PhD Fellow in Subject Didactics

About the position

At Institutt for lærerutdanning og pedagogikk (ILP), Fakultet for humaniora, samfunnsvitenskap og lærerutdanning (HSL), there is a vacant position in subject didactics (history didactics, religious didactics, or social studies didactics) regarding Sami and/or Kven themes in school and teacher education. Applicants must specify their academic focus in the application.

The PhD fellowship is a training position with the goal of completing research training up to a doctoral degree. Admission to a doctoral program is a prerequisite for employment, and the study period begins upon commencement of the position.

The position is for a period of 3 years and involves full-time PhD studies with the possibility of an extension through a completion grant. If the doctoral thesis is submitted within the standard study period of 3 years or within 3.5 years, the fellow qualifies for a completion grant of 12 or 6 months, respectively. The completion grant shall be used for qualification-promoting measures, including university pedagogical courses, teaching, and other tasks at the faculty. More about the completion grant scheme can be found here.

The place of work is UiT in Tromsø. You must be able to start the position within a reasonable time after receiving an offer.

About the theme and affiliation with the research group

The position is linked to the research group Fagdidaktikk for humaniora i nordområdene (FAHUMNO). The research group works broadly with research within the humanities and social sciences, particularly related to Sami and Kven themes. This connects to a broader theme regarding indigenous peoples and national minorities in school and teacher education.

The report from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (Stortinget 2023, p. 614, 652) established that there is still a great need for knowledge about Sami and Kven people in Norwegian society. The need concerns general knowledge of Sami and Kven people, their culture and history, as well as their democratic opportunities and rights based on the Norwegian state's obligations related to the ratification of international conventions on indigenous peoples and national minorities. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission attributes a great responsibility to the school and education system in this regard.

The PhD candidate is expected to contribute to the knowledge frontier regarding perspectives on indigenous peoples and national minorities for school and teacher education, and particularly Sami and Kven themes. The project is expected to contribute to the development of subject didactic perspectives for relevant subjects in school and teacher education.

The position's research area

The PhD position is intended to be particularly linked to questions of how teachers relate to themes regarding indigenous peoples and national minorities as part of their practical and overarching professional competence. The project can be linked to primary/lower secondary school, upper secondary school, and/or teacher education.

Several questions and focuses are relevant for the position. Examples of questions may be:

• How are structural anchoring and practical teaching in social studies facilitated for teachers' competence related to themes regarding Sami and national minorities?
• How do teachers articulate their own competence and need for competence development in light of their own practice?
• How do teachers and/or teacher educators assess the school's strategies and their own competence as part of the reconciliation work emphasized by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission?

The PhD project can be carried out based on various research designs. Text analyses / document analyses, and other qualitative and quantitative methods can be applied.

Theoretical perspectives may vary between different academic disciplines. We are open to the possibility that theoretical perspectives may vary between history didactics, religious didactics, and social studies didactics, or an interdisciplinary orientation. It will nonetheless be natural for the project to some extent relate to decolonial perspectives and/or perspectives related to indigenous education. Following the introduction of Fagfornyelsen (LK20) and the strengthening of Sami themes in the curricula, there is an increasing need for research that examines how the school understands, practices, and communicates Sami knowledge and perspectives.

In the application and the project description, applicants are encouraged to specify their academic orientation (history didactics, religious didactics, or social studies didactics) or argue for an interdisciplinary approach to the project.

Applicants must submit a project outline providing the academic basis for the doctoral project. The project outline should be 3-5 pages, including literature references. It must contain a description of the theme, research questions, and a justification for the choices made. It should also describe which methods will be used. The final project outline will be developed in collaboration with the supervisor. It is important that the applicant has an appropriate background and is motivated to work on the project. A template for the project outline can be found here (bokmål)/here (nynorsk).

Contact

More information about the position can be obtained from professor and research group leader for FAHUMNO, Bengt-Ove Andreassen:

• telephone: 77660469
• e-mail: bengt.ove.andreassen@uit.no

Qualifications

Necessary qualifications:

• Master's degree in history, religious studies, sociology, political science, or another relevant master's. Documented completion of a master's degree is a condition for commencing the position. You may still apply if you have not yet received your master's diploma, but the master's thesis must be submitted for assessment by the application deadline. You must attach the master's thesis and transcripts from the degree to the application.
• Good knowledge of English. Nordic applicants can document this with transcripts from upper secondary school.

Desirable qualifications:

• Approved teacher education (primary/lower secondary teacher education, lektor 8-13, or PPU) with a subject didactic focus in the master's subject.
• Documented knowledge of indigenous peoples and national minorities, including particularly Sami and Kven themes.
• Proficiency in Sami and/or Kven (Finnish) language is an advantage.

In the assessment, emphasis will be placed on the applicant's potential to complete research training based on the master's thesis or equivalent, and any other scientific works. The project description will also be taken into account. Additionally, professional practice and other experience of significance for the completion of the doctoral studies will be considered.

In the evaluation, we will also emphasize personal suitability and motivation for the position. We are looking for candidates who, among other things, have:

• Good collaborative skills
• Abilities for good communication and interaction with colleagues and students
• Abilities and desire to contribute to a good working environment

As many as possible should be given the opportunity to undergo research training. If you have already obtained a doctoral degree or have equivalent competence, you are not eligible for employment in this position.

Admission to the PhD program

For employment as a PhD fellow, it is a prerequisite that you are admitted to the PhD program at Fakultet for humaniora, samfunnsvitenskap og lærerutdanning and that you participate in organized doctoral studies during the employment period.

Admission normally requires that the applicant has:

• A Bachelor's degree of 180 ECTS and a Master's degree of 120 ECTS, or an integrated Master's degree of 300 ECTS.
• A Master's thesis with a scope equivalent to 30 ECTS or more if the applicant has a Master's degree of 120 ECTS.
• A Master's thesis with a scope equivalent to 20 ECTS or more if the applicant has an integrated Master's degree of 300 ECTS.

To be admitted, a grade point average equivalent to a B or better in the Master's degree is required. The grade point average also applies to integrated 5-year Master's programs where all subjects are included in the calculation. A more detailed description of admission requirements can be found here.

If you meet the admission requirements and are employed in the position, you will simultaneously receive provisional admission to the PhD program. The application for final admission must be submitted no later than two months after commencing the position.

For applicants with an international educational background, it will be assessed whether the education is equivalent to Norwegian higher education at the Master's level. The assessment follows national approval practices; see Direktoratet for høyere utdanning og kompetanse. Applicants with education from certain countries must have more higher education to meet the admission requirements, for example, a 4-year Bachelor's and a 2-year Master's. UiT normally approves foreign higher education from countries that have ratified the Lisbon Convention.

Inclusive working life and diversity

UiT The Arctic University of Norway has a personnel policy goal to be an employer that reflects the diversity of society and utilizes the potential in the population's collective competence. We believe that inclusion and diversity are a strength and desire employees with different competencies, combinations of subjects, life experiences, and perspectives.

If you have a disability, gaps in your CV, or an immigrant background, we encourage you to check these boxes in the job application portal. If there are qualified applicants, we call in at least one from each group for an interview, and if you get the job, we will make arrangements for you if you need them. Beyond selecting the right candidates, we do not use the checkboxes for anything other than anonymized statistics. Read more in the Employer Portal: arbeidsgiver.difi.no/positivsaerbehandling

We offer

• Good career opportunities
• A good working environment with dedicated colleagues
• Good welfare schemes
• Good pension, insurance, and loan schemes in Statens pensjonskasse
• PhD fellows normally receive 550,800 NOK in annual salary with a 3% increase per year
• Opportunity to apply for a grant for a longer research stay abroad

The application

Please note that the application is only assessed based on the information submitted by the application deadline via Jobbnorge. It is therefore important that you attach all necessary documents demonstrating your qualifications for the position.

Your application must include:

• A cover letter describing your research interests and motivation for the position. Applicants must specify their academic focus in the application.
• CV
• Official diplomas for Bachelor's and Master's degrees in the original language
• Official transcripts for Bachelor's and Master's degrees in the original language
• Official translation of diplomas and transcripts into English or a Scandinavian language, if applicable
• An explanation of the grading system for foreign education (Diploma Supplement if available)
• Documentation of English language proficiency
• 2-3 references with contact information
• The Master's thesis, and any other scientific works
• Project description (3-5 pages)

Documented completion of a Master's degree is a condition for commencing the position. You may still apply if you have not yet received your Master's diploma, but the Master's thesis must be submitted for assessment by the application deadline. You must attach the Master's thesis and transcripts from the degree to the application.

All documentation to be assessed must be in a Scandinavian language or English. If documentation of English language proficiency is missing at the time of application, it must be documented before commencement.

Assessment

Applicants will be assessed by an expert committee. The committee's mandate is to conduct an assessment of the applicants' qualifications based on the application documents and the announcement text. All applicants will receive a copy of the expert committee's assessment.

Applicants deemed to be the most qualified will be called for an interview. The interview will, among other things, clarify personal suitability and motivation for the position.

General information

Employment is subject to the rules and conditions that apply to state employees at any given time, and guidelines at UiT. On our website, you can find more information for applicants to positions at UiT.

A PhD fellowship position is remunerated according to the state regulations, code 1017. A 2% contribution to Statens pensjonskasse will be deducted from the salary. You will become a member of Statens pensjonskasse, which provides many benefits in addition to lifelong old-age pension and AFP: You may be entitled to financial support if you become ill or disabled, your family may be entitled to financial support when you die, you are insured against occupational injury or disease, and you receive good terms on home loans. Read more about your employee benefits at: spk.no.

A shorter employment period may be granted if the fellow has already completed parts of their research training program, or when the employment is based on previous employment in a training position, so that the total time for research training becomes three years.

Personal data provided is processed in accordance with the Act on the Processing of Personal Data. Applicants may request not to be listed on the public applicant list, but the university may nonetheless decide that the applicant's name shall be made public. The applicant will then be notified prior to publication.

About the employer:

UiT The Arctic University of Norway is an internationally leading broad-based university. Our vision is to be a driving force in the North. The North Sami concept *eallju*, which means industriousness, sets the tone for the driving force at UiT. Together with students, employees, and society at large, we shall utilize our location in Northern Norway and Sápmi, our academic breadth, and our interdisciplinary advantages to shape the future.

UiT has approximately 18,000 students, more than 4,000 employees, and is established on four main campuses and seven other study locations in Northern Norway and on Svalbard. Our largest campuses are Tromsø, Alta, Narvik, and Harstad. UiT has seven faculties, 40 institutes and centers, and leading research environments within various disciplines. The university has 269 study programs and focuses on educational quality.

Academic freedom, scientific, and research ethics principles form the basis for all of UiT's activities. Participation, co-determination, openness, and good processes shall provide the decision-making basis we need to make wise and forward-looking priorities. Our students and employees shall have the opportunity to develop their abilities and potential. Founded on scientific integrity, we shall be brave, engaged, and generous - close to the subject, the people, and contemporary developments.

Read more about UiT's strategy towards 2030