EPN-V2

PHUV9410 Professional Practice and Language Barriers Course description

Course name in Norwegian
Profesjonsutøvelse og språkbarrierer
Study programme
PhD Programme in Educational Sciences for Teacher Education
Weight
5.0 ECTS
Year of study
2025/2026
Curriculum
FALL 2025
Schedule
Programme description
Course history

Introduction

This course provides an introduction to legal method, human rights and administrative and social welfare law. The point of departure for the course is the application of law as part of professional practice. The course provides an introduction to the Norwegian legal system and the application of legal method when working with legal issues in social work. The students will learn about administrative law, welfare law and human rights.

The teaching programme ‘The Same Child - Different Arenas’ (INTER1100) will be taught at the start of the course. See INTERACT’s website for a more detailed description of the content of INTER1100: https://www.oslomet.no/forskning/forskningsprosjekter/interact

Language of instruction is Norwegian.

Learning outcomes

None.

Teaching and learning methods

After completing the course, the student should have the following overall learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge

The student

  • has knowledge of the justice system
  • is familiar with legal method and how to proceed to be able to make a decision in legal issues arising in the performance of social work
  • has knowledge of general administrative law, including fundamental principles of administrative law and case processing rules
  • has knowledge of the Child Welfare Act, the National Insurance Act, the Act relating to social services in NAV, the Act relating to patients’ and users’ rights, the Health and Care Services Act and the Children Act
  • is familiar with basic concepts and principles in welfare law
  • is familiar with important human rights and their importance to social work

Skills

The student

  • can identify, discuss and decide legal issues in social work
  • can identify the requirements made of the legal grounds for social workers’ administrative decisions

General competence

The student

  • has insight into legal issues of relevance to social work issues
  • can work on legal issues relating to social work

Course requirements

The teaching takes place with in-person attendance on campus, and the working methods comprise lectures and student-active sessions for solving assignments. Some of the teaching material may be posted on the learning platform in the form of videos, articles and other relevant material. Self-study is required before and after lectures and seminars.

Assessment

No coursework requirements or compulsory activities.

Grading scale

The exam in the course is an individual supervised exam of 5 hours.

Examiners

The paper will be assessed by the course coordinator and a member of the academic staff involved in the PhD-program.

Admission requirements

Target group

In societies characterized by linguistic diversity, language barriers are a commonplace experience for practitioners within most professions. Even in research projects on professional practice that are not directly oriented towards linguistic plurality in itself, the candidate may be compelled to address challenges related to communication across language barriers, with or without the involvement of an interpreter. In order to handle complex language situations in an adequate way, it is often necessary for the researcher to account for linguistic diversity and the use of interpreters (or lack thereof), and in a broader perspective than we experience today.

The target groups are PhD candidates/students and scientific staff who want to learn about professional practice and language barriers and expand their research tool kit. The course aims at PhD candidates admitted to the PhD Program in Educational Sciences for Teacher Education and other relevant programs. It is also open to staff members at OsloMet and other universities/colleges. The course is also open to candidates from other universities in Norway and abroad.

Admission requirements

The requirements for admission include completing a five-year master's program (integrated or consisting of a three-year bachelor's program and a two-year master's program, in total 300 ECTS) in the fields of teacher education, other pedagogical disciplines, educational science, development studies, social sciences, or other relevant areas related to the PhD programme. The master's degree should include a substantial independent project equivalent to a master's thesis (minimum 30 ECTS). An internationally completed master's degree that corresponds to at least four years in the Norwegian education system may also be considered for admission (please check the grounds for enrollment on the website of the Directorate for Higher Education and Skills). https://hkdir.no/en/foreign-education/lists-and-databases/higher-education-entrancequalification-gsu

In case of a large number of applicants, PhD-students enrolled in the PhD programme in Educational Sciences for Teacher Education will be prioritized, then students in other PhD programmes, then academic employees at the Faculty of Teacher Education and International Studies.

Applicants who are not enrolled in the PhD programme at the Faculty of Education and International Studies at OsloMet must send a summary in English of maximum one A4 sheet with relevant information about their own project/area of interest, containing topic, methodology, theoretical approach, and why this course might be relevant for their project.