Mag.art. Vidar Grøtta

Title of dissertation:

The transformation of humanities education. the case of norway 1960-2000 in a systems-theoretical perspective.

Historical research indicates that Norwegian humanities education went through several important changes during the second half of the 20th century. Based partly on previous research and partly on new material, this study analyzes three aspects of what it views as a transformation of humanities education: admissions, curricula, and careers. Written in the broad tradition of historical sociology, the study employs the conceptual framework of systems theory (Niklas Luhmann, Rudolf Stichweh) to provide a better understanding of how developments in humanities education have been conditioned by four implicated societal subsystems: research, politics, (secondary) education, and the economy.

The study has four parts. The first part discusses the usefulness of systems theory for the study of higher education in comparison with other strands in the field of higher education research. The second part investigates the reasons for the massification of Norwegian humanities education. Reports from a series of policymaking committees are analyzed, and it is argued that the expansion of the research system in Norway has been more important for admissions policy than previously acknowledged. The third part examines curricula documents in the disciplines of history, English studies, general literature studies, and philosophy from two universities. A research drift is observed and analyzed. The fourth part examines labor market statistics and discusses reasons behind the changes in career patterns for humanities graduates, especially the decline of teaching careers and the rise of "boundaryless" careers.

The study concludes that humanities education in Norway was transformed from a teacher education to a research-oriented generalist education because this shift allowed it to fulfill,simultaneously, important functional requirements in the four implicated function systems. The transformation was made possible by replacing the "civil service exam" (embedseksamen) – which previously had served as a tight coupling between the humanities, the labor market, schools, and politics – with new forms of structural coupling between the implicated function systems which were more conducive to their autonomous operations.

 

Published May 9, 2017 10:57 AM - Last modified May 9, 2017 10:57 AM