The case in summary Knut Sørskår has 3% visual acuity, works as a gym teacher and believes there are many ways to see a student. news has reported on several students with disabilities who are fighting for the right to study, including student teacher Frode Stenrud who is blind. The University of South-Eastern Norway refused to make arrangements for Stenrud in practice, and NAV believed he would not get a job as a teacher after completing his studies. Sørskår believes that it sends the wrong signals to blind students when adults with the same disability are kept out of the classroom. Norges Idrettshøgskole, where Sørskår received his teacher training, had no experience in facilitating blind or severely visually impaired students, but found the solution in using Sørskår’s own experiences and thoughts. Several blind teachers, including Rune Breck, react to the attitudes of the University of Southeast Norway and Nav, and believe that the problem lies at system level, not in the relationship between teacher and student. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAI. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. – The coolest thing about the job? It is to see the development of the students, says Knut Sørskår. In several places, you will be able to meet teachers with little or no sense of sight. Like at Diamanten school in Oslo, where Knut Sørskår works. – You can see a student in many different ways. After all, it’s about accommodating the student, says Sørskår. Knut Sørskår really enjoys his work as a teacher. Photo: Lykke Frida Synnøve Høyås / news He has only 3% eyesight, and works as a physical education teacher. – Being a teacher is about building a relationship with the students you are going to teach. You are not any worse at building relationships even if you are blind, he says. “Must have sight to become a teacher” Recently, news has written several cases about students with disabilities who have to fight for the right to study. Among other things, the case of student teacher Frode Stenrud, who was refused practical training because he is blind. The University of South-Eastern Norway believed they could not make arrangements for him, and that he had to have the “sense of sight” to go into practice as a teacher. Nav believed that he would not get a job as a teacher after finishing his studies anyway. Several people react to this. You see with several senses – When I read cases like the one about Frode, I get quite frustrated. But not surprised, says Sørskår. The 25-year-old works with children who are both deaf and blind on a regular basis. At Diamanten school there was never any doubt that he could become a teacher even though he is practically blind. He believes that it sends the wrong signals to pupils who are blind, when adults with the same disability are kept out of the classroom. – It is stupid if a blind teacher is not allowed to stand at the front of the classroom. Because there will be blind students in the same classrooms too, he says. NIH was skeptical Knut Sørskår did his teacher training at the Norwegian Sports Academy. Those who worked to make arrangements for him describe it as a time before and a time after Knut. At the Norwegian Sports Academy, they are today much better equipped to facilitate blind or partially sighted student teachers. Photo: Lykke Frida Synnøve Høyås / news – When we heard that a student was coming who was severely visually impaired, I suddenly had many thoughts. I remember thinking “how on earth are we going to get Knut to become a teacher?” Lars Harald Eide tells that. He is a university lecturer at the Sports Academy, and program manager for the 5-year teacher training in physical education and sports. Having Knut as a student has made a big impression on university lecturer Lars Harald Eide. Photo: Lykke Frida Synnøve Høyås / news He says that they had no experience in facilitating teacher training for the blind or severely visually impaired before this. – I thought a lot about all the challenges. Like identifying outsiders and bullying in a classroom. And how can someone who can’t see give good reviews? And what about swimming lessons? And trips?, says Eide. The solution turned out to be the student himself. – Knut was the answer. The solution was to use his experiences, his thoughts on how we should make arrangements, he says. Lars Harald Eide describes a time before and after Knut at the teacher training at NIH. Photo: Lykke Frida Synnøve Høyås / news The experiences and lessons learned from having Knut as a student remain at the NIH. – We train teachers who must be able to accommodate a large number of different students. They will meet a variety of students with different challenges. Eide thinks for a bit before he continues: – If we in teacher education are not able to facilitate for our own students, then I don’t see how we are going to be able to teach them to facilitate for their students when they become teachers themselves, he says. Helped them put the cupboard in place When the questions started to appear in the meeting with Knut, it was crucial to have more people to spar with. Lars Harald Eide and Kristin Vindhol Evensen have stood a lot in the corridor and chatted. Photo: Lykke Frida Synnøve Høyås / news Kristin Vindhol Evensen, who is both an office neighbor and head of the committee for practical arrangements, became an important supporter. Kristin Vindhol Evensen, associate professor and head of the committee for practical facilitation at NIH. Photo: Lykke Frida Synnøve Høyås / news – An argument that appears quite early on is that employees are a bit quick to say that “she will never get a job like this or that, and therefore it is not right that we should add fix it that way,” says Evensen. She says that the advice service Universall helped them understand their role better. – They helped us put the cupboard in place a bit. It is not us as a college that should decide whether our students will get a job or not. It is the learning outcome descriptions that are our agenda, she says. With the right effort, she believes it should always be possible to achieve the learning outcomes of a study. – In dialogue with the student and with flexibility from those who teach, the learning outcome descriptions can be reached almost regardless of the type of disability, says Evensen. The prejudices come from the adults There are several blind teachers who react to Stenrud’s case. Rune Breck is one of them. – “Have you considered applying for disability benefits?”. I remember that I came quite quickly from Nav when I was young and looking for jobs. That attitude still exists today, says Breck. He is 58 years old, blind and works as a media teacher. Rune Breck has worked as a teacher for nearly 20 years. Photo: Ragnhild Kallestad / news Breck did not want to go on disability benefits. He didn’t need it either. Instead, he trained to become a teacher at Østfold University College. He has worked at Sørumsand upper secondary school since 2007. – There was never any talk of me not taking teacher studies. The school questioned the fact that I was blind very little, he says. The classroom is lively when Rune Breck teaches. Photo: Ragnhild Kallestad / news Breck, who has been in the teaching profession for nearly 20 years, does not understand why Frode Stenrud should not be able to become a teacher. – I don’t understand why he shouldn’t get a job as a teacher. I would have understood if it was a helicopter pilot, but a teacher?, he says in frustration. The media teacher believes the problem does not lie in the classroom. – The prejudices I have encountered come from adults, not from the students. If there is a problem anywhere, it is at the system level. Not in the relationship between teacher and student, he says. Hi!Thanks for reading the whole thing.Do you have any thoughts to share? Do you have similar experiences? Perhaps you are burning with a story you want to tell? Send me an e-mail, I would love to hear from you. In the past, I have worked on cases such as: Published 22.11.2024, at 07.43
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USN believes that eyesight is necessary for teacher training
