BLH3210 Culture and Identity - Nordic Childhoods Emneplan

Culture and Identity is one of the courses under Nordic Childhoods. Joint events with the other Nordic Childhoods courses are integrated into the course. The student’s cultural background is a resource during lectures and classroom discussions, through experience-based learning and critical reflection. The course includes fieldwork observations in kindergartens and schools, in addition to visits to relevant sites.

Important components in the pedagogical work with children in a Nordic context are play, learning related to play, nature and community surroundings. In this course, the focus is on the Norwegian educational system in both a broader and more specific Norwegian context.

Culture and identity address the question of who we are, and is related to definitions of the other, as well as by the other: Who are ‘we’ and who are ‘the others’. These are not static concepts, but are rather subject to sociocultural change both nationally as well as globally.

One of the defining forces of culture and identity is religion. Religious diversity is part of cultural diversity and the changes that have developed globally, hence it also affects culture and identity in the Norwegian context. How does this affect Norwegian childhoods?

The power relations and political forces around the child and childhoods are important drivers of these changes, producing various kinds of school systems, and preschool and kindergarten systems. Culture and identity is therefore not only about who we are, but also very much about childhood perspectives and constructs and how they affect us. The question is thus not only who we are, but also ‘Who do they want us to be?’.

Norway, like most other societies today, is a ‘multicultural’ society. The Sami indigenous people living in the Nordic countries have long been a part of this cultural diversity. Related to this, it is also important to focus on power relations between minorities and majorities. Culture and identity, involving definitions of ‘us’ and ‘them’, also enables racism and discrimination towards ethnic and linguistic minorities, as well as the politics of assimilation of the Sami. In this and many other regards, Norway and Nordic societies are no different from other countries, showing attributes similar to those of the rest of the larger global system, which Norway is a part of.

Andreas Ytterstad

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

Knowledge

The student

• has awareness and knowledge of the factors that constitute a person's identity
• has knowledge of the concept of ‘Culture’, and an awareness of the individual student’s culture in particular
• has knowledge of childhood and identity construction

Skills

The student

• has skills in observing and analysing a new educational and cultural setting
• has skills in communicating across cultural and linguistic borders
• has the ability to facilitate inclusive practices in groups characterised by diversity

General competence

The student

• is able to reflect on experiences of other international students’ languages and cultures
• has an awareness of the implications of living in a globalised world
• is able to reflect on experiences of the multiple cultural settings in kindergartens / schools in Oslo

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

Knowledge

• has advanced interdisciplinary knowledge of climate change, and the societal/psychological/communicational challenges for climate journalism
• has thorough knowledge of both the difficulties and the possibilities of climate change communication in the media and in journalism

Skills

The student

• is able to critically analyze different perceptions and experiences of global climate change in the media
• is able to relate these differences to the global and universal dimensions of climate change for the past, present and future of humanity and life on earth
• can explain and communicate climate change journalistically, with insights from both environmental communication, climate psychologies and perspectives on social change
• can convey climate change journalistically as a dimension to a host of different climate change stories
• can find new and innovative ways to approach global climate change

General competence

The student

• is able to understand the basics of global climate change, with the help of knowledge from both the natural, social and human sciences.
• is well qualified to approach climate change as a justice issue, for example between the North and South, the developed and the developing world
• is well qualified to discuss ethical questions in both science and journalism
• has acquired journalistic skills of combining observations of different experiences of climate change with broader, theoretical perspectives

The following coursework requirements must have been approved in order for the student to take the exam:

• Coursework 1: Present a text from the reading list in a plenary session of the course where the curricula will be discussed. 5-10 PowerPoint slides.
• Coursework 2: Hand in a term paper draft once during the gatherings. The length of this term paper is 5-10 pages.

The purpose of these work requirements is to ensure progress in both the readings of the curricula and the work with the term paper. All required coursework must be completed and approved by the given deadline in order for the student to take the exam. If one or more coursework requirements have not been approved, the student will be given the opportunity to submit an improved version one time by the given deadline. If the student does not meet the set deadline(s), the student loses the possibility to hand in the paper/hold the presentation, and thereby loses to right to sit for the exam. In case of illness or other valid reasons for absence, the teacher can set an individual deadline for the course requirements.

There are no mandatory activities in the course, with the exception of the above mentioned work requirements.

For the main assessment, the students may choose one of two individual term papers.

Either

• A reportage relevant to climate change, followed by a reflection paper that discusses and analyzes the textual material theoretically helped by the syllabus. Length: 12 - 15 pages. Font and font size: Arial or Calibri 12 points. Line spacing: 1.5.

Or

• An analytic, theory-based paper investigating a limited media output where global climate change is covered in a particular way. Length: 12-15 pages. Font and font size: Arial or Calibri 12 points. Line spacing: 1.5.

The term papers may be written in Norwegian or English.

All aids are permitted, as long as the rules for source referencing are complied with.

Grade scale A-F

All term papers will be assessed by an evaluation committee consisting of both an internal and an external examiner.