Culture and Identity – Nordic Childhoods (BLH3210, BLH3220)

This course is designed for students from early childhood/preschool and primary school teacher education institutions, but students from other relevant academic areas may also be accepted.

You must:

• have completed at least one year of your undergraduate degree studies at your home institution, and
• bring a valid police clearance form to Oslo in order to visit schools and kindergartens

International exchange students select courses when applying for exchange.

The application deadline is 1 October.

 We will investigate and discuss the complex matter of Culture and Identity and have a special focus on early childhood and education in Norway.

We live in a global world and have become internationally conscious to a degree that was unthinkable in previous generations. This globalisation affects everybody, including children in kindergartens and schools. Many children are also brought up in a country different from their parents’ home-country.

The course treats the concepts of Culture and Identity from a theoretical perspective, as well as from a practical point of view. The cultural background of the participants will be a vital resource in our discussions. The setting of Oslo, as an increasingly multicultural city, will also be an arena for contextualisation.

Topics:

• Cultural Identity and Cultural Awareness
• Childhood and Identity Construction
• Intercultural Communication, theory and practical experience
• Culture and World-View
• Culture and Religion
• Culture and Ethics
• Human Rights and Childhood
• Cultural Identity and Racism
• Traditions, Festivals, and Rituals
• Processes of Globalisation
• Global Consciousness
• Cross-Cultural Competence
• Social Commitment in a Globalised World

You will visit kindergartens and schools for twelve days (30 ECTS) and six days (20 ECTS). In order to do this, you must hand in a valid police clearance from your home country at the beginning of the course.

Examples of excursions:

• 22 July Centre
• the International Museum of Children’s Art
• the Sami exhibition at the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History
• various places of worship such as a Christian church and a Muslim mosque

For more information about this course, take a look at the course description for the 20 ECTS option (student.oslomet.no) and the course description for the 30 ECTS option (student.oslomet.no).

There is no semester fee for exchange students.

The final course diploma will be based on: 

• active participation in class, including individual presentation of one's own culture
• a minor paper on a subject treated in the course
• fieldwork paper, with following presentation in class
• Addition for the 30 ECTS option: final oral exam, based on the fieldwork and the course literature