SFS chairman Jacob Färnert responds to the debate article The college should maintain the pedagogical qualifications by Magnus Hoppe in The University Teacher.
Just like the debater, I am a big supporter of collegial responsibility in academia. That is my basic view on how we should handle issues in our sector, but with free governance comes responsibility. When it comes to higher education pedagogical issues, I would like to say that there are tendencies that suggest that the collegiate body has not taken its full responsibility. The stories that the debater exposes speak for this, but there are examples throughout the country. There are several higher education institutions that do not follow the recommendations of the Swedish University and Higher Education Association, SUHF, that all employed teachers should undergo at least ten weeks of training in higher education pedagogical practices. I am in favor of collegiality, but I am not ready to abandon the principle that further education leads to development. Strengthening collegial influence can be done without throwing pedagogical development work in the trash.
Read the full article in University teacher.se.