Valuable meetings at Nordic pedagogical conference in Norway

Gerd Pettersson is an Associate professor at the Department of Education at Umeå University. Thanks to granted funds from the Arctic Centre at Umeå University, she and her colleague Monika Diehl were able to go to Mo i Rana in Norway to meet research colleagues from Finland and Norway at a planning conference. The conference was called “Gemensamma Vägar” (GV) and was organised by the Special Education and Pedagogical Research and Development Network (FoU)

Participanta at the conferene. From the left: Oddbjörn Knutsen, Nord University (Norway), Monika Diehl, Umeå University (Sweden), Dag-Arild Berg, Nord University (Norway), Terje Malin Statped in Norway, Sylvi Bratteng, Nord University (Norway) and Kristina Ström, Åbo Akademi in Vasa, (Finland).

Image Gerd Pettersson

Creative and innovative encounters led to excellent cooperations

– The planning conference was very pleasant and well planned by the Norwegian hosts, which laid good foundations for creative and innovative thought processes that were shaped and realised. After two days with a busy program, two fantastic tours at the National Library in Mo i Rana, and a visit to the newly built Science Centre, we returned home happy. The groundwork for continued good cooperation has been made, says Pettersson.

Many schools in sparsely populated areas are often threatened with having to close down, and this pressure from outside creates a deep engagement among villagers and parents

What did this trip mean to you as a researcher?

Pettersson shares that meeting with colleagues from Norway and Finland was good for future research collaborations. Among other things, they decided the theme for an upcoming joint application.

– One of my research areas is Rural Educational Environments and Schools, and this will also be the theme of a future joint application.

Rural schools are common in the Arctic

Image Roland Magnusson/Mostphotos

Pettersson describes that rural educational environments and schools are typical in Arctic areas in Sweden, Norway and Finland. These schools are characterized by geographically large areas and the consequences are long distances between the schools and long journeys for the school students.

– Many schools in sparsely populated areas are often threatened with having to close down, and this pressure from outside creates a deep engagement among villagers and parents. The school is seen as important for everyone, not least for Sami families who live and work in these sparsely populated areas.

Pettersson expresses that the encounters and exchanges at the conference led to collaborations that will be valuable for her continued research within education and rural schools in the Arctic.