Associate Professor (førsteamanuensis/førstelektor) for the Kindergartens and Early Childhood Education Programmes of the Future – up to five permanent positions - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

There are vacancies for up to five permanent full-time positions at the Department of Early Childhood Education at the Faculty of Education and International Studies from the 1st of August 2019. 

The Department of Early Childhood Education has approximately 2.000 students and 115 academic staff members and is based in Pilestredet in the centre of Oslo. The department offers a Bachelor’s Programme in Early Childhood Education and Care, a Master's Programme in Early Childhood Education and Care, a Ph.D. Programme in Educational Sciences for Teacher Education, and various continuing and further education courses and programmes. The department collaborates extensively with kindergartens and other institutions of relevance to our work.  

Learn more about the faculty and the department here and about our research groups here. 

The positions require an understanding of the diversity of big cities, the conditions under which children grow up, and the role of kindergartens in a welfare state. Candidates must be knowledgeable about children and childhood, kindergartens as learning organisations, and kindergartens’ responsibilities with regard to including all children. A major part of the position will consist of duties related to the strategic programme ‘Kompetanse for fremtidens barnehage’ (‘Competency for Kindergartens of the Future’) – in Norwegian only: https://www.udir.no/kvalitet-og-kompetanse/kompetansestrategi-barnehage/  

The department is seeking employees who value interdisciplinary and inter-professional collaboration and who enjoy working in an organisation that appreciates involvement and a willingness to take responsibility. The candidates we are looking for must have good knowledge of and experience with the work and mission of kindergartens and must be comfortable with duties in the professional field as well as on campus. We appreciate experience with, and require the use of, digital learning resources.  

Duties:

• Teach and supervise at the Bachelor's, Master’s and Ph.D. levels and, if relevant, in continuing and further education programmes
• Perform tasks specified by contracts related to the strategic programme ‘Kompetanse for fremtidens barnehage’
• Follow up students in periods of fieldwork and participate in collaborative partnerships with early childhood centres
• Contribute to further development of the department’s courses and study programmes, and of the department’s academic community
• Coordinate, collaborate, plan and evaluate, both within the department and with external partners
• Carry out research and development work
• Participate in the development of major research projects and of applications for external funding together with colleagues
• Collaborate with national and international research partners
• Fulfil service responsibilities to the department, university and profession

The profile of the faculty is teacher education and the faculty emphasises profession-oriented research and development work. It is important that the appointed candidate be willing to focus on research that is relevant to professional practice. 

Qualification requirements:

• To be appointed to a position of Associate Professor (førsteamanuensis), a candidate must have a Ph.D. degree in Educational Science, Psychology, Social Science, Special Education, or another field of similar relevance to the position.
• To be appointed to a position of Associate Professor (førstelektor), a candidate must have a graduate degree meeting requirements at least equivalent to that of a Master’s degree as specified by NOKUT (https://www.nokut.no/en/foreign-education/nokuts-criteria-for-general-recognition-of-foreign-higher-education/ and in addition document research and development work corresponding, in quality and scope, to that required for a doctorate degree in any of the fields of Educational Science, Psychology, Social Science, Special Education, or another field of similar relevance to the position. 

The position also requires:

• documented expertise in one or more of the areas of competence named in the strategy document ‘Kompetanse for fremtidens barnehage’
• experience with teaching and/or supervision in contexts relevant to the field of Early Childhood Education 

If there are not sufficiently many appropriately qualified applicants to fill all five vacant positions with persons meeting the requirements for the title of Associate Professor (førsteamanuensis/ førstelektor), applicants may be appointed to the position of Assistant Professor (“universitetslektor”). This will primarily be an option for applicants who have started the process of qualifying for an Associate Professor position. 

• To be appointed to a position as an Assistant Professor (“universitetslektor”), a candidate must have completed a Master’s degree (or equivalent) from a university, university college or equivalent in Educational Science, Psychology, Social Science, Special Education, or another field of similar relevance to the position. NOKUT specifies the requirements of a degree at this level in Norway: https://www.nokut.no/en/foreign-education/nokuts-criteria-for-general-recognition-of-foreign-higher-education/ 

The applicant must be able to document relevant teaching qualifications. Applicants who are unable to document basic teaching qualifications upon appointment, must achieve such qualifications within two years. OsloMet offers a programme in University Pedagogy (UHPED) that meets this requirement. 

In the assessment and ranking of qualified applicants, emphasis will be placed on:

• Research and development work of relevance to the field of Early Childhood Education, with particular emphasis on publications from the past six years
• Management experience, including responsibility for building competency in a unit or organisation
• Experience with research networks and externally funded projects
• candidate’s potential for project acquisition
• Experience with teaching at the Bachelor and Master levels
• Experience with supervision at various levels
• Teaching skills
• Experience with process supervision and with managing reflection and development processes
• The ability to motivate and inspire
• Experience with student-active and digital learning tools
• Good digital skills
• The ability to communicate well and cooperate with students and colleagues
• The ability to take initiative and assume responsibility, as well as to work independently and in a structured manner
• Personal qualities that can make positive contributions to the working environment
• Good oral and written presentation skills in a Scandinavian language and English Applicants whose first language is not one of the Scandinavian languages must document both oral and written language skills. 

General criteria for appointments to academic posts are found in the Regulations for appointment and promotion to academic posts.

OsloMet will test teaching qualifications in connection with interviews.  

It is important that OsloMet to reflect the population of our region. All qualified candidates are welcome to apply. We make active endeavours to further develop OsloMet as an inclusive workplace and to adapt the workplace if required. 

Application process:

Applicants must upload the following documents together with the application before the deadline:

• Application letter
• CV
• References and all pages of certificates and diplomas
• A complete list of publications
• Up to 10 scholarly works and an overview of them
• 2 references with contact information 

The documents must be in a Scandinavian language or English. Translations must be government authorised, and originals must be presented in connection with interviews. OsloMet checks documents in order to give candidates a proper evaluation and ensure fair competition. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

Applicants will be assessed by an expert committee. All applications will be reviewed by the faculty before the application papers are forwarded to the expert committee. Applications from applicants who are not qualified, will not be forwarded for assessment.

If you have documents that cannot be uploaded electronically, please contact: Ingrid Andvin Tsolakis iats@oslomet.no 

We offer:

• Interesting and challenging tasks in an active and diverse academic environment
• Close collaboration with kindergartens and other providers of Early Childhood Education and Care
• Opportunities for professional development and participation in exciting research groups 
• Time for profession-oriented research and development work
• Loan and pension arrangements with the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund
• Good welfare arrangements 

Other information:
For more information about the position, please contact: 

• Head of Programme Ulrika Oterholm, tel. (+47) 959 39 668 

The salary for the position is in accordance with the pay scale for state employees: The annual salary for position code 1011 (Associate Professor, førsteamanuensis)/position code 1198 (Associate Professor, førstelektor) is NOK 524,200–658,300. The annual salary for position code 1009 (Assistant Professor, universitetslektor) is NOK 442,400–586,500. A higher salary may be considered for particularly well-qualified applicants. A contribution of 2% to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund is deducted from the salary. 

If you wish to apply for the position, please apply electronically by clicking the button at the bottom of the page.  

OsloMet has implemented the Charter & Code and has been certified to use the HR Excellence in Research (HRS4R) logo by the European Commission.  

OsloMet is a member of the EU Researchers in Motion network Euraxess