PhD in Teaching and Teacher Education - PROFF

About the Programme

The Faculty of Education at Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences (INN University) has offered a PhD programme in Teaching and Teacher Education (PROFF) since 2012.

In recent decades teacher education programmes have been affected by two trends, both nationally and internationally:

1.) increased emphasis on research-based knowledge 

2.) greater emphasis on the link with the workplace

The most recent reforms of Norwegian teacher education programmes for schools and kindergartens have emphasised that these educational programmes are to be integrated, profession-oriented and based on research. Additionally, the programmes are to qualify students for research-informed professional practice. These challenges are explored in the PhD in Teaching and Teacher Education.

The PhD in Teaching and Teacher Education has its academic roots in the teacher education programmes at Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences (INN) - primary and lower secondary teacher education, practical pedagogical education, as well as the master's prgrammes in didactics of culture and language, adapted education and digital communication and culture, and in the university's research related to these study programmes (see the research area Upbringing and education).

INN has a long-standing commitment to language and culture subjects, and to interdisciplinary cooperation between Norwegian, Music, English and Pedagogy. Multicultural education is one of these important cooperation arenas. This field also includes diversity of religion and worldviews in education. The interdisciplinary cooperation between these subjects, and between topics across the kindergarten and school's work areas such as sustainability and public health, are strengthened through the PhD programme. This cooperation is thus expanded to include new schools subjects such as social studies, physical education and science.

Prospective Students

The PhD programme offers education as a researcher to candidates with subject didactic or pedagogical masters degrees, candidates who possess teacher educations with an integrated masters qualification, as well as teacher education candidates with a master's degree in, for example, English language, Nordic linguistics, Norwegian as a second language, literary studies or musicology. 

One of the primary goals of the programme is to qualify candidates to work in teacher education and other relevant higher education, and for work in kindergartens, schools and educational administration where research, development, innovation and research-based professional practice have a central position.

Components of the research training programme

Research education is standardised to three years. Work on the dissertation is standardised to 2.5 years and is carried out under supervision. PhD students are included in a research group linked to the programme. The coursework component amounts to 30 ECTS, corresponding to 6 months of work, and is meant to strengthen the work on the dissertation and provide both breadth and depth on topics and issues of research theory, research methods and research ethics.

The coursework component comprises the following main courses:

Related research areas

Andrespråksdidaktikk - nasjonale og globale perspektiver

Centre for Studies of Educational Practice (SePU)

Childhood and early years education

Corpus Linguistics (CorLing)

Diversity in Education (DivE)

Kulturorientert musikkpedagogikk

Kvalitet i høyere utdanning

Litteratur og litterasitet

Matematikkdidaktikk

Nordisk litteratur

Schools, learning, physical activity and mental health

Språk og samfunn

Studies in Professional Development, Learning and Policy (SPLP)

Read more

You will find more information on the programme in the Programme Plan and other central documents in the box to the right. The Programme Plan includes information on learning outcomes described in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence. For information on the various phases in completing the programme - from admission to defense of the thesis, please read the PhD Handbook.

Norwegian National Research School in Teacher Education

Approximately a third of the students on our programme (PROFF) are also admitted to the Norwegian National Research School in Teacher Education, a network headed by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).