PhD Fellowship in Better Provision for Norway’s Children from Early Childhood Education and Care through Primary School [BeProS]

The Faculty of Education and International Studies announces two Ph.D. scholarships affiliated with the project "Better Provision for Norway's Children from Early Childhood Education and Care through Primary School [BeProS]" funded by the Research Council of Norway. The scholarships are funded as 100% positions for three years. The positions are vacant from 01.09.2021. Read more about the faculty here.

BeProS is a follow-up study of the long-term final project "Better Reservations for Norwegian Children in Early Childhood Education and Care" [GoBaN] (see: www.goban.no). The aim of the BeProS study is to investigate how conditions during the first years of life predict children's further development in school. In the GoBaN study, we followed 1,200 children throughout Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC), and in the BeProS project, the same children will be followed up in primary school. The BeProS project gives us the opportunity to investigate the correlation between the quality of children’s early childhood experiences, both in ECEC and their home learning environment, and their literacy skills (reading, arithmetic and writing skills) in primary school. The advertised Ph.D. scholarships are linked to the following two work packages in the project: 1) Identification and measurement of children's writing skills, and 2) Children's academic achievements in reading and numeracy skills. The Ph.D. candidates who are offered these scholarship positions will be affiliated with the Department of Primary and Secondary Teacher Education. The scholarships are for 3-year, full-time positions. The academic work must result in a doctoral dissertation that must be defended at the Faculty in order to obtain the doctoral degree.

Applicants are required to develop a research proposal that must be submitted with the application. The proposal must be linked to one of the two work package areas. More information and the proposal template are found here. Interested applicants should contact the project coordinator: Professor Elisabeth Bjørnestad elbjo@oslomet.no, 67237419. The Faculty of Education and International Studies will hold a research proposal seminar with information and advice on how to develop a research proposal digitally via zoom on March 3rd, 2021 at 3.00-4.30pm. Those interested in attending this seminar should register via the following link:https://nettskjema.no/a/181430
The deadline for registration is March 1st.

More details about the two work package areas are found below:

Early Childhood Education and Care’s (ECEC) impact on young students' writing skills (work package 2).
Writing is defined as an interdisciplinary skill in primary school, and in today's school, students are supposed to write in all subjects. Writing is both analogue and digital, and it is multimodal. The aim of this Ph.D. scholarship is to examine selected aspects, such as communicative quality, content, text structure, language use, spelling and punctuation, and use of analogue or digital media for writing, of pupils' writing skills in the 4th and 5th grades. The Ph.D. candidate is encouraged to link quality criteria like these to the quality of the pupils’ previous ECEC and home environment. The data collected from the schools will be both analogue and digital texts written in various subjects. However, the Ph.D. candidate can collect data herself/himself, provided it is limited to the project's existing selection of pupils.
Contact person: Margareth Sandvik, margares@oslomet.no, 67237509.

Early Childhood Education and Care’s impact on children’s academic achievements in reading and arithmetic, grade 4 and 5 (work package 3):
In ECEC, the foundation is laid for children's further development and learning. The aim of this Ph.D. position is to investigate the significance of the quality of the ECEC and the home environment for children’s further development in school (4th and 5th grade). National and international studies show that there are quite large differences in reading and arithmetic skills among Norwegian children. It is therefore important that this Ph.D. project increases our knowledge about what contributes to the development of pupils' reading and numeracy skills. International studies show that the quality of ECEC is one important factor for the development of later academic skills. In this study, a selection of children from kindergarten through the 5th grade of primary school is followed. Information about the quality of the ECEC, language tests of the children at 3 and 5 years, as well as how the children and their parents perceived the quality of the ECEC at kindergarten age, is already available. During the project, information about what characterizes these children's reading and arithmetic skills in 4th and 5th grade will be gathered. The data from the schools will consist of an arithmetic test, a word chain tests, the national mapping tests and national tests in reading and arithmetic.
Contact persons: Ove Edvard Hatlevik, ovedha@oslomet.no or Elin Kirsti Lie Reikerås, elin.reikeraas@uis.no, 51833451.

Read about the Department of Primary and Secondary Teacher Education here and the Research groups SAMBA or Research and Development Work on the Lower Primary Level With a Focus on Initial Education

Qualifications and terms:

• Successful applicants must have completed a master’s degree (equivalent to 120 credits) with a grade B or better, and with a background in teacher education or educational psychology, other educational sciences or other relevant education at a similar level. Foreign diplomas must be translated into English by the degree-conferring institution. Education taken abroad should be recognised in advance by NOKUT, and an authorized copy of the letter of recognition should be enclosed.
• Admission to the Ph.D. programme in Educational Sciences for Teacher Education is a prerequisite.
• A final project plan for the scholarship period is required, completed and acknowledged within three months after accession.
• Successful applicants must have good written and oral communication skills in a Scandinavian language and English.
• Applicants to workpackage 2 need to communicate a high degree of written and oral competency in one of the Scandinavian languages.
• It is advisible for applicants to workpackage 3 to have statistical skills.

When assessing and ranking the qualified applicants emphasis will be placed on:

• The scientific quality of the project description, including originality and potential
• The project's feasibility within the standard period (three years)
• The relevance of the project description to the overall project to which the PhD proposal is linked (cf. the overview above)
• Attached scientific work
• Other relevant publications
• Experience from previous research activities and project participation
• Personal traits

Desired qualifications:

• Motivation and potential in the field of research
• Personal qualities that, among other things, show the ability to complete tasks
• Ability to work independently and in collaboration with other researchers, as well as the ability to be innovative and creative
• Ability to work systematically
• Capacity to work under pressure

Oslo Metropolitan University strives to ensure that our employees reflect the diversity of the population of the region. We work continuously to further develop Oslo Metropolitan University as an inclusive workplace, and to adapt the workplace if required. We welcome applications from all qualified candidates, also those who have experienced periods without work, education or training.

We offer:

• An exciting job opportunity at Norway’s third largest university
• Participation in an established doctoral program and a research group where the project is located.
• Beneficial pension arrangements with the Norwegian State Pension Fund
• Good employee welfare arrangements
• Working location in downtown Oslo with multiple cultural offers

Other information:

For more information about the position, please contact:
• Professor and Head of Studies, Ingeborg Krange, telephone 67237071, E-mail ingeborg.krange@oslomet.no
• Professor, Ph.D. and project coordinator, Kristin Walseth, telephone 67237301, E-mail kriwa@oslomet.no

For more information about the BeProS study or access to the project description, please contact the leader of the project:
• Professor, Elisabeth Bjørnestad, telephone 67237419, email elbjo@oslomet.no

The salary for the position is in accordance with the pay scale for Norwegian state employees, Ph.D. and position code 1017. State salary wage scale 54, 482 200,- NOK per year.

In order to apply for the position, please apply electronically by clicking the "Apply here" button on this page.

Expert evaluation:

An expert committee will assess the applicants. The following documents must be uploaded with your application by the final date for applications:
• CV, references and all pages of certificates/diplomas. The certificates/diplomas must include ECTS grades (A–F). Foreign diplomas must be translated into English by the degree-conferring institution. Education taken abroad should preferably be recognised in advance by NOKUT, and a confirmed copy of the letter of recognition should be enclosed.
• Project description: maximum of 10 pages. The project description must be written in English or a Scandinavian language.
• Your master's degree/second degree thesis (and any other scholarly work that the expert committee is to take into consideration) and a list of publications, if relevant
All of these documents must be uploaded. Original documents must be presented if you are invited for an interview. Oslo Metropolitan University performs document inspections in order to give you as a candidate a proper evaluation and ensure fair competition.

If you have documents that cannot be uploaded electronically, Heidi Hertzberg Wold hbakkeli@oslomet.no

Please note that incomplete applications will not be considered. The application must state your reasons for applying to the project and what makes you particularly qualified to carry out this Ph.D. work.