Chapter 8: Nordisk Education—A Question of Perspective?

In 2012 the Danish Ministry of Education launched the program New Nordic School in order to change the Folkeskole, the public school, which is supposed to project clear references to values, principles, and educational positions in the Nordic school tradition. “By virtue of a reinterpretation of the Nordic schooling and Bildung tradition New Nordic School must form the basis for the development of the Nordic societies where equal opportunities are given pride of place,” as noted in the booklet Aim, Manifesto and Dogma of New Nordic School (Regeringen, 2014).

According to the new program the relationship between academic achievements and Bildung should not be a matter of either-or, but rather a matter of both-and. Educators and teachers should focus on evidence-based teaching, standardization of objectives and content as well as national tests. There are several indications that the school reform intends to replace the traditional educational thinking with a new understanding of teaching, schooling, and understanding. However, the question is how Nordic this New Nordic School initiative really is.