Educational background Work experience

Birgit Brock-Utne. 2.June 2010
Educational background
Teacher training certificate, one year study of political science at Stanford University, M.Ed.
From the University of Illinois, summer school at Goethe Universität, Frankfurt am Main and at
die pädagogische Hochschule, Erfurt, cand.polit degree from the University of Oslo(1971) with
the subjects German, Political sociology and Education, Ph.D. by review from the University of
Oslo (1981), Dr.philos. in peace studies from the University of Oslo (1988)
Work experience
1967 to 1973: a lecturer at Tromsø Teacher College in the north of Norway, teaching research
methods and innovation in education,
1973 to 1977 : a Research Consultant in the Ministry of Education administering and managing
reseach projects within education,
1977 to 2008 : a Professor at the Institute for Educational Research at the University of Oslo
teaching first qualitative research methods, classroom observation, action research, peace
education, education and development and gender studies.
In 1981/1982 I worked as a Researcher at the Peace Research Institute of Oslo (PRIO)
From 1987 to 1992 I had my job transferred to the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania under
an agreement between NORAD and the University of Oslo. Here I was teaching educational
psychology, guidance and counselling and had the responsibility for the master course in social
psychology. I also did student teaching supervision in secondary school for six weeks each year.
I also learnt to speak Kiswahili fluently.
With sabbaticals from the University of Oslo I was a Visiting Professor at Antioch
Yellowsprings (spring 1992), University of Hiroshima, Japan (fall 2002), Indiana University
(spring 2006). In the spring of 2010 I was teaching peace and development studies at Wartburg
College, Iowa and helped build up a peace studies major at that college- I have been teaching
peace studies at the European University of Peace in Stadschlaining each year for a ten year
period and been teaching gender and peace at the University of Tromsø, Norway.
The last twenty years I have been working extensively in Africa (as a consultant for the
Norwegian Foreign Ministry, UNICEF, NORAD, the National Institute of Education in Namibia,
the German development agencies DSE and GTZ, ADEA and DANIDA).
For three years (1996 – 1999) I worked as a consultant for DSE building up research capacity in
the use of qualitative research methods at the historically black universities in South Africa. I
was also (1996 – 1998) working as a consultant for the Norwegian Foreign Ministry following
up an allocation given to UNICEF to be used for basic education in Africa targeting the girl
child. This work took me to eight different African countries, mostly in West Africa.
~ 2 ~ In 2005 I worked in a group of experts appointed by ADEA/GTZ and UIE to produce the
document: Optimizing learning and Education in Africa – the Language Factor. Working
Document. The document was presented at a conference in Windhoek in August 2005 and was
up for debate at the ADEA meeting of African Ministers of Education in Gabon at the end of
March 2006. In May 2006 I made a desk study for the World Bank evaluating a consultancy
report on the language of instruction in Madagscar.
I started the LOITASA (Language of Instruction in Tanzania and South Africa) five year
research project with partners at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and the University
of Western Cape in South Africa in 2002. We got a new five year period from 2007. Together
with my South African partner Zubeida Desai and Martha Qorro from the Tanzanian team I have
edited four books from the project and seen to it that two chapters have been translated into
Kiswahili. A DVD/video from the project has also been produced. I was the Convenor of the
conference LEA 2006 (Languages and Education in Africa) held at the University of Oslo 19 -22
June 2006. The conference gathered about 200 delegates, half of them from Africa. All of the
five key-note speakers were African. From 2008 and to date I have worked as an independent
academic, doing consultancies and teaching around the world.
Some relevant consultancies
l98l: The role of women as mothers and members of society, in the education of young people for
peace, mutual understanding and respect for human rights. Commissioned paper for a UNESCO
expert meeting on the role of women in peace education, New Delhi, India, December 7 ll,l98l.Published in English and French as ED-8l/CON.609/2. Paris: UNESCO. Also as: PRIOpublication S - l2/8l.Translated into French, Bulgarian and Finnish.
l983: Research on Women and Peace. Commissioned paper prepared on request for the expert
group meeting on "the participation of women in promoting international peace and cooperation",
held in Vienna 5 - 9 December l983 and organized by the United Nations, Vienna International
Centre.98 pp. Background paper for the UN Women's Decade Conference in Nairobi l985.
l986: The Spirit of Nairobi - the peace and peace education concepts in the document from the
Women's Decade Conference. An analysis written on request from the Swedish Ambassador for
Disarmament, Maj-Britt Theorin. l5.2.l986.23 pages. Stenciled.
l987: For UNEP/SIPRI, March l987 resulting in the chapter: Formal education as a force in shaping
cultural norms relating to war and the environment. In: Westing,(ed),l988: Cultural Norms, War
and the Environment.Oxford:Oxford University Press.pp.83-l0l. Translated into Russian and
published by Mir publishers, Moscow, l989.
2004: Evaluated in May 2004 a program in peace education in Bosnia-Herzegovina for DEZA,
Swiss development agency. Together with Ronald Greber from University of Bern. I was the
team leader.
~ 3 ~ Some relevant writings
Books:
Brock-Utne, Birgit (l985): Educating for Peace. A Feminist Perspective.New
York/Oxford/Toronto/Sydney/ Paris / Frankfurt:Pergamon Press.l75.pp.Reprinted in l987 and in
l989.A Korean edition appeared in l986.Published in Seoul.3l5 pp.A Norwegian edition appeared
in l987.Oslo:Folkereisning mot krig.206.pp. An Italian edition appeared at the end of
l989,published by Edizione Gruppo Abele.
Brock-Utne, Birgit (l989) Feminist Perspectives on Peace and Peace Education.New
York/Oxford/Toronto/ Sydney/Paris/ Frankfurt:Pergamon Press.200 pp.
Brock-Utne, Birgit (2000): Whose Education for All? The Recolonization of the African mind?
New York/ London: Falmer Press. Reprinted in 2006 by africanabooks.org. Seoul.Homi
Publishing.
Brock-Utne, Birgit and Rodney Kofi Hopson (Eds.) (2005)): Languages of instruction for
African emancipation: Focus on postcolonial contexts and considerations. Cape Town: CASAS
and Dar es Salaam: Mkuki na Nyota. Oxford: African Books Collective. East Lansing: State
University of Michigan Press.
Brock-Utne, Birgit and Ingse. Skattum (eds) (2009): Languages and Education in Africa: A
comparative and transdisciplinary analysis. Oxford: Symposium Books. 2009 paperback 368
pages
Brock-Utne, Birgit and Gunnar Garbo (Eds) (2009) Language is Power. The Implications of
Language for Peace and Development.: Dar es Salaam: Mkuki na Nyota. Oxford. African Books
Collective. East Lansing : Michigan State University Press..
Prah, Kwesi Kwaa and Birgit Brock-Utne (Eds.) (2009.) Multilingualism - a paradigm shift in
African language of instruction polices. Cape Town: CASAS ,
Brock-Utne, Birgit, Zubeida Desai and Martha Qorro (Eds.) (2004) Researching the Language
of Instruction in Tanzania and South Africa. Cape Town: African Minds.
Brock-Utne, Birgit, Zubeida Desai and Martha Qorro (Eds.) (2005): LOITASA Research in
Progress. Dar es Salaam: KAD Associates.
Brock-Utne, Birgit, Zubeida Desai and Martha Qorro (Eds.) (2006). Focus on Fresh Data on the
Language of Instruction Debate in Tanzania and South Africa. Cape Town: African Minds
~ 4 ~ Some relevant articles
Brock-Utne, Birgit (1999): L'educació de la pau en l'era de la munialització (Peace education in
an era of globalization). Revista de Recerca Humanística i Científica. Núm.X.pp.31-47. ISSN
1130-4235
Brock-Utne, Birgit (2000) Peace Education in an Era of Globalization. Peace Review.
Vol.12.No.1.pp 131-138.
Brock-Utne, Birgit (2001). Education for All - in Whose Language? Oxford Review of
Education. Vol.27. March. (1.) 115-134.
Brock-Utne, Birgit.,(2002). Language, Democracy and Education in Africa. Discussion Paper
No.14. The Nordic Africa Institute. Uppsala.
Brock-Utne, Birgit. and Holmarsdottir, Halla (,2004) Language policies and practices in
Tanzania and South Africa: problems and challenges. International Journal of Educational
Development 2004. Vol.24. ( 1).67-83
Brock-Utne, Birgit (2007) Learning through a familiar language versus learning through a
foreign language – a look into some secondary school classrooms in Tanzania. Inter national
Journal of Educational Development. Vol.27. No.5. 2007. pp. 487 – 498
Brock-Utne, Birgit (2009) Introduction: Education for Reconciliation and Conflict Resolution.
International Review of Education. Vol. 55. No. 2/3 (May) pp. 145-156. ISSN 0020-8566
Brock-Utne, Birgit (2009bA gender perspective on peace education and the work for peaceInternational Review of Education. Vol.55. No.2/3 (May) pp.205-220. DOI 10.1007/s11159008-9122-z. ISSN 0020-8566
Brock-Utne, Birgit (2010) Gender, Socialization and Militarism In: Young Nigel (ed): The
Oxford International Encyclopedia of Peace New York: Oxford University Press.Vol.2. pp. 207210. ISBN 13: 9780 19-533-4685. ISBN 10: 019 533 468X
Brock-Utne, Birgit (2010) Victims of sexual violence In: Young Nigel (ed): The Oxford
International Encyclopedia of Peace. New York: Oxford University Press.Vol.4.pp.292-294.
ISBN 13: 9780 19-533-4685. ISBN. 10: 019 533 468X.
Brock-Utne, Birgit (2010)- Language policy and culture In: Susan Majhanovich and Geo-JaJa,
MacLeans (Eds) Education, Language and Economics. Growing national and lobal Dilemmas.
Boston, Rotterdam and Taipei: Sense Publishers.
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