This is the first chapter of the social studies course. You will learn about your obligations and rights, the introduction programme and what is expected from members of the society. This particular chapter is the only chapter that has information that is applicable only to immigrants. All the subsequent chapters apply both to immigrants as well as Norwegians.

Course evaluation and qualification for course certificate

In order to pass the course and receive the certificate, you need to achieve the following criteria:

• Attend minimum 6 meetings (6 x 90 minutes) in the virtual classroom
• Complete all 7 chapters
• Time spent on chapters must not be lower than estimated time (up to 20% deviation is accepted)
• Achieve minimum 85% score on all chapters, and 100% on the final test
• Submit all required essays (min 150 words each)
• Evaluate and comment on other student's essays (minimum 15 essays)

Please note that some exercises involves writing a text. These will have to be corrected by the teacher of the chapter in order for the score to be evaluated. This will be done on a regular basis, and your score will be updated accordingly.

Participants who achieve these criteria will receive a valid certificate in the post. If you do not pass the tests or get high enough score, you can repeat it until you get high enough score.

Velkommen til kapittel 2 av samfunnskunnskapskurset

In this chapter you will:

• Learn about the key historical events and turning points;
• Understand what has shaped the modern society in Norway today;
• Learn geographical details about our country and where cities and counties are located;
• Learn the most important celebrations of life events and holidays;
• Be able to discuss topics like religion and traditions offer your point of view on these matters. 

This chapter is lead by Yngvil Vatn Guttu.

In this chapter, you will learn about:

• different family structures and households in the Norwegian society
• values appreciated when raising children
• laws that regulate marriage, divorce, equality and rights of children
• violence, genital mutilation, forced marriage and the consequenses for these acts in Norwegian law

In this chapter you'll learn about:

• The history of the Norwegian health system;
• Different health care services and systems;
• Mental health;
• Children and health;
• The elderly and health;
• How to prevent disease.

Also at the end of the chapter, there is a crash course in Norwegian health language, containing words you're likely to come across when you live in Norway.

A lot of the material is provided by VOX - you can see the originals here.

Learning objectives:

• Know and understand how the Norwegian health system works;
• Know and understand how one access the rights to health services;
• Be able to discuss different points of view regarding physical and mental health;
• Understand how your lifestyle impacts your health and how you can prevent health issues.

This chapter of the course covers the Norwegian education system. You will learn about:

• rights and obligations, and opportunities in the Norwegian educational system, and how this is financed;
• important values that this system is based upon;
• what is expected from parents, and how parents can support the learning process.

This chapter covers the working life in Norway and introduces several highly interesting topics from career development training. You will learn what legal rights you have as an employee in a company in Norway, what rights self-employd persons have and have not, and what you can do to achieve your career goal with a company in Norway.

Work life in Norway

• A brief history of labour in Norway
• Work and welfare
• Historic development
• Employment rights and obligations
• Organisations and participation
• The welfare state creates jobs
• Job search
• Wages and taxes
• Illicit work

During this chapter, you will learn about the different processes in the political system in Norway. You will learn about the important, underlying principles that supports the democracy such as voting rights and freedom of speach and freedom of organisation.

Furthermore, you will learn about the history of this welfare state, and how it has evolved over time, and how the government is organised and who decides what.

Many of the texts here are from Vox' website and are used with permission.

Test your skills from the whole course