No Phone, No Problem? A Hypercomplex Critical Realist Examination of Norway’s National Guidelines for Mobile-Free Classrooms

In this paper, we examine Norway’s national guidelines for mobile-free classrooms. Utilising theoretical approaches, specifically Qvortrup’s societal hypercomplexity framework and Bhaskar’s critical realist concepts of retroduction and judgemental rationalism as methods, we examine and discuss the implications of these policies within the interplay of education, ICT and society. We conclude that although the guidelines represent a considerable shift towards stricter ICT regulations, echoing Scandinavian trends, they may not adequately address the underlying complexities of educational and societal issues; that is, instrumentally reducing phone access may remove a bullying mechanism but the underlying reasons for the bullying are likely to remain. Moreover, there are questions over whether the legislation can be said to be democratic and there are indicators that it may have unexpected negative consequences with regard to certain aspects of student well-being. Whilst an outright ban might be beneficial, it should nevertheless be viewed as part of a suite of interventions addressing social issues within schools, such as systematic violence against certain societal members and the comparatively lower achievement of boys relative to girls. Indeed, some evidence suggests that a phone ban might worsen the boys’ situation in schools and increase the gender gap in which girls out-perform boys. Thus, we advocate for policies that consider broader impacts, including the potential unintended consequences of a phone ban and its long-term educational outcomes.