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This study examines the reference societies of Norway and Sweden embedded in their education policy documents. We examined 4,260 bibliographic references in 19 white papers and green papers prepared for the 2016/2020 renewal of the Knowledge Promotion Reform in Norway and the 2015/2018 Knowledge Achievement Reform in Sweden. In addition, we interviewed 10 policy experts who participated in the preparation of the analyzed policy documents. The results show that the reference societies overall reflect the existing knowledge production and dissemination mechanisms in education policy; however, they significantly differed between Norway and Sweden regarding whether and to what extent they reference knowledge produced in other Nordic countries. Specifically, while Norway drew extensively on knowledge from its neighbors, particularly Sweden, Sweden seldom referenced knowledge produced in other Nordic countries. Policy actors identified similarity, relevance, accessibility, reform contexts, and institutional arrangements as reasons for (not) referencing neighbors. This study calls for further consideration of the political, social, and cultural embeddedness of the 'socio-logic' to understand implicit reference societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how superintendents and school principals enact national policy reform expectations and what characterises their local organisational arrangements. Furthermore, the paper investigates how superintendents and school principals deal with tensions as entrepreneurs. The study builds on qualitative interview data from two municipalities in Norway. Analytically, the study draws on institutional theory, more specifically, on entrepreneurship, which to a limited degree has been applied in educational and empirical studies. The superintendents and principals interviewed referred to various local arrangements and resources that were partly adapted and changed through reform work to better fit local needs. Such arrangements included intra and interorganisational dependency and cooperation with several actors and organisational resources. Superintendents and principals seemed to partly break away from existing patterns of interaction. The entrepreneurial work entailed dealing with several tensions emerging within and across institutional boundaries in the process of enacting national reform policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies polarization of attitudes toward immigration in Norway from 2001 to 2019. The paper studies polarization along five dimensions: dispersion, bimodality, consolidation, constraint, and sorting. Empirical analyses were based on two Norwegian longitudinal, cross-sectional surveys. The findings suggested that, first, overall attitudes toward immigration did not become more polarized in terms of dispersion and bimodality. There was, however, a tendency toward increased polarization of attitudes toward Islam and a decreased polarization of attitudes toward refugees. Second, there was an increasing generational gap in attitudes toward immigration, especially with respect to Islam. Third, attitudes toward immigration were more closely linked to attitudes toward other political issues and to party preference. Although these changes should not be overestimated, finding increased tendencies of consolidation, constraint, and sorting in a consensus-based democracy like Norway indicates the wider existence of polarizing trends similar to those in the UK and US. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The salmon lice-induced mortality of wild salmon stocks that result from aquaculture production can be considered a nonpoint pollution problem. In Norway, this externality is managed using a traffic light system (TLS), and the purpose of this system is to regulate the estimated aggregated salmon lice-induced mortality of wild salmon stocks in a number of production areas. This paper evaluates the TLS and in doing so, we depart from the literature on the regulation of nonpoint pollution problems. We argue that limited perceived influence of individual actions on the mortality of wild salmon stocks, difficulties in obtaining a reliable measure for the aggregated salmon lice-induced mortality and collective punishment of individual actions constitute the major problems of the TLS. As alternatives to the TLS, we discuss a subsidy to reduce the amount of salmon lice and a tax on salmon lice at farm site level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Teaching and learning of nature of science (NOS) is an explicit goal in the core science curriculum in Norway. Yet there is little understanding of how the content of the current textbooks in certain educational pathways such as vocational training addresses NOS. Purpose: The aim of this study is to contribute to research on NOS in VET through exploring how the cognitive and epistemic aspects of NOS are addressed in end-of-chapter tasks in Norwegian science textbooks for vocational studies. Design and Methods: In this paper, we use a particular characterisation of NOS based on the Family Resemblance Approach (FRA) to investigate the cognitive-epistemic aspects of NOS in the science textbooks aimed at vocational education in Norway. The cognitive-epistemic aspects are about the aims and values, methods, practices, and knowledge in science. Three key textbooks have been selected and analysed with a focus on end-of-chapter tasks. Results: The results illustrate that NOS were almost absent in the tasks in all textbooks. Patterns across the coverage of NOS in the textbooks are discussed along with some implications for future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will investigate how specific narratives on the inclusion of minority language students (MLSs) are constructed in Norwegian and Italian educational policy documents. We will employ the Narrative Policy Framework's (NPF) analytical categories with an interpretative narrative approach to reconstruct the two national policy narratives and compare their salient features. In response to international trends of inclusive education, Norway and Italy have developed two different educational policy models for the inclusion of MLSs. Norway operationalised inclusion through 'adapted education' for all students, while Italian policy defined an 'Italian path towards the intercultural school'. The results will show that the Norwegian approach to inclusive education is sustained by what we define as a technocratic (efficiency-oriented) narrative, while the Italian intercultural education employs a normative (ideologically-based) narrative. Despite the differences, the two policy narratives share an unresolved tension between a universalistic and particularistic stance. In the policy documents, the inclusive/intercultural education for all students is ambiguously complemented by integration measures designed explicitly for MLSs. The study will illustrate the travelling nature of inclusive and intercultural education in the policy domain and show that the policy shift towards inclusion needs to be understood as an ongoing and non-linear process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban freight transport is central to urban societies, and yet urban authorities have traditionally left it to private actors to resolve freight challenges. Urban authorities rely on different governance strategies to address freight that result in fragmented freight governance, as many solutions are fixed in time, sector, or place. Drawing on Bulkeley and Kern’s typology of four modes of governance – self-governing, governing through enabling, governing by provision, and governing by authority – this paper asks: in what ways do urban authorities use different modes of governance in the case of urban logistics? Empirically, the paper looks at the modes of freight governance through an explorative workshop, document analysis, and interviews from Norway’s four largest cities – Bergen, Stavanger, Oslo and Trondheim. It finds that these cities are limiting themselves to ‘less confrontational’ modes based on accommodating freight activities, which hinders institutionalisation of knowledge and prevents public governance from serving as a coordinating factor for urban logistics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has demonstrated that immediate effects of language interventions tend to fade, but has also suggested that differentiating language skill types may be essential for understanding fade-out processes. This paper examines the longer-term effects of participating in a shared-reading intervention. The study included 464 dual-language learners (DLLs) (49.6% girls) in Norway with a mean age of 52.60 months when the intervention started. They were randomly assigned to an intervention condition receiving a shared-reading program in preschool and at home or a business-as-usual control condition. The children spoke a number of first languages and were second-language speakers of Norwegian. Children's second-language skills were assessed seven months following the completion of the intervention. We asked whether the developmental advantages induced during the intervention faded or remained when the intervention conditions were no longer present, using autoregressive structural modelling and second-order latent growth modelling to answer the question. While some immediate intervention effects disappeared (grammar) or showed tendencies to fade (vocabulary and perspective taking), second-order latent growth modelling suggested that narrative skills emerged. The results demonstrate the need to consider skill type in future research on fade-out and offer a longer-term perspective on how DLLs respond to shared-reading interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In April 2021 Stavå bridge, a main bridge on E6 in Norway, was abruptly closed for traffic. A structural defect had seriously compromised the bridge's structural integrity. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA) closed it, made a temporary solution and reopened with severe traffic restrictions. The incident was alerted through what constitutes the bridge's Digital Twin processing data from Internet of Things sensors. The solution was crucial in online and offline diagnostics, the case demonstrating the value of technologies to tackle emerging dangerous situations as well as acting preventively. A critical and rapidly developing damage was detected in time to stop the development, but not in time to avoid the incident altogether. The paper puts risk in a broader perspective for an organization responsible for highway infrastructure. It positions online monitoring and Digital Twins in the context of Risk- and Condition-Based Maintenance. The situation that arose at Stavå bridge, and how it was detected, analysed, and diagnosed during virtual inspection, is described. The case demonstrates how combining physics-based methods with Machine Learning can facilitate damage detection and diagnostics. A summary of lessons learnt, both from technical and organisational perspectives, as well as plans of future work, is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Original timber stairwell doors in historic masonry apartment buildings of architectural heritage value can be found in the larger cities of Norway. In Oslo, there are around 4000 such buildings, of which many still hold preserved original stairwell doors. The doors often have glass with decorative patterns in the upper parts, and timber panels on the lower part. Old residential buildings are vulnerable to fire due to the building construction and need fire protection upgrades. The stairwell doors are critical elements to prevent fire spread and to keep evacuation routes safe, so their function and condition are important to the level of fire protection in the building. The research work in this paper aims to find retrofit methods for upgrading the fire resistance of these types of doors so they maintain their integrity and insulating properties for up to 30 minutes, at the same time as they maintain their architectural expression. The upgrades must be as little intrusive and destructive as possible. Intermediate scale tests were carried out in a fire resistance test furnace, using different door configurations. The tests lasted between 30 minutes and 42 minutes, with a thermal exposure from the standard time/temperature curve described in EN 1363–1. The results from the tests showed that 40 mm thick laminated wood could withstand up to 30 minutes of fire exposure, thin timber panels could be upgraded using stone wool and robust gypsum boards type R, and that fire-resistant glass could be mounted on the inside of the original glass in different ways. Visual observations indicate that adding smoke seals inside the door leaf are effective for stopping cold and hot smoke. The solutions presented enables the preservation of the original doors' architectural design, their historical values and aesthetic character. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Norwegian production of salmon is highly export oriented, making access to efficient supply chains an important success criterion for exporters of salmon. The role of the buyers in the supply chain has so far received limited attention in the empirical literature on seafood trade. In this paper, I utilize customs data for the period 2016–2019 to investigate structure and trade margins for buyers of salmon products from Norway and potential differences in exporter-buyer links between producers and intermediaries. Several insights about buyers in the salmon supply chain are provided. There is large heterogeneity in the number of buyers within as well as between different destination markets, and the main buyers in the largest markets source their products from both producers and intermediaries. The buyer margin of exports is important in overall Norwegian salmon exports and highly sensitive to standard gravity variables. Finally, vertically integrated buyers on average trade in larger values and volumes, ship more frequently and obtain lower prices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increased levels of digitalisation present major opportunities for efficiency in the oil and gas industry but can also contribute to new risks and vulnerabilities. Based on developments in the industry, the Norwegian Ocean Industry Authority (HAVTIL) has in recent years pursued targeted knowledge development and follow-up of company's digitalisation initiatives. This paper explores data collected through HAVTIL's audits of the development and use of automated systems within well operations. The analysis of the data resulted in the identification of five main topics related to the implementation of digital technologies. The five main topics were organisational complexity, follow-up and implementation of technology, analysis and documentation, user-interface and alarms and competence and training. Overall, the results support research findings within human factors and technology development, pointing out that there is a lack of focus on human factors in both development projects and in operations. In addition, this paper provides insight into how digitalisation initiatives are followed-up and explores the results from the analysis in light of the current developments in the industry. To investigate automated operations and human performance, three audits were performed by the Norwegian Ocean Industry Authority (HAVTIL). These audits have been used as case studies and the basis for this paper. Results from the analysis support research findings within the field of human factors and technology development, pointing out that there is a lack of focus on human factors in both development projects and in operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops a critical perspective on the use of conversational agents (CAs) with children at home. Drawing on interviews with eleven parents of pre-school children living in Norway, we illustrate the ways in which parents resisted the values epitomised by CAs. We problematise CAs' attributes in light of parents' ontological perceptions of what it means to be human and outline how their attitudes correspond to Bourdieu's [1998a. Acts of Resistance. New York: New Press] concept of acts of resistance. For example, parents saw artificial conversation designed for profit as a potential threat to users' autonomy and the instant gratification of CAs as a threat to children's development. Parents' antecedent beliefs map onto the ontological tensions between human and non-human attributes and challenge the neoliberal discourse by demanding freedom and equality for users rather than productivity and economic gain. Parents' comments reflect the belief that artificial conversation with a machine inappropriately and ineffectively mimics a nuanced and intimate human-to-human experience in service of profit motives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Small Business & Entrepreneurship is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, youth researchers have reported increased inequalities between young people, but the social processes that drive these changes are not well understood. In this paper, we draw on rich longitudinal interview data following the same participants from a year before and into the midst of national lockdown during the pandemic in Norway to explore the unfolding of classed and gendered responses that were triggered in young people across the class spectrum. We find that advantaged, ambitious youths engaged in self-resourcing practices with support from their family that could make them even better positioned after the crisis. Youths that were socially vulnerable before the pandemic dealt with the situation alone and in highly gendered ways that seemed to amplify their insecure position in the peer group and community. Thriving youths from working-class communities engaged in lockdown practices that connected them deeper to the family and resourced them for gender traditional, local lives. Illuminating how a crisis prompts practices that increased emerging differences along classed and gendered lines, the paper shows that to grasp inequalities in the making, researchers must consider the importance and changing nature of resources – including relational resources in the family – over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we explore how 15-16-year-old Norwegians experience social and cultural norms that shape their relationship with health and physical activity (PA) in a country where participation in PA is normative, in the sense that it is not only a widely shared practice but, in having significant cultural traction, is commonly understood as a 'normal' part of Norwegian daily life. The study draws upon qualitative data generated from 31 focus groups involving 148 10th graders (15-16-year-olds) in eight secondary schools in Norway. A key finding was that health was primarily viewed as synonymous with physical health and physical health as closely related to PA. A symbolic marker for physical condition - and, by extension, physical health - was physical appearance and 'looks' (in other words, physical attractiveness), revolving around gender normative bodily 'shape'. In this vein, the youngsters tended towards individualistic views of health - seeing health as a responsibility that lay largely in their hands. We argue that the significance of growing up and living in a wealthy, social democratic nation-state, with high living standards and high social and cultural expectations, can have profound implications for youngsters' perceptions of health and PA, the impact of neoliberalism notwithstanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reliance on the use of virtual learning environments, particularly computer-supported collaborative learning environments, is increasing in higher education institutions. This paper explores the perceived sociability of a virtual learning environment after it was implemented in an interdisciplinary project-based course in a higher education institute in Norway due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It describes the validation of a sociability scale in a sample of 1,611 students. The paper also reports on differences in perceived sociability according to gender, field of study and personality and the extent to which perceptions of sociability relate to the experience of a sudden change from a real-life learning environment to a virtual one. The results of this large-scale study suggest that the Norwegian version of the sociability scale can be used as a valid and reliable instrument to measure the perceived sociability of a virtual learning environment in the context of self-organized student project teams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes how agents such as agricultural migrants, agricultural employers and local community representatives apply the dual frame of reference (DFR) to naturalize, rationalize and justify the presence of exploitative labor practices for agricultural migrants. The paper gives a qualitative account of social dynamics in two agricultural-dependent communities located in Northern California and South-Eastern Norway. Qualitative one-on-one interviews with agricultural migrant workers (n = 11), employers (n = 10) and community representatives (n = 12) were conducted in English and Spanish. Our findings demonstrate how DFR is utilized by employers to justify labor strategies that rely on migrant workers, employees to rationalize their participation in exploitive work, and by local community representatives to naturalize the exploitative labor practices of migrant workers in their community. Our research findings further add to the analysis by suggesting that the frames of reference are dynamic based on changes of material conditions in the home country. Lastly, we find a third frame of reference focused on the future of the agricultural worker and the hopes for future generations. Combined, these perspectives add to the understanding of the disempowerment of workers, lack of successful changes and overall, upkeeping of exploitative migrant labor systems in the agricultural industries and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper was to investigate structural aspects of inclusion of immigrant students in Norwegian multicultural schools and, more specifically, their experiences of introductory classes and other segregated efforts. Due to their need for Norwegian language education, newly arrived immigrant students are not necessarily physically integrated into mainstream classes during their first two years of schooling, and they are also often taken out of their classes after they have been assigned to mainstream classes. This study had a qualitative design, and semi structured interviews are used to gather the data. The sample consisted of six immigrant boys, six native Norwegian boys and six teachers in secondary schools. The immigrant students had lived in Norway for two to four years. The results showed that introductory classes seemed not to be sufficiently adjusted to the students' need for inclusion but operated more as a fixed structural measure for second language learning. As the introductory classes and other segregated efforts often diverged from ordinary subjects and class times, it is possible that introductory and segregated efforts contribute to maintaining segregation more than they result in inclusion experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing attention is being paid towards the influence of regional contexts on innovation activities within regional development studies. Some of the literature in economic geography tends to consider the various peripheral areas as being homogenous and partly characterized by their remote location, weak innovation inputs and lack of knowledge exchange. This paper questions this approach by examining the role of innovation activities in peripheral regions. We offer a detailed and multifaceted taxonomy of the Norwegian economic regions. From an empirical viewpoint, the adoption of cluster analysis and a broad set of innovation, economic and territorial indicators allowed us to provide a nuanced picture of the current fabric of Norwegian innovation and economic-production. With the benefit of insights from relevant strands of literature (e.g. regional development, innovation systems and multi-scalar innovation networks), the case of Norway presented in our paper contributes to the scholarly debate on the role of structural preconditions for the innovation of firms in diverse peripheral areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The scholarly literature on Russia's influence in Europe has so far mainly focused on Russia's influence activities, discussed either as 'disinformation' or 'soft power'. Less attention has been paid to understanding the agency of European audiences receptive to Russian narratives. Through discourse analysis of Norwegian media texts (February 2014 – December 2020) where authors or interviewees accepted or were prone to accept Crimea as part of Russia, this paper investigates into the arguments put forward by these constituencies. Why were commentators, representing various political affiliations, willing to accept Crimea as part of Russia, contrary to Norway's official position? The paper shows that the Norwegian commentators used many arguments coinciding with the official Russian ones put forward to legitimize the annexation, arguments informed by political realism, pragmatism, sovereignism and in some cases anti-Americanism. However, they also used arguments structured by the socio-political and historical Norwegian context. Constituencies abroad sharing opinions with official Russia may provide Russia with a certain soft power. In this case, the fact that these dissenting discourses in Norway represent fringes of the debate on the annexation rather than a strong united opposition to Norway's official stand, speaks quite clearly of the limited scope of this soft power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, a 'participatory turn' has emerged as a remedy to counter top-down and techno-centric smart city development approaches. While this shift in smart city policies and strategies offers promise, it also presents challenges. This paper scrutinizes the participatory shift within smart city policies and initiatives in Stavanger, Norway, a pioneer and driving force for smart city development in Northern Europe. Using a qualitative case study of the Lervig Smart Park project, with a particular focus on the inclusion of children and youth, we investigate the methods of participation employed and the stages at which children are integrated into the planning process. Our findings underscore the beneficial outcomes of including children and youth in the Lervig Park design process, yet also reveal significant limitations, especially in the perception of children as capable political subjects and the absence of suitable methodological tools for their engagement across planning phases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of European Journal of Social Work is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Participation in democracy has been suggested as an inherent value of democracy by allowing citizens to participate in political decision-making. Since the 2000s and, more particularly, after the creation of the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Convention and the Council of Europe's Faro Convention, there has been a call for a participatory approach to heritage management. In 2008 Norway ratified the Faro Convention justifying the existence of statutory participatory practices and community engagements. This paper assesses these practices as they read at the national legal provisions to evaluate how Norway articulates participative processes regarding cultural heritage management. The results indicate that the legal framework long for an active role of inhabitants in local administration and planning and heritage management but prevent them from influencing governance beyond the elections. Accordingly, cultural heritage management is still far from being considered a 'sharing responsibility' between citizens and authorities as the Faro Convention calls for. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates how Norwegian school principals prepared to carry out the LK20 reform process. The importance of school principals and middle-level leaders as enactors of change efforts results from their close ties to teachers and teacher classroom practices. This suggests that without negotiation and support from micro-policy actors, such as school principals, reforms are unlikely to be realized as intended and are therefore likely to fail. The present study was based on interviews and video observations of principals and leader team meetings. The findings demonstrate that school principals' interpretations of policy intentions through their enforcement of curriculum reform demands are closely connected to their schools' organizational contexts. The planning process involves recycling previous plans and customizing them to new ones. Opportunities and challenges are illuminated when school principals provide counter-discourses in the planning process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how digital competence and digital technology are addressed in Norwegian early childhood teacher education (ECTE). The aim is to provide a national overview of the ECTE institutions' programme and relevant course plans to identify how the preservice teachers are being prepared for their future professional life as digitally competent early childhood teachers. We have conducted a summative content analysis of national regulations, national guidelines, programme and course plans by drawing on Goodlad et al.'s curriculum theory. The findings demonstrate that digital competence and digital technology are clearly emphasised and addressed at the ideological curriculum level but less so at the formal and perceived levels. Data shows that there is a need to define and operationalise professional digital competence from an ECTE perspective. Furthermore, there is a need to more explicitly describe the learning outcomes in the programme and course plans, focusing on both theoretical and practical aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapidly developing field of visual methods and growing body of literature employing visual methodologies in the collection of data have contributed to the acknowledgement of the senses with a prevalence of sight in the research process. Yet, the 'sensuous scholarship' is not always considered in the systematic methodological process when visual methodologies are at stake. The aim of this paper is to problematise this stance in the context of the particular field of migration research. Our aim is to 'de-essentialise the visual' by presenting cases from our studies on immigrant communities in Norway, Turkey, Israel, and Portugal, and to exemplify how the embodied knowledge gained by both the researcher and research participants can contribute to research findings. We argue that sensuous experiences are part of researchers' positionality and influence the intellectual outcomes of our work. We support this stance with four claims that relate to a researcher's physical presence in the field. We claim that (1) our work suffers an intellectual bias, (2) our geographical bias influences the interpretation of sensory experiences, (3) we tend to overstudy groups for which we have sympathy/empathy, and (4) the sensing scholar does physical labour. As for the perspective of research participants, we argue that the attention to their sensory experiences may bring knowledge on important aspects of their livelihoods and can give in-depth insight into micro, meso, and macro processes the respondents are entangled with. We claim that (5) senses influence the inclusion-exclusion dynamic, (6) senses are drivers of ethnic boundary maintenance, and (7) emplacement is mediated by senses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While Norwegian educational policy documents construct an overarching role for the teacher as the main party responsible for inclusion in the parent-school cooperation, there are conflicts in the associated discourses on language and inclusion. This can lead to uncertainties in terms of the teachers' responsibilities for inclusion in the parent-teacher interaction. This paper considers some of the constraints and ambivalences experienced by teachers in multilingual contexts, and more precisely investigates the subject positions made available through political and societal discourses and locally emerging teacher discourses. Examining parent-teacher interaction in both online and offline contexts, the study is guided by the following research question: How do Norwegian teachers construct their roles and responsibilities for inclusive language practices with parents who have Norwegian as an additional language? The analysis shows that the teachers' values concerning inclusive practices open up for an asset-orientation towards multilingualism. However, the potentials of these discourses of ideals are curbed by monolingual ideologies due to the lack of awareness, and of material, institutional and relational support. These constraints seem to be more prominent in the digitally mediated interaction than in face-to-face meetings, which deserves our attention as we know that parent-school interaction increasingly takes place via digital channels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of European Journal of Social Work is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Although many studies have explored teachers’ and students’ perceptions of physical education (PE), the voices and beliefs of school principals about PE remain scarce in existing literature [Ní Chróinín, D., Fletcher, T., Jess, M., & Corr, M. (2020). A major review of stakeholder perspectives on the purposes of primary physical education. European Physical Education Review, 26(2), 322–336]. In Norway, a new national curriculum for PE was introduced in 2020 [Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training. (2019). Læreplan i kroppsøving. [The curriculum for physical education]] making it timely to examine how key stakeholders, such as principals, understand and attempt to enact these new curricular objectives. In this paper, we draw on interviews conducted with five participant principals from schools located in Eastern Norway that explored their perceptions of PE. Based on our reflexive thematic analysis [Braun, B., & Clarke, V. (2022). Thematic Analysis a Practical Guide] of the interview data, we present the findings in relation to three main themes: (i) ‘PE is a very important subject’, (ii) ‘PE creates other pedagogical opportunities and has extrinsic values’ and (iii) ‘PE as friluftsliv [“outdoor activities”], swimming and social aspects – but not sports  … ’. However, by also utilizing Foucauldian understandings of discourse [Foucault, M. (1972). The Archaeology of Knowledge and Discourse on Language ([1st American ed). Pantheon Books], we draw attention to how the principals’ perceptions of PE are largely constituted within dominant discourses of activation, fitness and (physical) health. To conclude, we call for further studies on what principals’ value and talk about in relation to PE but also what they do not talk about such as PE as a subject for learning and where other dimensions of health are promoted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the institutionalization of international internships in business education through action research (AR), addressing the scarcity of research on overcoming institutional barriers and driving systemic change. Using AR at the meso-level in two Norwegian business schools, we investigate challenges and processes involved in incorporating international internships into curricula. Our multiple-case study explores contrasting experiences, organizational structures, and institutional practices within Norway’s context. We reveal the interconnectedness of regulative, normative, and cultural-cognitive institutional pillars in institutionalizing international internships through meso-level AR, proposing a theoretical model emphasizing internationalization strategy drivers, practices of education and engagement, and organizational dynamics. Practical implications include fostering a culture of global competence development, promoting active learning and innovative pedagogy, and encouraging shared responsibility for internationalization among academic and administrative staff. We emphasize the need for continuous reassessment and adaptation of institutional processes and strategies to align with evolving demands and best practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several shifts in physiotherapy treatment of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have occurred over time. This paper aims to identify shifts in physiotherapy practice for patients with RA based on the author's work experiences from the 1980s until today at two Norwegian rheumatism hospitals, and to explore why shifts may have happened. A narrative was developed by describing events making a difference, categorizing, and ordering them with the help of narrative analysis and a sensitizing analytic lens on discourses. The storyline from the 1980s to approximately the turn of the millennium is called 'Shifts determined mainly by clinical context-driven events' which occurred in response to medical advances and physiotherapists' clinical experiences. These shifts were later justified by physiotherapists' research in the clinical context. The other storyline covers mainly the 2000s and is called 'Shifts increasingly determined by events beyond clinical physiotherapy context.' They include adjustments to further medical advances and implementation of biopsychosocial understanding of disease at the hospital, and to external research-based recommendations, health reforms, and economy. These processes have moved physiotherapy practice at the hospital from mainly providing individualized remedial and rehabilitative physiotherapy for the purpose to normalize physical function to an increasing focus on generic health measures for the purposes of health promotion and cardiovascular disease prevention. However, this shift may not fully match the complex needs presented by patients in disease remission with unrelenting fatigue and work inability and those who have multiple functional challenges and comorbidities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is considerable focus on finding effective governance approaches. This article examines experiences with using more collaborative approaches to developing new governance instruments in the context of higher education. The specific empirical case focuses on the introduction of multi-annual performance agreements between the ministry and the higher education institutions in Norway. Specific focus is on the pilot process, during which the instrument was developed in collaboration between the ministry and representatives from the higher education institutions. The article takes a starting point in a contingency model for collaborative governance, and examines starting conditions, institutional design and leadership models, and the characteristics of the collaborative process itself, including the role of face-to-face dialogue with good faith negotiation, a trust-building phase, a commitment process, followed by a shared understanding of the problems, values and goals, and intermediate outcomes. The data consist of approximately 50 qualitative interviews with representatives from the ministry and the higher education institutions and a range of document data. The paper analyses how the collaborative design process in Norway shaped policy outputs, and highlights critical factors of the process, including the consequences of the temporal sequencing of the process, the interaction of the new governance instrument with the existing instrument mix, and the role of various other concurrent policy developments. The analysis also points out that while collaborative approaches can provide ways to strengthen legitimacy of governing, they also involve a number of dilemmas and challenges, and therefore require careful design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how girls' education developed in Norway and Prussia (and later North Rhine-Westphalia, NRW) during the first and second wave of women's political mobilisation. It analyses how organisations and activists of the women's movement were included in different cross-interest coalitions in education politics. The cases are interpreted in light of Rokkanian cleavage theory. In Germany, the women's movement was split along class lines but also along denominational lines. The Catholic women's movement became a part of the Catholic and later the Christian democratic political alliance. In Norway, influential sections of the women's movement were linked first to the liberal movement and later to the social democratic movement. In both cases, women's rights activists left a mark on education policy, but Norwegian women's rights activists enjoyed successes earlier and more consistently. This is a result of the Norwegian women's movement's comparatively greater unity and related to the different cleavage structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explains the mechanism that causes the two motions of intergenerational mobility, monotonic motion and cyclical motion. Increasing longevity encourages incentives for education investment while decreasing transfers, which is the funding source for education. If longevity increases slowly, mobility increases monotonically. However, if longevity increases rapidly with economic development, mobility is cyclical owing to a largely decreasing transfer. This result is consistent with the empirical evidence in the literature on intergenerational mobility. In fact, China, where longevity increased rapidly, experienced a cyclical motion of mobility, whereas Norway, where longevity increased slowly, has experienced a monotonic motion of mobility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I examine how young people in Norway, an affluent nation in the global north with long traditions of acknowledging the young as citizens, articulate and negotiate agency and norms for practicing environmental citizenship. Combining focus groups and qualitative surveys, I explore how Norwegian youth experience and engage with public environmental debates. Results show that many perceive environmental issues, particularly climate change, as post-political issues beyond rhetorical contestation and debate. Moreover, expectations that environmental challenges are best solved through consensus-oriented debate and cooperation lead many to dismiss political opposition and activism as irrational and destructive forms of civic engagement. Consequently, while harboring doubts about the efficacy of their individual actions in driving change, they tend to restrict their agency to personal responsibilities aimed at advancing sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early childhood education and care in Norway have a broad mission and are, among other things, mandated through legislation and frameworks to remedy social injustice and emphasise inclusion. Nevertheless, research illustrates that symbolic power tends to be present in early childhood education and care institutions. In this conceptual paper, it is discussed how the local line leadership and staff in early childhood education and care institutions can analyse and challenge their work with inclusion when partaking in multicultural professional development. A model is presented to function as a tool to help the line leadership and staff in this process. It is argued that to function as learning inclusion arenas, it is necessary that the local line leadership and the staff critically explore how the institution function for all actors and that they visualise and challenge potential symbolic power in the institution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SCANDINAVIAN ARTEFACTS FROM THE VIKING AGE ONWARDS are found in Slavic areas, suggesting interactions between Slavs and Scandinavians. In this paper, whetstones from present-day Norway are regarded as a proxy for this contact, and three different locations within the Oder estuary district in present-day north-western Poland are investigated, the Viking-Age town of Wolin, Szczecin Castle Hill and Lubin Stronghold. Geological characterisation and analysis of whetstones indicate that from the 9th/10th to the 13th centuries, whetstones at these sites were largely imported from quarries in present-day Norway, from Mostadmarka in Trøndelag and Eidsborg in Telemark. A reliance on distantly sourced products among Slavic people is demonstrated, and despite cultural and linguistic differences there seem to have been long-lasting networks between Norse and Slavic areas through the centuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we ask how the corona pandemic affected a cohort of former art school students. We have compared our findings with other studies of the consequences of the pandemic for Nordic artists. Most of our informants appeared less negatively affected by the pandemic than predicted by previous studies. None of those who responded said that they had left or considered leaving their professions, and none had experienced a disastrous loss of income because of the pandemic. Nevertheless, the pandemic affected the work and income situation of freelance actors and musicians who normally perform for live audiences. All the informants also responded that their workdays had changed substantially, and that the pandemic had negatively affected their well-being. Our qualitative study might contribute in detecting some nuances that were less easily detectable through quantitative surveys, e.g. that the pandemic did not substantially affect freelance actors in film and media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of European Journal of Social Work is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of European Journal of Social Work is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper argues that an artistic approach can enhance the power of ethnographic research by slowing down reasoning, processing emotions and complying with the ethics of representation. The author reflects on her experiences during fieldwork in Norway among minoritized Norwegians working in the art and cultural sector, and the intense emotions and bodily reactions she experienced while listening to painful stories of trauma. She describes how this emotional intensity led her to start drawing images, and later to create a traveling exhibition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Outdoor pedagogies have gained significant traction in Early Childhood Education over the years and European traditions represent a cultural norm in what is generally referred to as Scandinavian outdoor pedagogies. This small-scale ethnographic research adopted an interpretative methodological approach and afforded opportunities to observe young preschool children engaging in an outdoor, allotment, Garden School in the centre of Oslo Norway. Here we were in the privileged position to capture moments vis a vis the environment, and whilst we acknowledge traditional child led discourses, affiliated with healthy child development, we also envisaged a world where children engaged in post-anthropocentric entanglements with human and non-human kinships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this case study, the aim was to investigate how primary school teachers in a leading-edge Norwegian primary school use digital technologies to differentiate instruction in order to promote a more inclusive learning environment in academically diverse classrooms. Seven teachers teaching grades 1 and 5 were observed and interviewed to collect data on their beliefs and practices regarding differentiation. Afterwards, 20 teachers in the same school answered in a survey about teaching in highly digitalised learning environments. The results suggest that teachers find a lot of potential and possibilities in using digital technologies to differentiate instruction to create an inclusive learning environment. However, pupils' digital products indicate that they would need more guidance in taking advantage of the teachers' intentions and flexible curricula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Advance care planning (ACP) allows patients to define their goals and preferences. Spending more time at home and less time in the hospital, along with avoiding death in the hospital, are often considered desirable outcomes of palliative care (PC). In 2015, 36% of cancer patients died in the hospital and 13% died at home in Norway. Method: From 2015 to 2022, this prospective controlled non-randomized intervention trial observed 144 cancer patients with or without an organized ACP conversation in primary health care and a summarizing palliative plan (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02170168, 23 June 2014). The patients were identified through contact with the local cancer outpatient clinic or hospital-based PC team. Results: A total of 128 patients died during the observation period. Of these, 67 patients had an organized ACP conversation and summarizing palliative plan (intervention (I) group) and 61 had not (control (C) group). Dying in the hospital was significantly less common for patients in the I group compared to the C group (17.9% vs. 34.4%; X2 (1, n = 128) = 4.55, p = 0.033). There were no differences between the groups in terms of where they spent their time in the last 90 days of life (home, nursing home, or hospital). Most patients (62%) preferred to die at home. The observed differences between the groups regarding preferred and actual places of death did not reach statistical significance. Conclusion: With organized ACP conversations in primary health care and a summarizing palliative plan, cancer patients died less often in the hospital in our observational study. A structured ACP approach integrating palliative care for cancer patients into primary health care can support patients´ preferences at the end of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Being the 'mother' of most clinical specialties, general practice is as old as medicine itself. However, as a recognized academic discipline within medical schools, general practice has a relatively short life span. A decisive step forward was taken in 1956 when the University of Edinburgh established its Department of General Practice, and appointed the world's inaugural professor in the field in 1963. During the 1960s, the pioneering move in Edinburgh was followed by universities in the Netherlands (University of Utrecht), Canada (Western University, Ontario), and Norway (University of Oslo), marking the beginning of global academic recognition for general practice/family medicine. Despite its critical role in healthcare, the academic evolution of general practice has been sparingly documented, with a notable absence of comprehensive accounts detailing its integration into medical schools as an independent discipline with university departments and academic professors. Last year (2023) marked the 60th anniversary of Dr. Richard Scott's historic appointment as the first professor of General Practice/Family Medicine. Through the lens of the first four professors appointed between 1963 and 1969, we explore the 'birth' of general practice to become an academic discipline. In most western countries of today, general practice has become a recognized medical discipline and an important part of the medical education. But many places, this development is lagging behind. The global shaping of general practice into an academic discipline is therefore definitively not completed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 ruptured Europe's security constellation, leading to historically neutral Finland and Sweden to seek NATO memberships. While there is literature on how NATO influences country's security apparatus, the impact of NATO on smaller states' securitization capacity remains unclear. We undertake 1) a discourse analysis of Norway and Finland's three respective Arctic strategies, 2) a discourse analysis of two online Arctic newspapers 'High North News' and 'The Barents Observer', and 3) an analysis of the allocation of Finnish and Norwegian military spending from 2014-2022. We explore both countries as cases where one is a historic member of NATO and the other is not. Despite this, both states share similar structural security risks such as Russia's geographic proximity. We periodize securitizing dynamics related to the Arctic, matching it to changes in the Finnish and Norwegian military sectors. Given small states lack relative material capabilities, we argue there is a systematic deadlock in transforming securitizing moves into material action. However, as a NATO state, Norway exhibits a significantly higher level of participation in military maneuvers and additional securitizing behavior compared to Finland. By contrast, Finland relies more heavily on intense securitizing rhetoric without accompanying material actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Food and Health subject is a mandatory subject in primary and lower secondary schools in Norway and has many similarities to the internationally known subject Home Economics. This study aimed to examine how learning activities are structured in Food and Health education, both from the teacher's and the student's perspective. Momentary time sampling was used as the observation method, and we created "lesson signatures" of the Food and Health education based on the observational data. "Lesson signature" is a term used for an aggregate number of observed teaching sessions, and is intended to reveal specific external patterns, considering time use, organisation and teaching patterns. Data were collected from 23 observed Food and Health lessons from sixth and ninth grades in Norway. The signatures show that although the activity level of both teachers and students was high, teachers controlled and regulated the lessons. Teaching methods consisted mainly of group work. Students spent a small proportion of the lesson listening, and conversation and discussion as a collective were virtually absent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academia is increasingly populated but remains saturated with problems of exclusion, inequality, and injustice. However, policies aimed to govern the sector are criticized for corrupting the core of the academic practice, overlooking complexities, and perpetuating old and constructing new forms of inequalities. We thus need more empowering ways to design policies which can productively transform academia into good spaces to inhabit. To this end, we take a novel approach by viewing higher education policies as world-making spaces. Through 'social world/arena mapping' of the Norwegian research and higher education policy, we find that the policy articulates diverse worlds with different logics and purposes for academics to inhabit. However, the actors in these worlds remain passive, and seemingly 'universal' actors, able to simultaneously inhabit all the different policy worlds, while systemic inequalities which permeate the sector are largely overlooked. We argue that acknowledging this shortcoming is pivotal to finding new ways to (re)create sustainable spaces in research and higher education that ensure inclusive environments and function as democratic institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number of studies on social inequality in mortality in Norway before 1960 is limited and they often focus on early life outcomes. Little is known about socioeconomic differences in old-age mortality before the emergence of the welfare state. Linked census and church records from the Historical Population Register of Norway were used to study a sample of 10,457 men and women born 1841–1870 who lived in Troms, a province in northern Norway, in the early twentieth century. We analysed the association between social class, measured in adulthood, and mortality at age 60 and older using Cox proportional hazards models. The results do not indicate a clear social gradient in mortality. Differences between social classes varied in the magnitude and direction of effects, depending on gender and place of residence. For women, the association between social class and mortality was weaker overall. Only farming was significantly associated with decreased mortality risk compared to the group of lower-skilled and unskilled workers. Differences were more pronounced among men, with higher mortality for non-manual classes in towns, and lower mortality for skilled workers and farmers in rural areas. The advantage for farmers was amplified in combination with manual or non-manual work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]