Trude Fassstrand against mobile phone recommendation

DrLast week, the Norwegian Directorate of Education came up with a new national recommendation: mobile-free classrooms in both primary, secondary and high schools.

They also believe that recess should be mobile-free in both primary and secondary schools.

This recommendation was met with mixed reactions.

– Open to different practices

One of those who reacted was teacher Trud Fässtrand. She thinks it should be tougher:

– I relate to the word recommendation. What can happen when you just recommend, she says, is that it opens the door to different practices in counties, municipalities and schools.

– Nowadays, teachers' plans and a lot of other things in school have become so vague, it ends up being the principals and teachers who have these potatoes in their heads, Fässtrand tells Dagbladet.

The Norwegian Directorate of Education recommends removing mobile phones from classrooms in primary and secondary schools. The Directorate believes that the holiday should also be mobile phone-free in both primary and secondary schools.

The recommendation and the supervisor now in place will help municipalities, district boards and schools set rules for their students. Rules for pupils' use of mobile phones should be part of the local system rules and set out in local regulations.

– The second thing I react to is that I think they should dare to take a more clear stance. Because if they initially think mobile phone use is a problem, they should also take responsibility for doing something about it, not just making a vague recommendation. Don't put that on me and other teachers.

She realizes that mobile phones contribute to one of the biggest challenges facing schools: isolation and bullying.

– Al-Fazaa School

The second thing that I cannot comprehend or understand is the increase in bullying in schools. Most of this happens online and digitally. Bullying often occurs at home and in your spare time, but then tends to spill over into school. It's easy and tempting to use a mobile phone to take photos, videos and audio recordings, and collections are posted and created, says Fassstrand.

-I have children who are afraid to go to school because they don't know what happens online on the weekend or in the evening. Think about what the breed is. To feel so alienated without being able to do anything about it. All of this will be presented to our school staff on Monday.

-I know that I will be secretly filmed and photographed. This is my work day.

Education Minister Carrie Nyssa Nordton (AFP) points out that mobile phone use at school can have negative consequences for children's learning.

When the proposal became known on Wednesday, she noted that the results of the PISA, PIRLS and student surveys indicate that many schools face challenges related to learning outcomes, reading, classroom concentration and declining motivation in a press release.

– Research shows that access to cell phones for many leads to poor concentration and learning, and contributes to a poorer school environment. Too many arrows pointing in the wrong direction at school. Nordton says mobile phones should bear their share of the blame for the negative development in pupils' learning outcomes, but it is just one of several measures that need to be taken in Norwegian schools.

Missing parents

Fassstrand also believes parents need to communicate more.

– I haven't kissed in years

– I think a little, “Where are the parents?” Yes, they exist to that extent, but parents need to be more involved and know what their children are doing online. Then the school authorities and politicians should stop saying it is my responsibility. They should involve parents to a greater extent.

-If you had cell phone-free classrooms in the long term, do you think it would reduce the bullying we see today?

-This will still happen outside of school hours, so parents need to be more involved there. But yes, I think it will be less, because there won't be scam photos and videos spread the same way. The other teachers and I, as well as the rivers, will have a safer daily life. Obviously, that will discourage her.

It also shows that teachers' expectations are increasing, at the same time that teachers' plans with digital competency goals must be implemented. One problem she points out is that a lot looks good on paper, but in order to implement digital transformation, provinces and municipalities must be able to afford it.

– Yes to the ban

– If we implement this, yes to ban cell phones, but it should not be up to me, the principal or the schools, it should come from the center, she says.

Being a teacher is a wonderful profession, but we can't have all this noise from the outside getting in the way of the task we are about to carry out. The biggest noise now is the mobile phone, more and more unprofessional tasks and poor finances.