Norway visit

1. Presentation of QUEEN MAUD UNIVERSITY COLLEGE 13 October 2014
Early Childhood Ireland
Anne Sine van Marion
International Coordinator

3. Where is Trondheim

9. Trondheim a City for Students and Studies
•182 000 inhabitants, every sixth citizen a student (about 30 000 students)
•Two university colleges:
–Queen Maud University College of Early Childhood Education (QMUC)
–Sør-Trøndelag University College (HIST)
•One university :
–Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)
TRONDHEIM RATED AS STUDENT CITY NO.1 BY STUDENTS, MANY YEARS IN A ROW

11. Queen Maud University College of Early Childhood Education
Campus Dalen

12. Campus Frøset Farm

13. Retrospective glance at origin
•Queen Maud University College was established in 1947
•QMUC was founded by an organisation within the Lutheran Church and is today a private foundation built on Christian basic values.
•QMUC is 100% funded by the Norwegian state

14. Queen Maud University College
•QMUC: educational focus solely on Early Childhood Education
•More than 1300 students and 140 highly professional employees.
•Research based teaching
•High production of academic publications and study books within the field of Early Childhood Education.

15. Norwegian “barnehage” vs “kindergarten”
•The term Kindergarten (George Fröbel)
•Adopted and used in the English language.
•Norwegian translation: “Kindergarten” literally means barnehage
BARNEHAGE in Norway:
•Any Day-care/ Early Childhood Setting for children from 8 months to 6 years

16. National Regulation of Bachelor Barnehage Teacher Education
•New National Framework plan (curriculum) for Bachelor Barnehage Teacher Education determined by the Ministry of Education and Research, June 4, 2012
•Implemented at all Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) by August 2013

17. Learning Outcomes
•Learning outcomes-based education defined as:
–knowledge
– skills
–competences
•National guidelines for barnehage teacher education for each of the 6 knowledge areas

18. Structure of Bachelor Barnehage Teacher Education
Six knowledge areas:
1.Children’s development, play and learning
2.Society, religion, world view/life stace and ethics
3.Language, text and mathematics (“literacy and numeracy”)
4.Art, culture and creativity
5.Nature, health and movement
6.Management, cooperation and development work

19. Structure and organization
•Theme based interdisciplinary education
•Mentored practical training of 100 days during 3 years.
•3-year full-time study course 180 ECTS (90 US credits)
•Built in: In-depth study, based in knowledge areas
•Bachelor dissertation 15 ECTS, thematically based in knowledge areas
•Qualifies for educational work with children attending BH (0-6) and supervised after school activities – SFO (6-10)

20. Bachelor Barnehage Teacher Education Programmes at QMUC
Bachelor study programmes:
Main model, full time/part time
(in-depth study 3rd year)
•In-depth study integrated in the special profiles:
Cultural Diversity
Arts (music, drama, art)
Nature and the outdoors
The courses are taught in Norwegian

21. Further Education
•Educational Mentoring
•Early Childhood Education and Care
•Special Education
•Physical Activity, Health and Physical Environment in barnehage
•Science and Mathematics Education: “Thinking of a 1000 Things”
•Religious Education
•Management
•Pedagogical Development Work in barnehage
•Competence development of barnehage assistants with minority background

22. Master’s Degree Programmes
The Master’s Degree Programmes are offered in cooperation with the NTNU:
•Special Education
•Early Childhood Education and Care
The Master’s Degree Programme is developed in cooperation with the NTNU, HIST and HINT:
•Didactics of Aesthetical subjects

23. Recruiting Men to ECE and Barnehagene
•An increase of male students from 10% to 19,5%
•2014: 50% of applicants to Nature and Outdoor Bachelor programme is men
•QMUC received The Gender Equality Prize for successfully recruiting men to the profession
•The organisation “Men in Barnehagen” consists of male students, QMUC teachers and barnehage teachers
•Meet monthly in their own forum to discuss, support ideas, balance the dominance of females in barnehagen

24. Combining Theory and Practice
•Extensive collaboration with barnehage and schools
–Children regularly invited to QMUC to take part in arrangements for children as part of student course work

25. Musikal created by Aesthetical programme students

26. Toddlers’ Day

27. Rock consert for toddlers

28. Children’s Day, April

30. Theatre festival May or June

31. Skiing and Sledging Day at the Frøset Farm

32. Children and Nature in Norwegian Early Childhood Education
•Reflecting the nature and
outdoors discourse in the
Norwegian culture and the
Norwegian barnehage.

33. Nature and the Outdoors in the Norwegian Culture (Gullestad, 1946-2008)
•Flora and the fauna.
•Aesthetical experiences of beauty, of wholeness.

34. Nature and the outdoors…
•All kinds of weather in all four seasons.
•Opportunities for activities considered meaningful, challenging, roughens up you body and soul;
•endure hardships;
•mastery and control
of body and landscape
•become independent

35. The Robust Child Subject (Nilsen, 2008)
•Children should:
• spend time outdoors, preferably in wild nature
•be toughened and hardened in the harsh climate.
•develop necessary skills
and the wish to wander
off in the woods and
fields

36. The robust child…
•Values of independence and autonomy – agents in the present and the future
•Nature will develop the children’s competences
and their social, physical and emotional skills.

37. Construction of Good Norwegian Childhood (Kjørholt, 2008)
•The individual child’s right to:
•Choose her/his own activities
•Decide who to play with
•Right to move freely and play
uninterrupted with their peers
in nature or the immediate neighbourhood
•Having autonomy to structure their time according to own “needs”
•Free of all-time adult supervision understood as continuous control

38. Play Involving Risk (Sandseter, 2007)
•Play with great heights
•Play with high speed
•Play with dangerous tools
•Play near dangerous elements
•Rough-and-tumble-play
•Play where children can
get lost or disappear

39. •National Framework Plan for the Content and Tasks for Kindergarten (2011):
•“Learning takes place in everyday interaction with other people and with the community, and is closely related to play, care and formation. Children can learn from everything they experience in all areas of life” (sic. Ibid:29).
Exploring and observing

40. International Student Programme
Norwegian Early Childhood Education and Care, Theory and Practice, 20ECTS A Comparative, Theoretical and Practical Approach to Childhood in Norway
13 week course taught in English.
Provides experiences, insight and knowledge about everyday life in Norwegian Early Childhood Education and Care institutions. It also prepares incoming students for their work in Norwegian “barnehage”:
–Introduction to Norwegian society
–Nordic view on children; childhood; the role of play, nature and outdoor activities in learning; children’s rights
–Art/drama/music; Nature and outdoor activities
–Cultural experiences
–Brief course of Norwegian language
–Practical training in barnehage with experienced mentors, 35 days
–Prepare and carry out project about the student’s own country in the barnehage
–Compare with experience in the student’s own country

41. International Student Programmes
2. Risky Play, Nature and Outdoor Life in Early Childhood Education, 10 ECTS
At the end of the course the student has developed knowledge, skills and competence within the following areas:
•Understands how physical activities influence children’s health
•Has knowledge on and skills in outdoor activities for children
•Has knowledge on using nature to develop the child’s motor skills and physical conditions
•Is conscious of the grown-up’s importance as a role model for outdoor activities

42. Nordic view on children; childhood; the role of play, nature and outdoor activities in learning; Children’s Rights

47. International Students on Excursion to Røros

48. Erasmus Students on Overnight Nature and Outdoor Excursion

57. International Students at Work in Barnehagen

58. International Students Properly Dressed for Outdoor Play

59. International Network
•Erasmus Agreements with 23 European HEIs
•Nordplus Network with 6 Nordic HEIs
–Intensive course for students
•Competence Building Networks for Early Childhood Education for South and East Africa (CBN): 8 bilateral agreements
•Bilateral agreements for research, staff and student exchange with:
•1 in South Africa
•1 in Australia
•2 in the USA
•1 in Nicaragua
•1 in Trinidad-Tobago

60. International Network
•Erasmus Agreements with 24 European HEIs
•Nordplus Network with 7 Nordic HEIs
–Intensive course for students
•Competence Building Networks for Early Childhood Education for South and East Africa:
•Bilateral agreements for research, staff and student exchange with 1 South African teacher training institutions, 1 in Nicaragua, 1 in Australia, 2 in the USA

61. NETWORKS MEMBERS IN SOUTH AND EAST AFRICA
TANZANIA
•St.Mary’s Teachers’ Training College, Dar-es-Salaam
•Tanzania Early Education College, Korogwe
•Nyamahanga Teacher Training Centre, Biharamulo
•Sebastian Kolowa Memorial University, Lushoto
SWAZILAND
•Free Evangelical Assembles Training Centre, Manzini
NAMIBIA
•Namibia Early Childhood Teacher Training Centre, Windhoek
BOTSWANA:
•Bokamoso Educational Trust, Gantsi
KENYA:
•Karen Christian College, Nairobi
MOZAMBIQUE:
•Ogreja Evangelica, Chimoio

62. MORE BILATERAL AGREEMENTS
SOUTH AFRICA
•Embury Institute for Teacher Education, Durban
AUSTRALIA
•Macquarie University, Sydney
USA
•University of Washington, Seattle, Washington state
•West Valley College, San José, California
NICARAGUA
•Centro Universitario Regional del Norte “
Leonel Rugama “, UNAN, FAREM, Esteli
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
•The University of the West Indies

63. Course for Network Preschool Teachers in Zambia 2008

64. Live Audience

65. QMUC students on exchange: Tanzania

67. QMUC students on exchange: USA

68. Thank you for your attention.
Welcome to Queen Maud University College, Trondheim, Norway 