The aim of this paper is to analyse and discuss the impacts of a comprehensive national strategy for competence development on individual and collective learning and work practices among teachers in Norwegian schools. The reform Kunnskapsløftet (The Knowledge Promotion Reform) is being implemented in Norway in 2006-2008, bringing a broad range of changes in the curricula, structure and organisation of primary and secondary education. In connection to the implementation of the reform, a national competence development strategy, named “Kompetanse for utvikling “ (Competence for Development) was formulated by the Ministry of Education in close collaboration with the teacher’s associations and the Norwegian Associaton of Local and Regional Authorities. The strategy covers the period of 2005 through 2008. During this period more than NOK 1.4 billion is allocated as state funding for the program, making this the largest competence development program in the Norwegian school system until now. The implementation of the strategy is being evaluated by Fafo, Institute for Labour and Social Research. The evaluation project started in the fall of 2005, and the final report from the evaluation will be published in 2009. In the strategy document “Kompetanse for utvikling”, competence is defined as “the ability to meet complex demands, situations and challenges”. The concepts of learning and competence are linked to action and teamwork in different collaborative contexts, and it is emphasized that learning takes place both at the individual and at the collective level. By its understanding of competence development and learning processes, the strategy reflects an increased policy engagement with informal learning and an increasing awareness of learning that takes place at work and other arenas outside formal educational institutions (Ashton 1998, Brown and Duguid 1991, Skule, Stuart and Nyen 2002). One of the main aims of the strategy “Kompetanse for utvikling” (Competence for Development) is to stimulate the development of schools as learning organisations, which has implications for skills development. It implies a change from a perceived pre-strategy state where skills development is based on individual needs, takes place outside the school context and influences individual practices only, to a state where skills development is based on collectively defined needs, a diversity of learning arenas and methods is used and where skills development influences organisational practices. The understanding of competence and learning in the strategy draws upon the literature on learning organisations (Argyris and Scön 1978, Senge 1990, Nonaka and Takeuchi 1995). This literature and the concept of learning organisation itself have been criticized for being either too vague or too normative to be useful for empirical research (Dahl mfl. 2004, Illeris 2007). For analytical purposes, we find it useful to focus on the interrelation between the organisational and the individual level and on how different organisational structures and forms of collaboration influence the learning conditions for the individual teacher and school leader.

In order to assess whether there has been a change in how skills are formed among teachers and school leaders, we will use qualitative data gathered in Fafo’s ongoing evaluation of the strategy and existing survey data from the national Learning Condtitions Monitor and from the administrative activity report system from school owners to the national educational authorities (Utdanningsdirektoratet) that has been established with the strategy. The qualitative data comes from our interviews with school owners (mainly municipalities), headmasters and teachers from 20 cases which we follow throughout the strategy period. Two reports based on parts of this material were published in 2006 and 2007 respectively (Hagen, Nyen and Hertzberg 2006, 2007). A third report focusing on how the strategy influences skills development and teaching practices will be published in May this year. The Learning Conditions Monitor (LCM) is a large national survey conducted annually within a representative sample of the population aged 22-66. It is a part of the national labour market surveys conducted by the Norwegian National Bureau of Statistics and contains data on participation in formal education and non-formal courses as well as variables related to informal learning at work. Fafo has developed the monitor and is responsible for its content (Nyen 2004, 2005, Bråthen, Nyen and Hagen 2007). The monitor can be used to assess the development of participation rates and the relative weight of various forms of skills development, including informal learning, among teachers in the period from 2003, when the LCM was established, and onwards. The administrative activity report system will be a supporting source of data on participation in various forms of education, courses and other learning activities and will add information about differences in skills development in various skills areas. Our perspective will thus be a combination of a distant bird’s eye view provided by the survey data and a closer view on how the strategy influences teacher’s skills in practise provided by the qualitative case interview data.

The third report from our evaluation of the strategy is not yet published (due May 2008). That report is the first where we directly will focus on what effect the strategy has had on teachers’ skills and practises. It is therefore too early to draw firm conclusions, especially as the analysis of the survey data remains to be done, but we expect to document an increase in participatory rates, but also a gradual shift towards more collective processes for skills formation and an increase in the use of the school as a learning arena. Whether this has led to better teaching practises will probably remain unclear. The short time span makes it difficult to document clear effects of skills development on teaching practises and the pupils’ learning. Even within the short time span of the strategy, there is a tendency that fashions come and go: schools may embrace a popular model and focus on skills development in those practises for one year, and later leave it. The schools develop in varying degrees organisational structures, routines and patterns of cooperation and collaboration that are conducive to skills development within the organisation. In the paper, we will also describe this variation, try to analyse its causes and see what effects it has on the development of skills for the individual teacher and school leader.