As the sun goes down on Copenhagen

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This post is part of a series reflecting on my international study tour to Copenhagen, Berlin and London.

Today is our last day in Copenhagen and we head off to Aarhus University to hear from Frans Ørsted Andersen, Associate Professor in the Center for Educational Research who will talk to us about comparing Denmark and Finland. I must admit when I see what Frans will talk to us about I have a little chuckle.  Even this close to Finland it seems they are just as obsessed as we are and asking themselves, why does Finland stand out?

2013-09-19 19.25.19

Aarhus University, Copenhagen

Frans’ research looks into what the differences are between school life in Finland and Denmark.  He believes the broad picture in the two countries is the same so the differences lie in the finer details. The themes, which Frans identifies as the different details between Finland and Denmark are;

1. Parents are kept at a distance in Finland

  • On the first day of school parents drop students at school and keep to a distance compared to Denmark parents who continue to be present through all of their child’s schooling.

2. Discipline is more present in Finnish Schools

  • Attention and engagement is more easily obtained from Finnish teachers due to the appreciation of the teacher.

3. Danish education focuses on the individual

  • Finnish focuses on the community

4. Finnish evaluation is based on teaching

  • Denmark tends to be based more on benchmarking

5. Teachers in Finland are more ambitious

  • They don’t give up on students regardless of their background

6. Special Education is well respected

  • In Finland you require special training to teach special needs students

It was an interesting lecture, listening to someone talk about a country I have started to put on a pedestal in relation to the way they respect students and build independent learners, while they then compare themselves to Finland, just as we do in Australia.  At least for Denmark they begin with a similar homogeneous culture.

So we leave Copenhagen and head towards Berlin for the next adventure in our tour.  I take with me the beauty of a respected youth and culture who believes in education for everyone.  It seems a stark contrast to Australia and now I think about how I may take some of this back with me to Australia.