SN4000 The Nordic Welfare Model in Comparative Perspective Course description

The assessment is evaluated by two internal examiners.

The language of all teaching and supervision is English, and the students should therefore have a working knowledge of both spoken and written English.

Target group

Target groups are:

• Students in the third year of the full time/seventh semester of the part time Bachelor Programme in Early Childhood Education at OsloMet University.
• International exchange students at Faculty of Education and International Studies from preschool and primary school teacher education institutions. Students from other academic areas may also be accepted.

Students must be prepared to participate in various outdoor activities.

The course is designed to offer a full-time study-program in English for students of Early Childhood and Primary School Teacher Education. The period of study will be for 4 months. The language of all teaching and supervision is English, and the students should therefore have a working knowledge of both spoken and written English. The course may be taken as an elective in-depth study program by students in their final year of the Early Childhood Bachelor Education program at Oslo Metropolitan University.

Admission

For students at Department of Early Childhood Education:

• Admission to Bachelor Programme in Early Childhood Education. Special requirements applies, please see -Programplan for bachelorstudium i barnehagelærerutdanning, heltid-/-Programplan for bachelorstudium i barnehagelærerutdanning, deltid-. Students in their third or fourth year of the Primary School Teacher Education program at Oslo Metropolitan University may also apply.

For international exchange students:

• Admission as an international student at Faculty of Education and International Studies. Students from other academic areas may also be accepted. Students must have completed at least two year of their undergraduate degree studies at their home institution in order to be accepted.

The topics of study are:

Play, movement, nature and outdoor education.

• Outdoor education in different natural environments
• Play and movement in nature and outdoor environments
• Practical work with natural science, food literacy and physical education
• Practical work in selected biotopes
• Motor behavior, physical activity play and risk-taking
• Role model and gender awareness in pedagogical work outdoors
• The Nordic concept of -friluftsliv-

Childhood in a Nordic welfare system

• Education, cultural formation and childhood.
• Welfare state, cultural formation and childhood
• Critical reflective work with play, movement and outdoor education
• Physical literacy and motor development
• Different cultural traditions and pedagogical approaches to outdoor activities

Field experience, reflective practice and didactic regarding play, movement, nature, food and outdoor education

• Different approaches to outdoor didactics and sustainable development
• Development work connected to institutional work
• Comparative approaches on cultural and pedagogical traditions

Students must submit a coursework requirement of 10 pages (+/-10%), Calibri 12 pt., paragraph 1.5, responding to one of a set of topics suggested by the course lecturer. The topics of the work requirement will reflect main areas of the course curriculum and lectures. The coursework requirement should be written in groups of 3-4 students. Students who are unable to participate in a group can alternatively be allowed to submit an individual paper of about five pages.

Students whose papers are not approved after the first submission will be given the chance to resubmit once. Students whose papers are not approved after two submissions will disqualify from sitting the final examination.

The student's learning outcome will be assessed on the basis of an individual six-hour written school examination.

Students may use a spelling dictionary, as well as a bilingual dictionary during the written school exam.

Grade scale A-F.

The exam papers are assessed by one internal and one external examiner.

A random selection consisting of at least 25% of the exam papers will be graded by both an internal and external examiner. This will inform the grading of the remaining exam papers.

Axel West Pedersen