This text is translated with the assistance of UiO GPT.
"Distinguished educator" is an honour awarded to academic staff who have made an extraordinary contribution in the field of education. The title is conferred by the Rector on the basis of an individual application and following recommendation from an assessment committee.
Lars Erik Kjekshus at the Department of Sociology and Human Geography becomes the Faculty of Social Sciences' third accredited educator, after David Jordhus-Lier received the title in 2021 (read in Norwegian) and Jemima García-Godos in 2024 (read in Norwegian).
Tora Skodvin, Study Dean at the Faculty of Social Sciences, says she is delighted and thinks Lars Erik Kjekshus deserves the title of distinguished educator.
– Lars Erik is a courageous and innovative teacher who is deeply committed to students' learning. He is willing to take risks and try new approaches that give students truly unique and relevant experiences and learning, she says.
Skodvin highlights Prosjektforum, an integrated part of the master's programme in Organisation, Leadership and Work (OLA) that Lars Erik Kjekshus has developed. In Prosjektforum, master's students collaborate on briefs from real employers to solve interdisciplinary projects involving mapping, analysis and development.
– Lars Erik has put countless hours into developing this course. For the students it is a fantastic opportunity to learn, to understand their own competence and to become familiar with the world of work they will meet after they finish studying, says Skodvin.
The Study Dean adds that Kjekshus is a collegial teacher who often agrees to sit on committees, working groups and other initiatives aimed at sharing experience and improving teaching quality.
– Lars Erik always has lots of good, insightful and reflective ideas about teaching, great care for his students, and is a very important person in the Faculty of Social Sciences’ efforts to develop a culture of, and build a community around, good teaching.
Rewarding reflective process
To become a distinguished educator, Lars Erik Kjekshus had go through an extensive application process, in which he had to demonstrate how his own teaching, and course and programme development, have evolved over time.
– Receiving the status of distinguished educator is a great honour. I find teaching incredibly exciting, and it is an important part of my job. That is why it is especially nice to receive such recognition in this field, says the newly distinguished educator.
In addition to the application letter, Kjekshus has described, reflected upon and documented his own practice in light of the so‑called SoTL criteria – a research‑based approach to one's own teaching.
– I found it very rewarding to work on the application. The process requires you to reflect on your own practice and how you think about teaching. It has been a good and reflective process that I recommend others undertake as well, he says.
During the process Kjekshus became aware of how his teaching methods have developed. He says he now teaches quite differently from when he started.
– Before, I was probably more withdrawn and a bit Socratic in my teaching, with a basic attitude that the students themselves should be responsible for their own learning. But I discovered early enough that students didn't like that. They would rather I, as the teacher, played a much clearer role in the teaching situation, Kjekshus says.
– In hindsight I saw that I had had a naive attitude towards my own role as a teacher, and that there were expectations of a lecturer with an authority that was difficult to challenge.
Clear frameworks in teaching
Lars Erik Kjekshus realised he needed to develop further as a teacher. He still believes teachers should generally have a humble attitude, but also sees that students become uncertain if the framework isn't clear.
– It takes a lot of authority not to appear authoritarian, says Kjekshus.
– I started being as clear as possible about what pedagogical methods I intended to use, what I was trying to achieve, and then my task was to engage the students.
He notes that the lecture format has been labelled old-fashioned, and not a particularly effective way to teach. That the lecture is a passive situation for students.
– That is why many have invested in more interactive teaching where students are well prepared and take much more space themselves. But I think students find the lecture a much more comfortable way to be present in class, Kjekshus says.
– So I have concluded that the key is finding a balance between the time-honoured lecture and at the same time offering more interactive exercises, like Mentimeter or short discussion groups.
Wants to work more with AI in teaching
As a distinguished educator, Lars Erik Kjekshus receives both a higher salary and the opportunity to work on pedagogical development during a dedicated teaching term. Another benefit is that he will take part in UiO's Pedagogical Academy (read in Norwegian) – an interdisciplinary, cross‑faculty collaboration between university pedagogues at UiO.
– I look forward to being part of a pedagogical community as a distinguished educator. We also have a Forum for teaching issues for teaching leaders and programme directors at the Faculty of Social Sciences, which I think is very good, says Kjekshus.
The distinguished educator hopes he can help inspire new teachers.
– My commitment to teaching stems first and foremost from my great love of the subject. At the same time I find it very interesting all the different ways one can solve the challenge of communicating it. It is a kind of mystery that I will never quite get to the bottom of, says Kjekshus.
– If you think you are an absolutely brilliant lecturer and you have nothing to learn, you should take that as a sign that you aren't. It is about being curious and continually exploring how you can improve.
Kjekshus says that he previously had more than enough work teaching his own courses. He is now programme director for the OLA programme, and has become more involved at faculty level, especially regarding interdisciplinarity, workplace relevance and integration of AI in teaching.
– I regard the accreditation as encouragement to continue this work. I would like to carry out a more systematic experiment in integrating AI in teaching. We have a huge challenge ahead if we are to achieve that across all courses. It is something I would like to work on further, he concludes.