Chapter 13
The Pre-service Education of Disability
Pedagogues in Norway: Maximising Social
Pedagogic Ambition
Paul Stephens
You [disability pedagogues]....are a human rights profession.
(Norwegian Solidarity Union 2013, no pagination)13.1 Introduction
Outside Continental Europe, it is quite common to connect education with cognitive
knowledge that educators teach, such as English and Mathematics. In the Nordic
countries, the idea of education is broader. This is particularly noteworthy when the
adjective“social”is placed before the noun,“education”(or as it is more commonly
termed,“pedagogy”, also a noun). Put“social”and“pedagogy”together and the
result is“social pedagogy”. The social aspect complements the cognitive dimen-
sion. In short, social pedagogues are interested in social learning and social
development.
I teach and conduct research at the University of Stanger in Norway, where I was
appointed to the Inaugural Chair of Social Pedagogy in 2007. The subject is central
in the pre-service education of child welfare pedagogues and disability pedagogues.
My focus is on disability pedagogues because what they study and do is a bit of a
mystery. I think that this might stir curiosity among other social professionals. In
turn, inquisitiveness may stimulate cross-national learning, particularly in profes-
sions that uphold advocacy work with people who have disabilities. The enhance-
ment of pedagogic capacity, in its broadest sense, is a key objective in that context.
In this chapter, I concentrate on what the policymakers in Norway want and
expect from aspiring disability pedagogues. The journey from the campus to pro-
fessional practice would make an interesting subject for another study.
P. Stephens (&)
University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway
e-mail: [email protected]
©Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2017
M.A. Peters et al. (eds.),A Companion to Research in Teacher Education,
DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-4075-7_13
193