Norway study reveals how teacher collaboration was dismantled by reform
A 50-year analysis of Norwegian secondary schools shows that strong collegial practices among teachers—which enabled professional development and school governance—were actively viewed as obstacles rather than assets during waves of 1960s-90s reforms. The finding challenges how policymakers approach organizational change in education systems.
Originaltitel: Kollegialitet i den videregående skolen: Lektoridentitet i en skoleorganisasjon i endring 1960–2010
<p><strong>Collegiality in upper-secondary school: Teacher identity in a changing school organization (1960–2010).</strong> In this article, it is argued that the teachers at the Norwegian upper secondary school had a distinct collegial practice characterised by both formal and informal aspects of collegiality, as well as close interaction between institutional and disciplinary bodies at the school. This practice enabled the teachers to be involved in their own academic and professional development, as well as in the governance of the school. With the democratisation of the school in the 1960s and 70s, and with the new ideals of governance in the 1990s, the characteristics of the teachers’ collegial culture were seen as a hindrance rather than a resource in the development of the school and the teaching profession. Drawing on unique sources from school archives, the article examines the teachers’ collegiality and how it changed from 1960 to 2010.</p>