Since its establishment in 2018 the QUINT centre has investigated teaching quality through video observation studies of Nordic classrooms. When these classrooms closed, it created unexpected obstacles for researchers, but also provided an opportunity. Remote learning, not just classroom learning, was now a major part of schooling for a whole generation of students. How would the Nordic school model handle this new situation?
The Nordic model of schooling
The Nordic school model is based on principles of equal access to high quality schooling, and closures arising from the pandemic posed a threat this access. When the physical environment of the classroom was removed from the equation, students’ regular schooling experience became more unequal. A QUINT study, which surveyed more than 4,500 parents of children in grades 1 to 10 in Norway, found that the quality of a student’s education during periods of remote learning was highly dependent on their home circumstances and access to digital technology. Professor Marte Blikstad-Balas explained that,
“home-schooling during the pandemic has, in many ways, challenged the Nordic model, where everyone must have the same opportunities, regardless of their circumstances and where they come from. By sending everyone home, we have shaken that principle.”
National measures and personal experiences
To gain insight into how the pandemic affected schooling in the Nordics, QUINT researchers carried out a number of studies during 2020 and 2021. In a special issue of the journal Education in the North (EITN), published in December 2021, researchers from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden published articles that discuss Emergency Remote Schooling (ERS) from a Nordic perspective. The articles focus on three groups; teachers, parents and ‘other key voices’, which includes students and school leaders.
The findings in these articles provide a number of interesting insights. In Denmark, for example, there was evidence that the pandemic actually had some positive effects on student wellbeing. Professor Ane Qvortrup asked lower secondary students about their wellbeing in a nationwide survey, conducted four times during the first year of COVID-19. In this survey, students most often reported their emotional, social and academic well-being as ‘good’ or ‘very good.’ There was, however, some decline in both emotional and academic well-being over time.
In Iceland, researchers found that teachers adjusted their teaching strategies as a result of remote learning requirements. Academic demands on students were lowered and teachers focused on core subjects, ignoring others. This was part of what the researchers describe as a shift in focus from academic demands to a focus on students' well-being.
In another study, researchers looked at how lower secondary teachers in Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Sweden tackled the shift to online schooling. The article emphasises that teachers’ own autonomy and personal initiative was critical in the transition from in-person to remote schooling. The researchers also point out that, even in schools with high levels of competence in remote learning solutions, these solutions were viewed by teachers as inferior to in-person teaching:
“Through almost all interviews, teachers pointed out how dependent their ordinary teaching was on face-to-face interaction, including non-verbal expressions, and how the absence of physical interaction made it difficult to promote deeper analysis and reflection.”
Lessons learned
Certain common themes have emerged in the studies on Nordic schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic. One is the focus on wellbeing during periods of remote learning. Another is that remote learning significantly reduced the equity of the Nordic school model. But what can be learned from the difference between each country’s national strategy for keeping schools running during the pandemic?
To begin answering this question QUINT, in collaboration with NordForsk and UiO’s Faculty of Educational Sciences, have organised a conference event where different expert voices from the Nordic countries will be heard. Researchers who have produced papers in the EITN special issue will present their findings, followed by a panel discussion with politicians, teachers’ union leaders and school principals, who will elaborate on the different national experiences during the pandemic. Information about the event can be found here.
With so much still to unpack about this unusual time in history, QUINT’s recent research on the pandemic’s effect on schooling are sure to be only the beginning.