The Nordic Folk High School Teacher

This anthology presents the Nordic folk high school teacher through thirteen research articles combined under three themes: identity, work, and education, each part capped by overarching summary chapters. The folk high schools are given a central role in the democratic development of the Nordic region and are described as a significant influence on adult education globally, but there have been few regional research projects describing the schools. The inclusion of research covering five Nordic countries in a peer reviewed anthology makes this publication a unique portrayal, both of the schools' common identity and their national variations.

This anthology presents the Nordic folk high school teacher through thirteen research articles combined under three themes: identity, work, and education, each part capped by overarching summary chapters. The folk high schools are given a central role in the democratic development of the Nordic region and are described as a significant influence on adult education globally, but there have been few regional research projects describing the schools. The inclusion of research covering five Nordic countries in a peer reviewed anthology makes this publication a unique portrayal, both of the schools' common identity and their national variations.

The title of this anthology mirrors the theme of the 9th Nordic Conference on Adult Education and Learning. The caption reflects how adult education plays an integral part in our societies by advancing new learning that generates possibilities to address contemporary challenges. While the chapters reflect the wide variety of research connected to the field of adult education, the authors agree on the ideal of combining the development of work life competences with the promotion of democratic empowerment, as demonstrated in the tradition of Nordic adult education.

This anthology examines university lecturers' experiences with pedagogical practices across various higher education disciplines. The experiences are investigated by means of reflective practice research - a phenomenological and hermeneutical approach intended to make implicit practical knowledge explicit, and thus to develop a deeper understanding of professional practices. While instrumental practice research gives a practitioner knowledge of facts, reflective practice research gives the practitioner orientational knowledge, in line with a so-called kaleidoscopic epistemology.

This anthology examines university lecturers' experiences with pedagogical practices across various higher education disciplines. The experiences are investigated by means of reflective practice research - a phenomenological and hermeneutical approach intended to make implicit practical knowledge explicit, and thus to develop a deeper understanding of professional practices. While instrumental practice research gives a practitioner knowledge of facts, reflective practice research gives the practitioner orientational knowledge, in line with a so-called kaleidoscopic epistemology.

Schoolteachers and the Nordic Model examines the cultural distinctiveness of the Nordic teaching profession and teacher training compared to examples from Europe and North America. The book explores the concept of these ‘teacher cultures’ as various dimensions of professional identities, recruitment patterns, teachers’ social status, values and knowledge. It considers how Nordic teachers ́ socio-cultural backgrounds and their shifting societal roles compare with continental European examples, analysing the societal consequences of teacher cultures for the current Nordic welfare states. Offering a unique focus on teachers, the book uses a shared comparative and historical approach to add new knowledge to the analysis of global convergence and divergence in educational systems. The book will be of great interest to researchers, scholars and post-graduate students in the fields of comparative education, educational policy, the sociology of education and the history of education. It will also be of interest to policy makers, teacher educators and school leaders. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.