Indigeneity versus diversity

The article deals with the representation of the Sámi in the new national curriculum for primary and lower secondary education in Norway. More precisely, it focuses on a specific formulation in the fourth core element of the curriculum for religious education, in which an awareness of Sámi perspectives is presented as part of the diversity competence which pupils are supposed to acquire. Based on a critical analysis of governmental documents dealing with education it is argued that the term ‘diversity’ as it is used in the fourth core element addresses Sámi perspectives in a way that may induce readers to think of the Sámi as one of an increasing number of minorities in an originally Norwegian society. This implication, even if unintended, is highly problematic. It can be interpreted as a violation of both ILO 169, Article 31 and CRC, Article 29 (1), especially since the Sámi are a people indigenous to Norway.

Mothers constructing six-year-olds: how ‘linguistic and domestic capital’ work through school–home correspondence, making ethnicity and social class visible

Research on ethnicity and social class in primary school has shown how school produces social inequality and seems to suffer from a lack of professional diversity competence. Less work has examined how a democratic, equality-oriented curriculum puts hierarchies and differences into play. Our study is based on an ethnographic text material in form of a home–school correspondence from two ethnically and socioeconomically different parts of Oslo, Norway. We examine how families (children and mothers, as co-writers) portray their domestic family life. Our aim is to explore how ethnicity and social class become visible through what we call ‘linguistic habitus’, ‘linguistic negotiation’ and ‘domestic capital’ in an apparently conform school programme. Drawing on a Bourdieu-inspired focus on power in language use, we argue that this home–school correspondence functions as a linguistic market: a system of distinction, operating with internal rules regarding what to say, how to say it and what not to say. Building on 319 family entries from a home–school correspondence, this study demonstrates how a corpus of saturated and intertwined texts reveals hegemonic middle-class preferences, values and identities. Mothers from the middle-class areas, co-writing with their children, reap symbolic benefits more easily than mothers and children from socio-economical diverse areas, who lose ground in this linguistic market. Despite the fact that the majority of the entries are similar and conform to a standard, some counter-discourses emerge. The study identifies the development of three linguistic trajectories: counteroffensive, rectifying and ‘hyper-correct’ deviance. A central argument in this article is that this well-meaning home–school correspondence, which aims to be inclusive and democratic, demonstrates that access is socially skewed and that language capital is crucial. Our study reveals that the school system in Norway, situated in a very equality-oriented and strong welfare state, is based on two opposing ideologies, diversity on the one hand and sameness on the other.

Incidence, drivers and global health implications of the 2019/2020 yellow fever sporadic outbreaks in Sub-Saharan Africa

ABSTRACT The 2019 and 2020 sporadic outbreaks of yellow fever (YF) in Sub-Saharan African countries had raised a lot of global health concerns. This article aims to narratively review the vector biology, YF vaccination program, environmental factors and climatic changes, and to understand how they could facilitate the reemergence of YF. This study comprehensively reviewed articles that focused on the interplay and complexity of YF virus (YFV) vector diversity/competence, YF vaccine immunodynamics and climatic change impacts on YFV transmission as they influence the 2019/2020 sporadic outbreaks in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Based on available reports, vectorial migration, climatic changes and YF immunization level could be reasons for the re-mergence of YF at the community and national levels. Essentially, the drivers of YFV infection due to spillover are moderately constant. However, changes in land use and landscape have been shown to influence sylvan-to-urban spillover. Furthermore, increased precipitation and warmer temperatures due to climate change are likely to broaden the range of mosquitoes' habitat. The 2019/2020 YF outbreaks in SSA is basically a result of inadequate vaccination campaigns, YF surveillance and vector control. Consequently, and most importantly, adequate immunization coverage must be implemented and properly achieved under the responsibility of the public health stakeholders.

Editorial: Perspectives on teachers’ transdisciplinary professional competence

What are the prevalent understandings of the concept of teachers’ professional competence? What knowledge forms and learning arenas are significant in developing teacher competences for the 21st century? In what ways can transdisciplinary goals of teacher education (such as diversity, research and development (R&D) and digital competence) contribute in forming teachers’ professional competence? This special issue’s contributions address a variety of perspectives on core concepts for understanding the complexity of teachers’ professional competence. They define, question and criticize the prevalent epistemological and ontological understandings within teacher qualification. They include theoretical and empirical papers addressing a variety of perspectives on teacher qualification and teachers’ professional competence, with a particular focus on the role of modes of knowledge, learning arenas and multidisciplinarity as contributors to transdisciplinary goals in teacher qualification. In addition, contributions illustrate dimensions of teachers’ professional competences such as teachers’ diversity competence, teachers’ R&D competence and teachers’ digital competence.

Dimensions of teachers’ transdisciplinary competence based on a systematic review of three transdisciplinary areas

This study contributes to the conceptualisation of teachers’ competence through a systematic review (a concept synthesis) of three key transdisciplinary competencies—teachers’ diversity competence, teachers’ research and development competence, and teachers’ digital competence. Based on our analysis, we propose a set of dimensions to consider—within which there were important tensions in the research literature reviewed—when discussing teachers’ professional competence. These dimensions are: the 1) beneficiary, 2) teachers’ role, 3) attitudes, knowledge and skills, 4) sources of competence, 5) relationship to disciplinary content and 6) assessment. We discuss the three areas in light of these dimensions. We suggest that the complexity of being and becoming a teacher is a blind spot in research on teachers’ transdisciplinary competence and that many articles show deficit thinking about teachers.

Young refugees’ pathways in(to) education - teacher and student voices: opportunities and dilemmas

Background The study's aim is to gain more knowledge about what may promote or inhibit young refugees' successful educational and psychosocial transitions in the early resettlement period. Experiences during resettlement can be crucial for young refugees' long-term education and mental health outcomes related to potentially traumatizing experiences before and during their flight, worries about family members and friends who still live in unstable conflict areas, and pre-migration/flight/post-migration stressors. Methods The study applied a qualitative, ethnographically oriented approach, based on semi-structured interviews and observations in five upper secondary schools in four municipalities in Norway. The researchers conducted interviews with 47 young refugees and 46 teachers and other school staff members. Results The findings on educational transitions are related to motivation and mastery, time spent on education, language related issues and teachers diversity competence. The psychosocial findings highlight the impact of refugee students' relationships on wellbeing and functioning in school and outside. Three central dilemmas can be drawn from the findings that school staff can encounter in their work to support young refugee: 1) Seeing the individual and group-level challenges, 2) sustaining motivation vs preparation for future demands, and 3) balancing educational and psychosocial demands. Conclusions The teachers experience dissonance from trying to combine loyalty to the educational system with establishing friendly relationships, being close strangers with students they see as having unrealistic aspirations. They guide them into choosing vocational education, leaving both the teachers and their students in a situation where they see few desirable outcomes of education during resettlement. The reasons for, and potential solutions to this problem can be seen in conjunction both with educational policies and with prevailing norms for student behaviour.

Shaping the Common Labor Market between Denmark and Sweden: Lessons for Sustainable Development

Though Denmark and Sweden have had a similar historical development over the years, the differences in their labor markets have become more visible than ever. While the labor shortage is increasing in Copenhagen, there is a high number of unemployed individuals with a more substantial proportion of vulnerable groups among them in Sweden. Despite some appealing factors (such as less governed labor law, the simplicity of employing and the high wages), the interest of Swedes to work in Copenhagen area has decreased, and as a result, the number of commuters has fallen. Could it then be employers’ attitudes towards foreign-born individuals that differ? Through interviewing Swedish and Danish employers and foreign-born population, Fördomsfönster Öresund project investigates if the attitudes differ and how social sustainability and utilizing the existent competence frame a common regional labor market. Interviews show that some concepts might be crucial in addressing the issue: language, prejudice, leadership and the difference in perceptions. By informing and responding to these problem areas, there is a strong possibility of greater integration, competence-based employment and higher revenues in commuting within the region. Keywords: Diversity, competence, social sustainability, labor market, green commuting