Norwegian Union Leader: "We Face the Same Challenges"
July 4, 2009
Haldis Holst, vice-president of the Union of Education Norway and Education International’s vice-president for Europe, address delegates on the RA floor.
Photo by Rick Runion for RA Today
Like anyone else visiting the NEA Representative Assembly for the first time, Haldis Holst was immediately struck by the enormity of the gathering. Holst is the vice-president of the Union of Education Norway and Education International’s vice-president for Europe. She is one of the international guests from 11 countries introduced to RA delegates on Saturday.
But as she settled into her seat in the South Carolina delegation (her state host) Holst got a firsthand look at how the largest teachers union in the world conducts its business. She even got to ask Secretary of Education Arne Duncan a question on Thursday.
“We face so many of the same challenges – questions over testing, accountability, performance pay, dropouts. You could change the name on the outside of the convention center from NEA to Norwegian Teachers Union and I wouldn’t know the difference!”
Listening to President Dennis Van Roekel’s keynote address on Friday, Haldis nodded in agreement when he spoke of how education must be transformed to adapt to the rapidly changing system of globalization and interdependence. She was also struck by his insistence that NEA be recognized, not just as a union voice, but also a professional association that cares deeply about improving the quality of education.
And even as schools face crippling cuts and the global economy struggles to recover, Holst says optimism can be found in the fact that governments around the world are acknowledging and talking about the critical role education plays.
“That is the crucial first step,” she says, “and teacher unions around the world pay a huge role in moving this forward.”
The other international guests this year are: Sulbha Arun Donde from India; Kadija Ben Mansour Saadalah from Tunisia; Adolph Cameron from Jamaica, Jose "Pepe" Campos Trujillo, Pedro Gonzalez, and Charo Rizo from Spain; Zipi Dvir and Yaffa Folger from Israel; Jaime Gajardo Orellana from Chile; Helga Hjetland from Norway; Omar Jain N'Dure from Gambia; Celia Nicholas from Dominica; Martin Reed from England and Wales; Sulistiyo and Unifah Rosyidi from Indonesia; and Fred van Leeuwen, General Secretary of Education International. Former NEA President and founding president of Education International Mary Hatwood Futrell is also at the RA.
