Regulation in practice The Norwegian Directorate for Education

Regulation in practice The Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training Mr Lasse Arntsen May 15 th 2017 1

At this session you will learn about • establishing learning arenas for government officials, involving local school leaders and administrators • communicating legislation through networks and dialogue rather than traditional one-way information • developing dissemination activity and online information more according to the needs of schools 2

Primary and secondary education in Norway • National level: The Ministry of Education and Research The Directorate for education and training • County Governors • County level: The upper secondary school/high school • Local level: Primary school 3

«We live beyond the law!» «The royal family and the currency are the only thing we have in common with the rest of the country!» 4

Regulation in practice: Main objective «It is difficult to understand the regulation articles» (principal) What? Provide better support and guidance to those who have the task of enforcing the rules at the local level Why? For our pupils to obtain an equal and safe education of high quality How? By strengthening our own competence at the national level

Objective 1: User orientation We want to enhance the Directorate and County Governor’s employees’ ability to offer high quality support to school leaders and school owners, through close cooperation and dialogue with the education sector. 6

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What did we do? • Professional learning arenas • Interviews and workshops • Stakeholder membership in project groups 8

Municipalities about their participation 5. 5 5. 6 5. 3 It felt positive being asked to participate in "Regulation in practice" 5. 3 5. 4 5. 1 I would gladly participate again 0 All School owners 2 4 School leaders Source: Agency for Public Management and e. Government, Norway (2017) 9 6

Municipalities about user orientation To be able to help us to comply with regulation, the County Governor and the Directorate must have good insight and understanding of the local school- and school owner's everyday challenges It is crucial that the County Governor and the Directorate involve municipalities in activity designing They should clearly do more of this All School owners School leaders 5. 7 5. 8 5. 7 5. 6 5. 7 5. 5 5. 3 1 3 5 Source: Agency for Public Management and e. Government, Norway (2017) 10

National level about user orientation Insight and knowledge of the local school- and school owner everyday is a precondition for us to be able to provide sufficient support 5. 6 5. 5 It is of great importance that our regulation activities include user orientation 5. 4 Listening to and discussing with representatives from the local level strengthened my knowledge about local level 4. 8 4. 5 Because of my participation in "Regulation in practice", I will put more emphasize on user orientation 4. 6 4. 5 4. 8 All County Governor Directorate 0 2 5 4 Source: Agency for Public Management and e. Government, Norway (2017) 6 11

«Listening to the principal describing how her school worked systematically and preventive, made it easier for me to see how the regulation can be complied. This became a meaningful day for me, of great importance for my inspection routines and practice. » (Directorate employee) 12

«The seminars have involved school leaders and school owners in common thinking, design and trial of new routines and practices – leading to ownership, positivity and understanding. » (County Governor employee) 13

User orientation: Difficulties encountered Involving school leaders and school owners in interactive working methods at the learning arenas, led to a new challenge: Employees from the Directorate and the County Governor could not plan all details as they were used to, and common exercise of discretion was part of the group work. An unaccustomed role for many… 14

Objective 2: Coordination and context We want to enhance Directorate and County Governor coordination and common understanding of regulation issues We want to clarify the connection between the regulation’s articles and the Education Act’s objects clause 15

Vertical and horizontal coordination Directorate departments Project groups and activities Legal School development 17 governor offices in Norway County Governors Municipalities: Teachers, school leaders and school owners 16

What did we do? • Horizontal and vertical coordination emphasised when establishing project groups • Project activities: Mix participants as much as possible • Steering group with representatives from County Governors and all Directorate divisions 17

National level about collaboration Collaboration between the Directorate and the County Governors are strengthening common understanding Equal and common gatherings for employees from the Directorate and the County Governors have increased learning outcome The project has contributed to better understanding of the context between regulation and educational issues "Regulation in practice" has contributed to better coordination at my workplace All County Governor Directorate 0 2 4 18 Source: Agencyforfor. Public. Managementand ande. Government, Norway(2017) 6

«Much too often we work in silos within the Directorate, thus we have problems communicating the context between the regulation articles. Then we cannot expect the municipalities to know these contexts by themselves. » (Directorate employee) 19

Coordination and context: Difficulties encountered The 17 County Governors, spread all over the country, are independent authorities with their own historic traditions. Although they receive identic assignments from the Directorate, we experienced different interpretations and attitudes regarding their role Consequence: Do Norwegian municipalities meet one Education Act, or will it depend on which county you operate in? 20

Objective 3: Dissemination We want to enhance National level’s dissemination quality regarding regulation issues. 21

The Directorate’s website is so full of information. . . If you want to prioritize anything, please travel around and talk to your target groups more than producing more information! (Interview with school owner representative) 22

What did we do? • New version of the Directorate website • Learn untraditional methods and communication tools, to use when meeting and supporting the education sector • Take part in dialogue based networks with municipalities 24

National level about dissemination The project activities tried out work methods that can be used in our everyday work with regulation The project gave me ideas to enhance our dissemination activities Source: Agency for Public Management and e. Government, Norway (2017) The project will lead to changes in the way we disseminate regulation knowledge All County Governor Directorate 4. 1 4. 3 4. 5 25 Source: Agency for Public Management and e. Government, Norway (2017) 4. 7

«Learning culture also among school leaders! The County Governor’s short introductions followed by group reflection and case discussion – specific and topical – a method I can use at my own school!» (Principal participating in sub-project «Dialogue and network» ) 26

Prior to the project. Information not prioritised, sorted by genre 27

After the project. Structured and prioritised information, based on user input 28

Dissemination: Difficulties encountered The Directorate’s regulation web sites: When writing texts about regulation, we found it hard to balance user orientation with the legal experts’ need to explain everything in detail, and by using terms not established in the education sector 29

Objective 4: Competence and knowledge To strengthen the ability to offer high quality sector support, we want to enhance Directorate and County Governor employees’ regulation competence. 30

What did we do? Employee training courses: • The Education Act’s object’s clause • Central articles regarding pupils’ safety and learning outcome 31

National level about regulation knowledge For us to be able to support local level for better regulation compliance, we must consecutively strengthen our own knowledge The project made it clear that regulation compliance contributes to realise the Education Act's objects clause My understanding of the regulation is enhanced All County Governor Directorate 0 1 2 3 4 5 Source: Agency for Public Management and e. Government, Norway (2017) 32 6

Unexpected effects? «It is good to know that Directorate employees are real human beings!» «Do you people from the County Governor’s office really know about these real life challenges? » (Principal) 33

Municipalities about trust 4. 6 Participation in "Regulation in practice" has strengthened my trust to the Directorate 4. 8 4. 4 4. 5 Participation in "Regulation in practice" has strengthened my trust to the County Governor All School owners School leaders 4. 8 4. 3 1 2 3 4 5 Source: Agency for Public Management and e. Government, Norway (2017) 34 6

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«We have started spending most of our municipal principal meetings discussing regulation issues and our responsibility as school leaders. Prior to the project, most meeting time was spent discussing budgets and administrative issues. » (Principal participating in sub-project «Dialogue and network» ) 36

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Results: Summary • Learning from and about each other in the horizontal and vertical cooperation at national level were highly appreciated • Involving the users really enhanced our knowledge about real life, and user orientation has got a richer content • The project has led to the improvement and lasting changes in how we disseminate regulations 38

Results: Summary • The Directorate’s HR department has participated in most project activities (and thus learned a lot…) • The steering group has connected project outcome to the Directorate’s Strategic plan • “Regulation in practice” is used as an example in 3 national policy implementation strategies • The Norwegian Agency for Public Management and e. Government will publish their report about the project. The aim is to spread ideas to other directorates and ministries 39

Thank You Mr Lasse Arntsen lassers@frisurf. no 40