Primary school teacher

Exchange equips you for a diverse classroom and gives you valuable insight into how schools operate in other countries. It gives you academic enrichment, personal growth and a competitive edge as a future teacher!

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– Of course, it's great to be a student in another country and speak a different language than you're used to at home, but it's also incredibly educational! [...] As a primary school teacher, this is an experience I recommend to everyone, both to become a better teacher, but also for the social aspect.

Mats Wiberg, GLU student who took Social Studies 2 on exchange to Prague

Your master's degree determines your exchange

Primary School Teacher 1 - 7

Master's in Norwegian

Exchange in the 5th semester.

Replaces an elective at NLA. The replacement subject can be a teaching subject, special education, or a school-relevant subject.

Master's in Early Childhood Education

Exchange in the 5th semester.

Replaces an elective at NLA. The replacement subject can be a teaching subject, special education, or a school-relevant subject.

Master's in Religious Education (KRLE)

Exchange in the 5th or 6th semester.

If you have taken KRLE 1 in the 3rd semester, you can go on exchange in the 5th semester. It replaces an elective at NLA. The replacement subject can be a teaching subject, special education, or a school-relevant subject.

Exchange in the 6th semester requires that you have taken KRLE1 because during the exchange you must take courses that replace KRLE 2.

Master's in Special Education

Exchange in the 5th semester.

Exception: You can go on exchange in the 6th semester if you take KRLE as a supporting subject; the courses during the exchange must then replace KRLE2.

Primary School Teacher 5 - 10

Master's Degree in Religious Education

Exchange in the 5th or 6th semester.

Exchange in the 5th semester:

Assumes that you have taken the first module of your master's degree in the 3rd semester.
During the exchange, you replace an elective at NLA.
The replacement subject can be a teaching subject, special education, or a school-relevant subject.

Exchange in the 6th semester:

Assumes that you have already taken Religious Education 1 since you are taking courses that replace Religious Education 2 during the exchange.

Master's Degree in Mathematics

Exchange 5th or 6th semester.

Exchange 5th semester:

Replaces an elective at NLA.
The replacement subject can be a teaching subject, special education, or a school-relevant subject.

Exchange in the 6th semester:

You take advanced studies in the elective you took in the 3rd or 5th semester.

Master's Degree in Social Studies

Exchange 5th or 6th semester.

Exchange 5th semester:

Assumes that you have taken the first module of your master's degree in the 3rd semester.
During the exchange, you replace an elective at NLA.
The replacement subject can be a teaching subject, special education, or a school-relevant subject.

Exchange 6th semester:

You take courses that replace Social Studies 2 during the exchange.

Master's Degree in Special Education

Exchange 5th or 6th semester.

Exchange in the 5th semester - You take courses in special education.

Exchange in the 6th semester - You take advanced studies in the elective you took in the 3rd semester.

Other important information

You cannot have ongoing suitability cases.
You usually do not get practical training through the host institution abroad. Practical training will be arranged at another time. The 6th semester is practice-free to make the exchange easier.
Based on the exchange semester, the student may be exempt from Drama in practice.
The Professional Day must be made up for in the following academic year. The student is responsible for ensuring that this is done. Sometimes the student may be able to attend the Professional Day in the exchange semester before departure.
If a Research and Development assignment is to be written in the same semester as the exchange, the student must contact the academic environment well in advance of departure for information on how this is organized. (If the student takes mathematics in the 5th semester, he/she can choose to write the Research and Development assignment in this subject, even if a master's subject has not been chosen.)
This information applies to cohort 2023 and subsequent cohorts.

What are elective courses and school-related subjects?

Elective courses are teaching subjects, special education, and school-related subjects.

Teaching subjects are subjects you can teach:

GLU Bergen students: science, music, arts and crafts, religious education, social studies, physical education.
GLU Oslo students: science, music, English, religious education, social studies, physical education.

School-related subjects are subjects that are related to the school. These may include topics within:

Educational research
Interdisciplinary themes as described in the study plans of NLA University College and in the study regulations
School management and organizational development
Existing school subjects cf. Curriculum
Pedagogical topics

Recommended places of study per elective course

English

KRLE 2

Body exercise

Arts and crafts

Music

Science

Social Studies 2

Linköping University Sweden (Erasmus+)

Jyväskylä University, Finland (Erasmus+)

Metropolitan University Praha, Czech Republic (Erasmus+)

University of Winchester, England

Griffith University, Queensland, Australia

University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

Hawaii Pacific University, Hawaii, USA

North Park University, Illinois, USA

San Diego State University , California, USA

School-relevant subjects

Special Education

Application deadlines

For GLU students, the application deadline varies depending on whether you are going on exchange in the 5th or 6th semester:

Exchange in the 5th semester: Application deadline February 15th in your 4th semester.
Exchange in the 6th semester: Application deadline September 15th in your 5th semester.