Denmark

From EUDECWiki

[edit] Information from Niels Lawaetz (former democratic school teacher)

1) Is it possible to found a democratic school in Denmark?

Not really. The state requires all schools to follow a curriculum. The state has its own curriculum. Schools can decide not to follow it, but then they have to make their own, and every subject included in the state curriculum must be covered. Students are required to do activities that enable them to learn the subject material. The parents have to check that the school is working. And the school board names someone from outside the school to monitor the school’s success in following the law and its own curriculum. This person, who can be anyone other than a board member, writes a report. If either a parent or this person complains to the government, then the school will get inspected by the ministry. These laws make it almost impossible to operate a democratic school as defined by EUDEC. There are a lot of free schools, from a tradition of alternative education that started over 100 years ago. But many of these are deciding to have exams because if they don’t, the ministry makes a lot of trouble, and the kids have a hard time continuing their education. There are at least two schools with democratic school meetings.

2) Is there any movement by the state school system to introduce democratic structures into schools?

There used to be a very strong system of student voice in the state school system, but the government has been trying to cut back on this. Danish law once required every school to be “based on democracy”. Now the wording has been changed from “based on” to “influenced by”. Student voice has been pretty limited. Students are now only allowed to vote on issues related to the school environment, not curriculum or teacher hiring, etc. In general, it can be said that teachers in Denmark listen more to students than is customary in other countries. And Danish students have relatively a good deal of freedom in their work, for instance deciding how to solve problems.

3) What is the current political trend in education in Denmark?

“Back to basics”. More testing, a larger curriculum, more conservative approaches. About 5 to 8 years ago, the state curriculum was no more than a book of recommended subject areas. Now it’s a law that all subject areas must be covered. Previously, it was every school’s job to help prepare their students for society. This was an ideal setting for private schools. The changes in regulations came as a result of PISA testing and a change of government. The general opinion of the public also seems to be that the children need to learn more, which means a return to conservative educational values.

4) Is homeschooling legal/tolerated?

Yes. Homeschooling is totally legal. There are very few people who do it, so there are not many rules. More than half of the families that choose to homeschool do so because they are unhappy with their child’s last school and are in the process of looking for a new one. Very few homeschool out of principle. The local government appoints someone to be your “supervisor”; this is normally a teacher from the local state school or indeed the head. The supervisor must make sure the children are learning in a way that reflects the normal curriculum. Some are strict, and some just never come and check, or only come to see whether the children look happy. They are generally stricter if you are homeschooling an older child. The parents have to agree with the community on a good way to check what progress is being made. Usually a nice solution can be found. There is no standard practice for supervising homeschooling families. Generally, it can be said that there is a positive movement in this area, and it’s getting easier to homeschool.