Norway

A recent statistical study shows that the status of the teacher profession is increasing in Oslo, the capital of Norway. The study is part of the daring and ambitious teacher recruitment campaign GNIST (SPARK).

The GNIST campaign for the teaching profession was initiated in 2008. It is based on a concern that policies were not sufficiently directed towards ensuring enough well-qualified teachers in Norwegian schools. GNIST is a partnership agreement between a number of stakeholders, including: teacher education institutions, school owners (municipal and county governments), unions and the national authorities. Partnership objectives were to increase the quality and status of the teaching profession, teacher education, and school leadership.

One aim of the partnership has been to develop reliable indicators of status and quality and to measure progress. The latest indicator report shows that there has been a strong positive shift in media coverage of the teacher profession and teacher education between 2008 and 2011. There has also been an increased attractiveness in the teacher profession in target groups during the same period, and a 45 percent increase in recruitment to teacher education between 2008 and 2011.