June's DivE

Welcome to this month's bilingual newsletter from the research group Diversity in Education (DivE)! Before diving into your summer holiday, we want to update you on our research group's latest activities. The past few weeks have been busy for the DivE research group. For the first time in almost four years, one of our PhD students has defended her thesis, and the FAITHED research project has hosted an exciting seminar in Hamar. Read more about our latest publications and activities below!

Recent Publications from DivE

DivErs Jonas Yassin Iversen and Vander Tavares are currently editing a new article series in the journal Nordand on critical perspectives on second language learning, race and education. As an introduction to the series, Iversen and Tavares have written an introductory text where they review trends in recent critical second language research on decoloniality and raciolinguistics. Next, they present findings from a systematic investigation of critical perspectives in studies published in two Nordic journals on second language learning in the period 2019–2023. By looking at second language research published in Nordic journals in light of international research trends, the authors discuss the potential of strengthening raciolinguistic and decolonial perspectives in second language research in the Nordics. You can read the introductory article here.   

Associate member Artëm I. Benediktsson and Vander Tavares have recently published a paper which examines the experiences and perspectives of student teachers from four teacher education programmes in Norway concerning family-school cooperation. Findings illustrate that a component focused on this topic is largely missing from teacher education curricula and that student teachers need more and better support through theory and practice on how to initiate, facilitate, and build on family-school cooperation with parents with transnational backgrounds. You can learn more about the study here.

Vander Tavares’ edited book titled Empowering Language Learners in a Changing World through Pedagogies of Multiliteracies is now out with Palgrave Macmillan. This book presents conceptual and empirical studies on how pedagogies of multiliteracies can empower language learners, teachers, and teacher educators in an increasingly globalized yet unequal world, with a focus on social justice in language education. The chapters offer critical and innovative pedagogical insights that contribute to re-envisioning language and literacy education in the 21st century in a number of educational contexts, including post-secondary, community, refugee, science, language, and teacher education. More information can be found here.

FAITHED spring seminar

The FAITHED spring seminar. Advisory Board members Jenny Berglund and Lene Kühle joined nine members of the FAITHED team working with drafts for four book chapters, covering confirmation experiences of Catholic youth, strongly religious young adults volunteering as teachers in faith education, RE teachers’ views on extra-curricular religious education, and strategies for Catholic religious instruction in different European contexts. A full-day fruitful exchange was concluded by a guest lecture by professor Göran Larsson, Göteborg University, on the subject «Judaism, Islam and Anti-Semitism».

Kjelling's 50% seminar

29 May PhD candidate Anne Grethe Kjelling successfully completed her 50% seminar. She had submitted well developed drafts for two articles and a methodological introduction as parts of her PhD project «Unge muslimer i moskéundervisninga og i skolens religionsundervisning – og midt imellom» (Young Muslims in mosque education and public school Religious Education – and in-between). Professor Jenny Berglund (Stockholm University/Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences), served as discussant. Several DivErs and external FAITHED researchers took part in the stimulating discussion, including professor Lene Kühle (Aarhus University) and member of the international Advisory Board of the FAITHED project. 

Det er alltid stor stas med disputaser – særlig når det er kandidater tilknyttet vår egen forskergruppe! Synnøve Markeng forsvarte fredag 31.mai sin artikkelbaserte avhandling, «Koranen ‘her inne’ og ‘der ute’: En kvalitativ undersøkelse av tilnærminger til religiøse skrifter i formell og ikke-formell opplæring», på Ph.d.-programmet PROFF. Cirka 60 personer fulgte spente med, i sal og på skjerm, da opponentene Göran Larsson (Göteborgs universitet) og Mona H. Farstad (Høgskulen på Vestlandet) skulle fremme sine kritiske innvendinger og invitere til diskusjon. Det ble spennende samtaler til glede for både kandidat og veiledere, i tillegg til kollegaer, venner og familie til stede. Når Synnøve nå disputerte, var det nærmere fire år siden sist en DivE-stipendiat disputerte ved INN. Disputasen var til stor inspirasjon for DivE-stipendiatene som arbeider mot samme mål.

Since March 15th, Danelle du Plessis has had the privilege of serving as a visiting scholar at the University of Birmingham’s School of Education. Her host, the Department of Education and Social Justice, is a distinguished interdisciplinary group dedicated to exploring social justice and critical enquiry in education and whose members share a common interest in researching the inequalities that persist in society. During her stay, she has participated in a variety of engaging events and seminars, sharing perspectives on racial diversity in education from the Norwegian context among experts from the UK and international contexts. She will be enjoying the support and hospitality of Professor Reza Gholami and the collaborative environment of the department until July 15th. We look forward to welcome her back to Hamar soon!

DivE researcher Thor-André Skrefsrud has contributed to a blog series on Embodied Learning at the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion. In his blog post, Skrefsrud engages with the ongoing debate on the role of rituals in education. He explores what it means to view multicultural school events as rituals, emphasizing that rituals can help people respond to change not by reinforcing the status quo but by facilitating transformation. Rituals help us navigate uncertain times, foster a sense of closeness, and create community. From this perspective, multicultural events can be seen as opportunities for transcendent learning rather than merely as one-off occasions or exotic happenings.

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