Ingrid Evertsen

• Evertsen, Ingrid & Isaksen, Anja Ramfjord (2023). Teacher perspectives on life skills in Norwegian secondary school. Vis sammendrag

  The aim of this study is to investigate teacher perspectives on and the implementation of “life skills” used in English classrooms with high technological infrastructure in Norway. In the educational context and national curriculum, “life skills” is emphasized. Students are expected to meet this concept in all subjects, and depend on their teachers’ operationalisation. We will compare and contrast their understanding and implementation of “life skills” with the new national curriculum (NDET, 2020). Little research has been done on investigating teachers’ self-reported perspective on “life skills” instruction from Norwegian classrooms (Danielsen, 2021), whether it is generic or subject-related use, and a description of “life skills” will be an issue of general interest. This study analysed teacher logs and -interviews among five grade 8- and six vg1 English teachers, from seven secondary classrooms in 2021-2022, as part of the EDUCATE project (UiO, 2021). The logs report teachers’ identification of “life skills” in their lessons. The design relied on two versions of logs, one to be filled out prior to (log 1) and one after (log 2) each observed English lesson, resulting in 40 pre-logs and 49 post-logs. The logs comprised both closed (predetermined) and open questions, and give information about whether teachers plan to teach life skills (log 1), and their perspectives on whether they actually did so (log 2). Interviews were conducted after the other data was collected, and resulted in 11 English teacher interviews. The interviews consisted of both open and closed questions, and the informants were asked to comment on their log answers. There are two main findings on English teachers’ perspectives on and implementation of “life skills”. Finding 1 shows that teachers report on using “life skills” in their English lessons. Pre-logs show that teachers planned to use “life skills” in 14 of their lessons, while post-logs identify 40 lessons where “life skills” was implemented. Among the 40 lessons reported to have included “life skills” in their instruction, 21 lessons were identified in lower secondary and 19 lessons in upper secondary. Finding 2 identifies how teachers have different perspectives when asked to describe and define “life skills”: a) the lack of definition in the core curriculum, b) their individual understanding of the concept, and c) a connection between life skills and digital competence as intertwined concepts in their teaching. This study offers input on how teachers report to use “life skills” in their English secondary digital classrooms, and discusses teachers’ understanding of the concept. References Danielsen, A. G. (2021). Lærerens arbeid med livsmestring. Fagbokforlaget. Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training [NDET]. (2020). Fagfornyelsen – Overordnet del [The National Norwegian K–12 curriculum]. https://www.udir.no/lk20/overordnet-del/prinsipper-for-laring-utvikling-og-danning/tverrfaglige-temaer/folkehelse-og-livsmestring/?lang=eng. University of Oslo [UiO]. (2021). Evaluering av fagfornyelsen i fag (EDUCATE). Institutt for lærerutdanning og skoleforskning. https://www.uv.uio.no/ils/forskning/prosjekter/educate/.

• Evertsen, Ingrid; Isaksen, Anja Ramfjord & Heie, Magnus (2022). Stipendiatprofilen: ─ Vi trenger forskning på livsmestring som kan støtte lærere i klasserommet. [Internett]. Universitetet i Oslo.
• Brevik, Lisbeth M.; Gudmundsdottir, Greta Björk; Barreng, Rebecca Linnéa Söderström; Dodou, Katherina; Doetjes, Gerke (Gerard) & Evertsen, Ingrid [Vis alle 15 forfattere av denne artikkelen] (2023). Å mestre livet i 8. klasse. Perspektiver på livsmestring i klasserommet i sju fag. Rapport 2 fra forsknings- og evalueringsprosjektet EDUCATE ved Institutt for lærerutdanning og skoleforskning, Universitetet i Oslo. Universitetet i Oslo. ISSN 978-82-692498-4-2.

Se alle arbeider i Cristin