The research group aims to contribute research-based knowledge of professionalism and professional practice at a time when the framework for education is constantly changing. There is an increasing degree of control over teachers at various levels in the education system, and issues related to autonomy, control, and identity are challenged. Through research at both micro and macro levels in kindergarten, elementary school, secondary school, and adult education, and using different theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches, the research group contributes to a dynamic approach to the field, as well as a broad understanding of the concept of professionalism and what professional practice and development can involve. Research-based knowledge of the teacher's role and the development of professionalism is especially important at a time when the landscape in and around children's upbringing is constantly changing. The research group wants to contribute knowledge and understanding about different actors at different levels in children's and adolescents' upbringing who can contribute to maintaining and developing quality in educational institutions.
Ole Petter Vestheim, leader of the research group
Ingrid Elna Elden, vice chair of the research group
Veronica Isaksen
Leiv Heming Sem
Heidi Kristin Holmen
Anna Katharina Jacobsson
Eivind Sæther
Jørgen Brønseth
Eldar Taraldsen
Markus Leithe-Lajord
Wenche Hammer Johannessen
Ragna Hovig Ødegaardshaugen
Nina Rokne Bye
Silje Dybdahl
Olivia Hansen
Active research projects
The research project is both underway and in the process of being established and aims to contribute research-based knowledge of teachers' motives, motivation and stories about their teaching life at various points in their careers. The project is currently run by Kitt M. Lyngsnes, Heidi K. Holmen and Ole Petter Vestheim (Nord University). In the fall of 2019, findings from one of the sub-projects were presented at the ECER conference in Hamburg:
Vestheim, O.P. & Holmen, H.K. (2019). New Demands to Become Student Teacher – New Pathways? ECER conference Hamburg 3-6 September.
Completed projects
The research project was based on a collaboration between Nord University, NTNU (Norwegian University of Science) and DMMH (Queen Maud University College) in which researchers, through a scientific anthology, highlighted the relationship between the management of education at the macro level and how this can impact on the professional practice at the micro level. The anthology was completed in the spring of 2021. The anthology is aimed at students at the basic courses in BLU, GLU and PPU respectively, as well as masters' students who focus on questions related to profession, practice and development.
Editors of the book are Hege Myhre, Ole Petter Vestheim (Nord University), and Mette Nygård (NTNU).
Ph.D. projects
Research fellow: Nina Marie Storborg
The research project is a qualitative case study where the purpose of the study is to develop knowledge about and gain a deeper understanding of the guidance practices of professional teachers in practical teaching rooms. Vocational teachers are strategically selected, and video observations with subsequent interviews, "stimulated recall" (Powell, 2005), constitute the data material. The material is analyzed based on the theory of practice architectures (Kemmis et al., 2014; Mahon, Kemmis, Francisco, & Lloyd, 2017), which also forms the overall theoretical point of view for the study.Research fellow: Jørgen T. Brønseth
This research project has a qualitative design and is rooted in case studies. The intention of the study is to develop knowledge and understanding of how digital platforms and tools are expressed through digital practices in day-care parenting. The theory of practice architectures forms the overall theoretical framework of the study.Research fellow: Ingrid E. Elden
The aim of this study is to investigate the teachers' subjective experience of the interaction-practices that emerge in their classroom. The teachers in the study teach newly arrived students who are taught in primary school for adults. Through video-stimulated recall and hermeneutic-phenomenological interviews, teachers reflect on their own practice. The results of the analysis are seen in the light of critical intercultural pedagogy and the theory of practice architecture (Kemmis et al., 2014). The project will be able to shed light on which interaction-practices characterize these multicultural classrooms, and which arrangements influence the practices.
