7 Knowledge and competence

The content of the school – values and principles for education

The school shall be a generous, safe and inclusive community where pupils encounter care, experience mastery and receive support in pursuit of academic and social development. School is a place where all children and young people meet. Therefore, schools have a major responsibility, both for the pupils’ everyday lives and for the values they carry with them into life and society.

Schools have an important role in preventing racist attitudes and creating space for a diverse community. The Education Act clearly states that schools shall combat all forms of discrimination and have zero tolerance for abuses such as bullying, violence, discrimination and harassment. All pupils have the right to a good and safe school environment that promotes health, inclusion, well-being and learning. There is a close link between efforts to combat hate, racism and discrimination and efforts to create a good and safe school environment.

The curriculum establishes the frameworks for education. Throughout their education, pupils gain comprehensive knowledge about discrimination and racism and insight into democratic values. Pupils are to engage in critical thinking, adopt different perspectives, and handle differences of opinion.

Report to the Storting (white paper) No. 34 (2023–2024) En mer praktisk skole – Bedre læring , motivasjon og trivsel på 5.–10. trinn [A more practical school – Improved learning, motivation and well-being in grades 5–10]

The Government will follow up on the measures for a good and safe school environment in Report to the Storting (white paper) No. 34 (2023–2024) A more practical school – Improved learning, motivation and well-being in grades 5-10. The white paper was presented in September 2024, wherein the Government proposes several important and comprehensive measures to ensure better support for the work of developing and maintaining good and safe school environments, such as further developing digital support and guidance resources, continuing Læringsmiljøprosjektet [The Learning Environment Project], establishing school environment teams and preparing a new and comprehensive strategy for good and safe kindergarten and school environments.

Knowledge about antisemitism shall be part of the teaching in school. This is explicitly included in the subject curriculum for social studies, which states that by the end of grade 10, pupils shall be able to account for the causes and consequences of acts of terrorism and genocide, such as the Holocaust, and reflect on how extreme attitudes and actions can be prevented. Knowledge of Jewish life and culture is also included in the curriculum.

However, it may be a challenge that teachers are unable to identify antisemitic speech or actions, or that they do not take such incidents seriously enough, for various reasons. As a result, various measures have been launched to enhance teachers’ competence regarding antisemitism, the Holocaust, Judaism and Jewish culture. In 2024, the Government provided funding to the Norwegian Holocaust Centre and the Falstad Centre to facilitate their development and hosting of courses on antisemitism for teachers.

Controversial topics in schools

Democratic Preparedness against Racism, Antisemitism and Undemocratic Attitudes (Dembra) offers guidance, courses and online resources for schools and teacher training. The aim is to strengthen schools’ efforts to combat various group-focused enmities, such as prejudice, xenophobia, racism, antisemitism, Islamophobia and extremism. The website dembra.no offers exercises and subject material for teachers, student teachers and teacher training. Dembra has been developed in line with the curriculum and is available to all, free of charge.

Education on conspiracy theories in upper secondary schools

Conspiracy theories are an element of many anti-democratic ideologies and movements that have been on the rise in Europe, the U.S., and globally in recent years. Notions of hostile forces allegedly exercising control over society can contribute to declining support for democratic processes and institutions, and become an obstacle to democratic solutions rooted in genuine democratic debate. Dembra for Teacher Training is developing a research-based teaching package on conspiracy theories and conspiracy thinking aimed at upper secondary school pupils, in collaboration with centres that possess expertise on conspiracy theories (the Norwegian Holocaust Centre and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology) and teacher educators in various subjects. The teaching package will be finalised by the end of 2024 and will be made available on dembra.no.

The core values of kindergartens

The Framework plan for the content and tasks of kindergartens describes the core values of kindergartens. Kindergartens shall promote equality irrespective of gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, ethnic origin, culture, social status, language, religion and life stance. Staff members are to prevent, stop and follow up on discrimination, exclusion, bullying, abuses and negative patterns of interaction, and promote charity. The Kindergarten Act sets out the obligation to ensure that children enjoy a good and safe kindergarten environment.