational context. The aim of the chapter is to show that entrepreneurship and innovation are not only political superlatives, but also useful approaches to a more practice-oriented teaching in higher education. Practice-oriented teaching is teaching with a clear applied orientation, and I examine how entrepreneurial perspectives and forms of teaching can contribute to this applied orientation through examples, among other things, from the innovation methods we find in ‘Liberating Structures’. The intention of the examples is to demonstrate that entrepreneurship and innovation are useful and simple tools when it comes to facilitating teaching situations where the students must connect theory and practice. Boyer and Knorr-Cetina’s thoughts on knowledge are briefly referenced to support the notion that the students need expertise in how social structures and knowledge development influence each other reciprocally. This is seen in the context of political governance documents and especially Nordic literature on entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurial teaching methods and practice-oriented teaching are then linked to a situational and contextual learning perspective, and I argue that entrepreneurship and innovation are inextricably linked to practice-oriented teaching. I conclude that through entrepreneurship and innovation in higher education we can facilitate a practice-oriented learning where the student learns situationally, without necessarily being in a practical situation.

Praksisnær undervisning med simulering og rollespill

Simulation in education involves creating situations that are similar to events, rituals and routines performed in the workplace – or in therapy, consultation, conflicts or similar situations. One recreates as many conditions as are necessary for the students to ‘live’ within what one imitates. Teachers instruct students and run the procedures as if they were ‘reality’. Some simulations, such as in nursing education, require expensive equipment and sophisticated use of ICT. Others can be set up as role-playing games with what one has at their disposal in terms of facilities. The article compares three cases of simulation that were closely examined in connection with a research project. The purpose was to find out if the students experienced this as good quality. The students’ ability to immerse themselves in the situation is of great importance for the benefit of the simulation. Most students find that the situations closely resemble real life and keep them engaged and alert. Teaching that explicitly tries to resemble reality is perceived as very educational.

Hva kan praksisnær undervisning være?

The concept of practice-oriented learning is not used very consistently in contemporary literature. There are numerous and non-uniform descriptions of what it is. This contribution revolves around what it can be. The literature describes this mainly as an attempt to marry theory and practice and create a more comprehensive understanding. Integration is a frequently used word and often it is the vocational practice that is meant by practice. Nor does Norwegian parliamentary report no. 16 from 2016/17 give anything but a relatively superficial glance of the fact that active students learn the most and best when they experience proximity to people’s reality and when its scenarios are naturally integrated into the teaching. I suggest that we question our applied concepts and grasp the experience, and see it in the light of implicit and explicit knowledge, tacit or articulated knowledge, internalism and externalism, and participant and spectator – well-known concepts in epistemology. I look at what the student «does and undergoes» in her/his learning process as a tool for realizing the knowledge on the inside and searching outside it with the goal of placing it within the whole. The exchange between inside and outside is important for understanding the practice as a phenomenon – from thinking about it, to thinking and acting with it.

Seminar som undervisningsform i høgere utdanning

Seminar is a form of teaching that is widely used in universities and university colleges in Norway. The article asks three questions about the seminar as a form of teaching: what is a seminar, how can seminars be used, and why should seminars be used as a teaching method in higher education. The article’s empirical data is taken from a case study conducted by the author, and revolves seminars as a learning arena in higher education. The chapter refers to a concrete programme and the conduction of a seminar in order to shed light on the importance of student-active learning forms. In addition, references are made to statements from both vocational teachers and students who have participated in the research study. Through analysis of empirical findings and concrete examples, theory is mainly derived from collaborative learning, situated learning and the importance of reflection for learning. One of the main findings is that seminars must be well planned, there must be high commitment on the vocational teachers’ part, and there must be a clear connection between themes in lectures and seminars. The students experience that they gain an understanding of the connection between theory and practice by having a lecture on one day, and a seminar built on the same theme two days later. The students also express through evaluation that they experience the seminars as educational, engaging, challenging and motivating.