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• Norwegian Network for mentoring newly qualified teachers

TUC receives this national award for the second time.

This year, the first prize was shared between Telemark University college and the University of Oslo, for their "International Community Health" programme. Both institutions will receive NOK 400 000 in price money.

Experienced teachers

Through TUC's prize-winning programme, an individual mentor is assigned to newly qualified teachers in kindergartens, primary and secondary schools.These mentors are experienced teachers who have - or will be given - special training in mentoring.

Great recognition

- We are extremely proud and happy. This award is a great recognition. We have worked determinedly on this project since 1998, and the critical criterion of success has been the close cooperation between our teacher education programme and kindergartens and schools, says assistant professor Eva Bjerkholt, TUC.

Several reports to the Storting (Norway's Parliament) have declared that basic teacher's training in itself is not sufficient to meet the complex challenges that teachers meet in their everyday work.

- The way knowledge is transferred between teacher education programmes and vocational life in this project represents a totally new way of thinking, Bjerkholt adds contently.

Training of mentors

TUC has developed various courses and models of giving experienced teachers formal qualifications as mentors for newly qualified colleagues, Bjerkholt explains.

In Telemark County, there are 490 mentors. Around 760 new teachers have received support and mentoring in a structured programme organized by TUC.

Locally, regionally, nationally and internationally

The prize was presented by Minister of Higher Education and Research, Tora Aasland, at the annual National Conference on Quality in Higher Education in Oslo on Tuesday, April 20th.

TUC wins the prize for the way they have included partners and perspectives locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. Structured collaboration with owners of kindergartens and schools in the region, primarily within Telemark and Buskerud counties, has been crucial for the success of the project.

"Mentoring of new teachers" is also a joint effort by TUC, Buskerud University College, Vestfold University College and Øsfold University College, where these institutions develop and share knew knowledge about newly qualified teachers in schools and kindergartens.

National network headed by TUC

TUC acts as leader of the National network on newly qualified teachers.

Most Norwegian schools of teacher education participate in the network, meaning that new teachers are followed up and mentored in a large number of municipalities throughout the country.

The parliament has passed a resolution saying that systematic mentoring should be offered to all newly qualified teachers.

Improved quality of education

The Jury says that the decision to give the prize to TUC was based on the following grounds: The network appears to have been well organized, to have been of a considerable size and to have contributed to enhance quality in education.

The Jury adds that the project has been an important impulse to or has given important impulses to professionally oriented research and improvement within teacher education in general.

TUC wins the Quality in Higher Education award for the second time

In 2008 TUC's engineering department won the same prize for their innovative model of opening up and adjusting the curriculum of traditional engineering education to students with vocational training and a professional technical certificate rather than the traditional pre-college high school diplomas, a pioneer project in engineering education in Norway.

Increasing number of contestants

NOKUT (the Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education) reports that a total number of 27 applications representing 17 different campuses were submitted for the award this year. This is a substantial increase compared to the two last years, and the second highest number of contestants since the award was established.

Among the applicants this year were four full universities, one scientific university and 12 university colleges from all over Norway.

Contact persons:

• Eva Bjerkholt, assistant professor and project leader of the National network, eva.bjerkholt@hit.no or cellphone + 47 93 49 85 85
• Elin Ødegård, assistant professor and project associate elin.odegard@hit.no or cellphone + 47 91 37 87 79
• Gry Hjortdal, assistant professor and leader for the project's team in Porsgrunn, gry.hjortdal@hit.no or cellphone: + 47 95 90 82 46