Partner: The Department of Education Norrköping

The Department of Education of the Municipality of Norrköping (Utbildningskontoret), Sweden is the local authority responsible for the implementation of national policies and directives for the public school system for early childhood education and care, compulsory education, upper secondary and leisure activities for school children. Our work is based on the premise that the educational journey of our children needs to be conceived in a holistic manner, from when the child enters pre-school and all the way through upper secondary school. Successful, collaborative teaching is the focus of our attention and the point of departure. It is through successful teaching we can inspire and motivate our students to learn. It is in the teaching we give feedback, follow-up, differentiate and personalize.

In all we run:

114 municipal preschools (>6900 children 1-5, 1190 full-time employees)
58 municipal compulsory schools (>12875 pupils, 1074 full-time employees)
5 municipal upper secondary schools (3327 pupils, 301 full-time employees)
15 after-school recreation/leisure centres (78 full-time employees)1 intercultural language unit (providing mother tongue education in 27 different languages for the linguistic and cultural needs of pupils with a background other than Swedish)
1 Health and Welfare centre (3 M D:s,40 school nurses, 13 psychologists, 14 special teachers, 1 logoped and 6 coordinators)

The Department of Education has a Research and Development unit which deals with the overall ICT-strategies from preschool to upper secondary and vocational schooling and supervises their implementation. This means supporting all municipal schools with the supply of adequate hardware, broadband Internet, compatible software solutions and training all staff in preschool, primary and secondary schools in applied ICT and media competence. Most recently the focus of this in-service training has been related to changes in the revised Swedish curriculum from 2018 which is introducing digital competence and programming as interdisciplinary traits, also providing explicit formulations in subjects such as mathematics (programming, algorithms and problem-solving), technology (controlling physical artifacts) and social sciences (fostering aware and critical citizens in a digital society).

Per Joelson

Per works as a ICT strategist at the Research and Development (R&D) unit responsible for the strategic development work when it comes to implementing ICT systems and educational technology in all sectors of the Dep. of Education. Per has a background as a teacher  and more than 20 years of experience of implementing ICT in the classroom on a systemic level, which includes arranging and working with CPD activities that cover all different aspects related to the digitalization of education and ICT.

Caisa Skoglund 

Caisa works as a development teacher at the Research and Development (R&D) unit with a particular mission to enhance the quality of teaching in Primary Education and to support teachers in their use of educational technology in ways that enhances the learning of all students. Together with Per, Caisa has been a key person to support our teachers and principals during the COVID 19 pandemic with hands-on instructions on how to best deliver online learning, which also includes setting up a support page with instruction videos, podcasts and hands-on guidelines.

Katarina Sperling

Katarina works as the international coordinator at the Research and Development (R&D) unit and holds a M.S. in  Culture and Media production. She has a long background as a production manager/project coordinator both in informal and formal education. By supporting and transnational collaboration and exchanges, mainly through the programs Erasmus+ Katarina has contributed to the increasing number of international exchanges in preschools and K-12 education while at the same time making sure that all projects are aligned with the overall organizational strategies and objectives. Katarina is also pursuing her PhD studies in Pedagogical Work at the Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning, Linköping University.