Skolehuset som kulturminne: Lokale verdier og nasjonal kulturminne­forvaltning

The one room schoolhouses in Norway reflect an era of reforms in education and development of democratic, social institutions in the late 19th century. Although the school reform was an achievement of great importance, the one room schoolhouses as objects of cultural heritage are not considered important by the heritage authorities, and not a single one is protected by law.  In spite of lack of national commitment, people in local communities have preserved these buildings both as local museums and for use as local meeting houses. The local approaches to these buildings as heritage differ from the Authorized Heritage Discourse (AHD) which does reflect a focus on architecture, age and relevance for the nation, safeguarded by professional antiquarians. The AHD in Norway is not in line with the National white papers and international charters and conventions, especially the Faro Convention which stresses the role of local participation, cooperation and need to involve everyone in society in the ongoing process of defining and managing cultural heritage. The challenge is how to ensure local participation when the AHD still reflects professionalism and predefined criteria for value assessment

The legacy of one-room schoolhouses: A comparative study of the American Midwest and Norway

In the history of education the one-room schoolhouse has played an important role in several countries. In the rural areas of the US Midwest and in Norway the one-room schoolhouse was the most common school in the second half of the nineteenth century and the first decades of the twentieth. Although the schoolhouses at first sight seem identical there are some interesting points of distinction in their educational history and how their legacy is interpreted, managed, preserved and promoted today. In the Midwest they are a beloved national icon, often listed, embodying national values and virtues. In Norway their story is effectively untold, not a single one is listed on national preservation lists and by no means do they embody national identity, virtues or values. This article offers an explanation for this different treatment

Skolehuset som kulturminne - Lokale verdier og nasjonal kulturminneforvaltning

The aim of this work is to analyse how buildings linked to public education, nation building and democratisation, have been esteemed as heritage within a local context and by authorised heritage authorities. This comprehensive task is carried out by investigating how a group of these buildings, the one-room schoolhouses, is managed as object of heritage and ascribed with heritage values by the local communities and the national heritage authorities. The project is mainly carried out by text- and discourse analysis of written sources concerning preservation and management of one-room schoolhouses. This thesis consists, in addition to the introduction, of a chapter on the historic context of the Norwegian school reform. The results are presented in 6 papers, published between 2006 and 2014, in journals with peer review. The thesis is not cumulative, but more a compilation of independent papers, partly written prior to this PhD work, but all with reflections and analysis on how the one-room schoolhouse is managed and esteemed as an object of heritage. The Norwegian school reform of 1860 represented a turning point regarding better education and was a premise for the nation-building and the establishment of a modern, democratic society. A core element in the reform was a demand for permanent school buildings in all school districts. In the period 1860-1920 more than 4600 schoolhouses were erected in rural areas. However, in the 1950s and ‘60s almost all local schoolhouses were closed down due to consolidation, new school reforms and better communication. The old one-room schoolhouses were now available for new use, transformation or demolition and re-interpretation of values and significance.Despite that Norwegian political white papers have drawn attention on the lack of diversity and representativeness in the Norwegian preservation list in the last 30 years, only one single one-room schoolhouse, reflecting public education, democratisation and nation building, has been listed in national preservation lists. Despite a general lack of engagement from the heritage authorities, a large number of schoolhouses are turned into museums due to local initiatives or preserved and used for social and cultural gatherings by voluntary communal work. However, the national and historic significances of the schoolhouse do not seem to play a substantial role, neither within the local community nor by national heritage authorities. The rural one-room schoolhouses are neither characterized by those hallmarks advocated in the authorized heritage discourse (AHD), nor is it in line with the rather conservative political and cultural ideology traditionally held by heritage authorities. The rural, one-room schoolhouses reflect firstly a political, democratic and anti-elitist nation-building project, a desire to build a modern democratic nation and finally the countercultures fighting these goals. For people in the local communities the preservation as a joint project and the social and cultural activities taking place in the former schoolhouse, perhaps reflect a continuity of what it is all about – not heritagisation and preservation for its own sake, but how to maintain and develop social and cultural institutions in the community

The legacy of one-room schoolhouses: A comparative study of the American Midwest and Norway

In the history of education the one-room schoolhouse has played an important role in several countries. In the rural areas of the US Midwest and in Norway the one-room schoolhouse was the most common school in the second half of the nineteenth century and the first decades of the twentieth. Although the schoolhouses at first sight seem identical there are some interesting points of distinction in their educational history and how their legacy is interpreted, managed, preserved and promoted today. In the Midwest they are a beloved national icon, often listed, embodying national values and virtues. In Norway their story is effectively untold, not a single one is listed on national preservation lists and by no means do they embody national identity, virtues or values. This article offers an explanation for this different treatment