Abstract:

This article is based on studying documents from the Norwegian Armed Forces and the Overall curricula for the Norwegian school system.

The Vassdalen disaster on March 5. 1986 was an avalanche that killed 16 drafted soldiers during a NATO winter exercise. It is the most significant peacetime accident in the Norwegian Armed Forces history.

Until 1986, a distinct restrictive control leadership philosophy was the norm in the Norwegian Armed Forces. A new leadership philosophy, mission command, replaced the restrictive control leadership concept. The mission is still the focus, and the commander's intention with the mission is implicit in this, but with a focus on emphasizing conditions for crucial on-the-spot modifications and decision-making in the field. This means the Norwegian Armed Forces has taken another route than other public agencies heavily influenced by New Public Management (NPM). Mission command offers more freedom of maneuver and focuses on more power to the sharp end. It is also more concerned with operational context and horizontal interaction. NPM, on the other hand, is more tightly controlled, focusing primarily on feeding information upwards.

In 2001, the Norwegian school system experienced the “PISA shock.” The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) measures 15-year-olds' competence in reading, mathematics, and science, conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Contrary to assumptions that the education system in Norway was quite good the PISA assessment tests showed otherwise, providing mediocre results. Even worse, Norway spent more money on education than other comparable school systems. The contrast to other school systems, such as Finland's, was striking. As a result, several changes were made in Norway. In 2020, the Norwegian school system introduced a new curriculum called Læreplanverket (LK20).

Knowing the military and civilian education systems well, we see many similarities between mission command and LK20. LK20 is more general, explaining why and leaving a lot of space for how things may be solved. LK20 and mission command both open up more initiative and enable a system of high autonomy. We argue that mission command is an alternative to New Public Management. Mission command could be a valuable alternative route for other agencies, and we will discuss the educational implications of implementing this into the school system.

Keywords:

Leadership, accident, military training.