– One of the tools we “pass” and can use is to not register as an examiner, says Stina Marie Rustad.
This is to highlight dissatisfaction after the teachers’ strike that led to a forced pay committee, says Rustad, who worked in the secondary school in the municipality of Hamar for three years.
– We teachers are only asked to do more and more work, with nothing happening with pay or with changes in job descriptions, says Rustad.
Do not give up
After there was also a new plan for teachers, Rustad believes there will be a lot more work for which teachers won’t be rewarded.
Exam work is extra work, even if teachers are paid for it, Rustad says. The last thing he wants now is to take on more work.
– This is precisely what we have tried to highlight in the teachers’ strike. We have to do more and more at the same time, with the same salary.
More teachers want to do this boycott in solidarity and to show that they are not giving up, he says.
– we will “hit” further.
The government stopped the teachers’ strike
Freddy de Ruiter is a former politician and now a trustee of the Education Association.
He says KS (the municipal sector employer and interest organization) and county councils can’t expect teachers to take on extra duties year after year. In the wake of the teachers’ strike, urge teachers to respond politely.
– If this continues, there will be a strike every year. Now teachers need to be stricter and say “sorry, but if you don’t want to deliver, you can’t expect it,” Ruiter says.
He believes this is a completely natural consequence and says he fully understands that teachers are now sending a signal that they have more than enough with the homework they already have.
– There is a lot of frustration and despair, says Ruiter.
Note that the atmosphere among the teachers is bad and that changes are needed.
– The employer must understand that teachers mean it. Along the way, they must be willing to break some eggs to make that omelette.
By this he means that teachers may have to make unpopular choices.
– This is not the responsibility of the employee, but of the employer. In the end it’s about the students. If this is not cleaned up, they are the ones who will suffer.
“Totally full of shit”
Tor Thorvaldsen is a lecturer at St. Svithun High School in Stavanger and is a doctoral student at UiS.
That several teachers have to boycott the role of examiner for written and oral exams, he believes, is “absurd”.
WILL NOT BOICO: Tor Thorvaldsen will not boycott the exam assignment and believes teachers should rather use the right to strike. Photo: private
sea View
– First, it’s not about KS, who was our counterpart during the strike, but the county governor. KS has nothing to do with the exam.
– Secondly, the school has undergone a new reform. This means that spring 2023 will be the first year of scrutiny after the reform is implemented, Thorvaldsen says.
– We need information on how development work is going with the new reform. This is where the exam can help us and the students.
Thorvaldsen believes that teachers should rather show that they are doing a professional and good job. Although the right to strike has been weakened, it is still the clearest measure to get more resources for the school, he says.
– Young people should not feel that it is enough to scream louder or find other creative methods to win. It would be below the dignity of teachers not to act according to the rules of working life.
– I can’t stand any more
It will not boycott the exam
Cristina Mendijon will also not boycott the exam. She is a teacher at St. Olav Upper Secondary School in Sarpsborg and she finds being a national examiner both instructive and helpful.
Plus, being an examiner is almost the only opportunity for a teacher to earn extra money, he says.
– We lost two years during the pandemic. This is a lot of money that teachers have lost and nobody talks about.
Mendijon stresses that teachers need to prepare students for the future and believes the boycott of the exam is blocking the future situation for students who need these grades.
She herself was not selected as an examiner this year.
– It is a pity that this time I was not chosen, but I am ready if anyone needs it.
Really unfortunate
In a Facebook group for teachers, questions were asked about who will refuse to apply as an examiner in the spring. Out of 47 comments, 32 answered yes.
– It is mainly students who are affected if teachers boycott exam assignments, says Kristin Holm Jensen, director of the department for education, culture and education at KS.
He says it will be very unfortunate, as students have already been affected by both the pandemic and the teachers’ strike.
– It is important that everyone follows the rules of working life and adheres to the framework we have for both negotiations and conflict resolution, says Jensen and adds:
– We have good traditions in Norwegian working life to find solutions even when we disagree and without this affecting third parties more than necessary.
Don’t ask for a boycott
It wasn’t the Education Association that called for a boycott of examiner posts, says Steffen Handal, head of the Education Association. He says that examiners do very important work and encourages teachers who have the ability to sign up as examiners.
FRUSTRATED: Steffen Handal is a leader of the Education Association and understands that many teachers are now frustrated. Photo: Eddanningsforbundet
sea View
– At the same time, we understand that many teachers are now frustrated that the value of teacher training through teacher strike has been tried to be trivialized by KS, Handal says and adds:
– It is up to each individual teacher to assess whether they have the opportunity to take on a challenging additional task in the midst of a busy time of the year.
However, Handal feels the sensor work takes time and is too badly paid. Written exam examiners do not receive overtime wages and, in addition, lower hourly wages than they normally receive.
– Decisive
Director of the department at the Directorate of Education, Per Kristian Larsen-Evjen, is aware of the concern that some teachers say they do not want to participate as examiners.
Since there has not been a student exam for four years, the first meetings are already underway for teachers who will be examiners in the spring.
– Teachers’ efforts as examiners are crucial, says Evjen.
He says there are many teachers who want to be examiners and who see its value for their own assessment practice.
– We are particularly happy about that. The student deserves to be demonstrated his competence in the exam and this requires qualified teachers able to evaluate the answers.
