A study of the relationship between pedagogical research and teacher education from 1930 to today
Views on knowledge, science, profession, and education are constantly changing. In the last century, pedagogy has experienced several epistemological shifts that were not only important for the discipline itself, but also for its role in society. During the same period, the school and teacher education have undergone several reforms.
Focusing on the pedagogy subject in the public teacher education, the project will try to shed light on the way in which pedagogy has influenced teacher education and the school. By examining documents such as syllabi, textbooks, course descriptions, curricula and the teacher education's official statements, the project will try to shed light on the changing role pedagogy has played in educating teachers for the Norwegian school system. In particular, there will be a focus on three turning points that can be dated to the 1930s, 1960s and 1990s.
The project will also try to illustrate that pedagogy, like other sciences, is not completely "objective" and detached from society. With such a perspective, it becomes clear that politics, economics, and ideology have an impact on pedagogy and the knowledge it produces.
Throughout history, pedagogical research has had different functions and has been used for different purposes by different agents and has thus played a central role in shaping teacher education, schools, and society. With this, it becomes clear that pedagogy both influences and is influenced by currents in society.
