S2E7: Lene Løge Almqvist on Primary School for Adults at Oslo Rosenhof VO

While its primary mandate of the Oslo Primary School for Adults is to provide education, Lene Løge Almqvist, who heads the school wonders how curriculum can be tweaked to respond to other needs of the student such as offering alternative pathways for learning for some students or prepare more integrated learning activities that can be helpful for students who may be interested in using their education to find a job rather than pursue higher learning. In this regard, Almqvist revealed that the school office in Oslo is presently discussing possibilities to create several pathways in adult education by creating specialized programs within the primary school for adults to make learning outcomes more relevant for each participant. One of the programs will specialize in preparing students for further education, another program directed towards work skills education, and the third that will be directed towards being an active citizen participating in their local community all within fulfilling the primary school obligations as a state-funded educational institution. At the moment, Almqvist thinks that the curriculum that the primary school for adults is not flexible enough to respond to the needs of adult learners and sees the need to “widen the focus of the curriculum” to include the knowledge and skills and competencies that the students “need to be active citizens and gain control over their own lives to obtain the competencies.” She stressed that the adult education school is facing a lot of structural and organizational challenges that hinder flexibility that a voice needs to be raised to point out how some participants are actually falling between different chairs, and figure out how to help them by adjusting the system to ensure that fewer people fall through the cracks. About European Initiatives For An Inclusive Society: The Oslo Desk was invited to contribute to a third study visit of the Family+ project in Oslo under a three-day conference between 11th and 13th March. The project aims to overcome the social exclusion of families through family education and empowerment activities, adapted to the needs of the disadvantaged and migrant families. Therefore the conference is part of exchanging knowledge and practices between Germany, Sweden and Norway. However, the conference was cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak and lockdown measures. In collaboration with Oslo VO Rosenhof, an adult learning centre, and funded by Erasmus plus programme of the European Union, are we able to produce a podcast season and series of articles. Podcast cover by Ka Man Mak and Kriti Thepade.   Text by Macel Ingles Podcast production by Ka Man Mak and Alex Whateley.   Articles by Maria Cecelia Ingles Read articles: www.oslodesk.com