Professional Development of Basic Skills Teachers in Norway

1. Professional Development of Basic Skills Teachers in Norway Bergen, 20.11.2013 Professional Development of Basic Skills Teachers in Norway, Margrethe Marstrøm Svensrud

2. Background • Adults in Norway have a statutory right to free basic skills training (BST) as a part of their right to primary and lower secondary education • A number of measures to ensure that low-qualified adults are able to take “one step up” in their qualifications is in place • Provision is fragmented by sector and area of responsibility • The quality of BST, while assumed to be relatively good, is not ensured by any national quality system Professional Development of Basic Skills Teachers in Norway, Margrethe Marstrøm Svensrud

3. Areas of provision • Primary and secondary education • The workplace - BCWL • The Norwegian Labour and Welfare Service (NAV) • The Norwegian Correctional Services • Vocational Rehabilitation Enterprises • Libraries • Other learning arenas • Public providers • Private providers • Company providers • NGOs • Study associations Professional Development of Basic Skills Teachers in Norway, Margrethe Marstrøm Svensrud

4. The basic skills teachers • Teachers trained to teach children or young people • Adult educators with no competences in teaching basic skills • People with no formal teaching qualifications Quality of provision???? Professional Development of Basic Skills Teachers in Norway, Margrethe Marstrøm Svensrud

5. Teacher training is crucial • Adult learning • Basic skills for adults • Embedded learning • Need for a spesific training programme for teachers • Need for a system for accreditation of providers • Need for co-ordination across areas of provision • The European Commission’s Guidelines for Basic Skills • Theimportance of the professional competence of teachers as a condition for better quality of provision Professional Development of Basic Skills Teachers in Norway, Margrethe Marstrøm Svensrud

6. Professional development for teachers • For teachers who teach basic skills to adults • Formal and informal further training • Purpose: • Ensure the quality of the learning provision • Support the teachers in their new role • Improve the teachers’ competence in mapping participants’ need for adapted training • Focus on both theory, practice and attitude • Will provide teachers and trainers with a deep understanding of the workplace learning approach Professional Development of Basic Skills Teachers in Norway, Margrethe Marstrøm Svensrud

7. Informal teacher training • Annual series of seminars for teachers and trainers • Free of charge • Has been implemented since 2007 • Get input and ideas • Share experience with other teachers Professional Development of Basic Skills Teachers in Norway, Margrethe Marstrøm Svensrud

8. Formal teacher training • 30 ECTS points • Part-time study • Are implemented from the autumn of 2009 • Are given in cooperation with Norwegian Universities and University Colleges Professional Development of Basic Skills Teachers in Norway, Margrethe Marstrøm Svensrud

9. The model for formal training Adult learning 1 (5 ECTS) Teaching digital competence to adults 1 (10 ECTS) Teaching reading and writing to adults 1 (10 ECTS) Teaching numeracy to adults 1 (10 ECTS) 30 ECTS Immigrants Oral communication Teaching digital competence to adults 2 (10 ECTS) Teaching reading and writing to adults 2 (10 ECTS) Teaching numeracy to adults 2 (10 ECTS) Adult learning 2 (5 ECTS) Professional Development of Basic Skills Teachers in Norway, Margrethe Marstrøm Svensrud

10. Road Map: Towards a Quality Framework for Basic Skills Training Provision in all sectors of Norwegian Adult Learning • establish a consensus among all relevant sectors and stakeholders about the need to focus on the quality of BST provision • identify the most urgent issues and the possibilities for synergy between initiatives in the different sectors; • co-ordinate the efforts of all stakeholders with the aim of creating a Road Map called “Towards a Quality Framework for Basic Skills Training Provision in all sectors of Norwegian Adult Learning”. Professional Development of Basic Skills Teachers in Norway, Margrethe Marstrøm Svensrud

11. For more information www.vox.no/english margrethe.svensrud@vox.no Professional Development of Basic Skills Teachers in Norway, Margrethe Marstrøm Svensrud