Can or should schools in Norway exclude student teachers from the Christian university college NLA to protect the rights of sexual minorities?

Abstract

NLA University College is a Christian university college that educates teachers in Norway. It has adopted a document that outlines the purpose of the institution. The document states ‘marriage between a man and a woman […] is understood as a guiding norm’. Some people view this statement as discriminatory towards gay people because it indirectly indicates that same-sex marriage is wrong. Ten schools in Oslo have proclaimed that they will refuse to admit NLA students for internships because of this document. To justify this action, it has been argued that the document violates the aims of education in Norway, violates human rights and is unethical. Is faith in a traditional form of marriage an intolerance towards gay people that cannot be tolerated in schools? The overarching line of argument in this article is that schools must guard against teachers that grossly or seriously undermine the aims of education. However, a conservative Christian faith in marriage between man and woman is not in violation of the aims of education as defined by national or international law. Consequently, the exclusion of NLA students from schools in Oslo is an illegal form of discrimination on the grounds of religion.

Keywords

• Freedom of religion
• same-sex marriage
• the obligation of teachers
• teacher education
• discrimination of gay people