Pupils with good relationship fare better in school
Norwegian pupils with a good relationship with their teachers obtain both better school results and mental health.
“The teacher’s competence and early efforts in kindergarten and school are of great importance for children’s learning and mental health as 8-year-olds. More good teachers make the pupils learn more and fare better. Since 2015, the Government parties have secured more good teachers for the youngest children. We see that this works,” Norwegian Minister of Education and Integration, Jan Tore Sanner, says.
The Language and Learning Study (SOL) shows relationships between different factors in kindergarten and school environment. It also concerns the mental health and school skills of pupils when they are 8-year-olds. It is the Norwegian Institute of Public Health that has submitted the report, on behalf of the Ministry of Education and Research.
“We know from other surveys that the most important single factor for the student’s learning is a good teacher. This study shows that kindergartens are more likely to implement measures when the staff has good competence in behavioural problems. There is also a connection between assessment and mapping of linguistic skills. This shows that more competence among adults provides children with better help. We take this with us in the work on the next parliamentary report on early efforts,” Sanner continues.
Conclusions in the SOL report
- The researchers found that there is a connection between the relationship of children with the staff in kindergarten and the school teachers and mental health and school results when the pupils are eight years old.
- The children were more likely to receive special education assistance in the kindergartens where the children’s language skills were regularly assessed, compared with kindergartens where this was only considered when the need arose.
- It also appears that the kindergartens are more likely to implement measures when the staff has good competence in behavioural problems
- In school, there was a greater likelihood of a decision on special education if the teacher had good cooperation with PPT and if the teacher had more than ten years of experience.
Read the report from the Language and Learning Study.
© Kunnskapsdepartementet / #Norway Today
