Research at The Department of Teacher Education and School Research

The Department of Teacher Education and School Research (ILS) is Norway's leading academic environment in the fields of Subject Didactics, Educational Leadership and school based research and development. The Department is also Norway’s leading teacher education institution, qualifying teachers for secondary schools.

Research at the Department of Teacher Education and School Research is focused around selected research themes that are managed by research groups. Research groups include both senior researchers, post. docs, research fellows, professors, etc. and are important professional meeting places. In addition to research conducted in research groups, the department has several researchers that carry out research activities in other pedagological areas.

Research themes

The Department of Teacher Education and School Research has through the unit's professional proximity to schools a specific commitment and anticipation to conducting school relevant research. The following are central areas of research at the Department:

Classroom research, pedagogic and subject didactic research, especially in upper secondary education:

The Department has built up a broad and expansive competence in the field of school research, where teaching and learning in or out of the classroom has been central. In this context, subject didactics are seen in relation to each school subject, but cross-disciplinary research and the use of digital recourses has also been focused on. The development of an innovative research methodology based on video analysis as well as a productive cooperation with the subject didactic academic researchers at the Faculty, contributes to giving this particular research a comparative advantage compared to other pedagogic milieus, both nationally and internationally. The research area provides new and important insights into the relationship between organisation/teaching and pupils’ learning outcomes in specific school subjects.

Research on educational leadership and school governance:

Research on educational leadership has in recent times expanded, and is a substantial contributor to school research. The Department’s research in this area is considerable. Research about school leadership as a profession, knowledge development in working life, governance and responsibility are seen in connection to more macro oriented research about public administration, organisation knowledge and the development of curriculum in schools. This provides a climate for high-quality innovative research. The research area contributes to our improved understanding of the consequences of organising enterprises in certain ways. This presents new insight into connections between (learning outcomes) and leadership-, governance- and organisational constellations in the educational system.

International comparative educational research:

Comparative studies about education contribute to basic knowledge about Norwegian education in an international perspective. Through research conducted in relation to PISA, TIMSS, ROSE, ICCS, TEDS, ICILS and other large scale international studies, the Department contributes with quantitative analyses about competence and knowledge in schools. The results from these studies are especially relevant for those who form Norwegian educational policy and provide important information about Norwegian schools for parents, school leaders and teachers. The Department holds unique national and international expertise in the areas of quantitative educational studies and psychometric analyses of knowledge and attitudes. The research area also includes qualitative and more in-depth studies investigating results achieved by pupils in the various school subjects, and the schools’ contribution to the knowledge obtained by the pupils.

Research about teacher education

The research area comprises studies of teacher students’ learning and development in schools and university. It also studies how teachers develop competence in their own workplace, for example in teamwork and in school networks, and how teachers influence student’s learning. Basic subject didactic questions are central to the field, as well as assessment forms and design and methods for the use of digital resourses in schools and in teacher education. Comparative studies of teachers’ teaching skills, for example in mathematics (TEDS-M), are also central to this research area.

Published Sep. 22, 2010 2:25 PM - Last modified Jan. 6, 2021 3:23 PM