The pandemic has shown that learning is best when it happens at school, with all the social and physical interaction that entails. This was a key theme that emerged from both researchers and the debate panelists during the live-steam conference, Nordic schools during COVID-19.
“I think one of the things that the pandemic has shown is how integrated academic and social learning are, and that you can really excel academically if you have a good social network, if you have a safety net, if you feel secure in the learning environment. This is, I think, very important for the Nordic countries to learn from.” – Steffen Handal, President of the Norwegian Teachers' Union.
The conference was characterised by an eagerness from all participants to discuss what they saw as the major issues that emerged for the education sector during the pandemic.
Watch a full replay of the live-stream here:
Highlights
Guests from Iceland – including President of the Icelandic Teachers Union Ragnar Þór Pétursson and researchers form Icelandic universities – discussed the decision of lowering of academic requirements in their schools with participants from other countries where the strategy differed.
Researchers from Finland and Sweden shared their findings on the readiness of Nordic teachers for the sudden move to online learning. The speaker for the education committee in Sweden, Gunilla Svantorp, provided comments on the situation in Sweden.
School professionals researchers and from Norway challenged the national government's actions on schooling during the pandemic, and received direct responses from former Minister of Education, Guri Melby.
And researcher Ane Qvortrup elaborated on her surprising finding that Danish students reported high well-being during the pandemic.
Presenters
- Ane Qvortrup, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark
- Hermína Gunnþórsdóttir, University of Akureyri, Iceland
- Berglind Gísladóttir, University of Iceland, Iceland
- Anna Slotte,University of Helsinki, Finland
- Marie Nilsberth, Karlstad University, Sweden
- Marte Blikstad-Balas, University of Oslo, Norway
- You can browse the articles from the Education in the North special journal issue Nordic values and schooling during COVID-19, which formed the basis of these presentations.
Panellists
- Guri Melby – MP, Minister of Education in Norway 2020-2021
- Pernille Rosenkrantz-Theil – MP, Minister of Children and Education in Denmark since 2019
- Gunilla Svantorp – MP, speaker for the education committee in Sweden
- Steffen Handal – President of the Union of Education in Norway since 2016
- Ragnar Þór Pétursson – President of the Icelandic Teachers’ Union since 2017
- Elin Brandsæter – Principle of Fagerborg Lower Secondary School in Oslo since 2014
Description
The pandemic has had profound consequences for schools, teachers and students all over the world. How have the Nordic countries handled this challenge?
Policy makers, researchers, teachers’ union leaders and school leaders from across the Nordic region will discuss:
- What measures did each country take?
- What could have been done differently?
- What has each country learned, and what can we learn from each other?
We will hear from six researchers who have studied emergency measures for secondary schooling in the Nordic countries and their effect on students, teachers and parents.
There will also be a live panel debate between politicians, school principals and teachers’ union leaders, where we will gain insight into the national measures taken in each country to keep schools running during the pandemic.
Further reading
- More about the research behind this conference.
- Special issue of Education in the North Journal – Nordic values and schooling during COVID-19.
- Article about the conference on Spaningen.se (Swedish).