Denmark is Grundtvig

Hello All,

This past Friday afternoon, a Danish classmate of mine named Marten taught me how to play an old Viking lawn game called Kubb.  It's a sort of mixture between horseshoes and bowling and is very entertaining.  While we played, Marten and I got into a discussion about the learning environment in Denmark.

I'd already had a little history on Danish academic tradition courtesy of my Fulbright orientation and I learned that a lot of it stems from the work of a 19th century Danish intellectual named N. F. S. Grundtvig.  Grundtvig believed, contrary to popular belief at the time, that all citizens should be educated with the goal of preparing them for active participation in society.  The emphasis, he posited, should be on freedom of expression, creativity, equality and cooperation.

Through Grundtvig's efforts a series of "folk high schools" were established throughout Denmark in which his theories were put into practice.  These schools, and the ideas on which they were based, became intertwined not only with Danish academic tradition but also in the Danish national conscience as a whole.  As part of this legacy, the Danish academic system (and my university in particular) is very student-centric.  Students, the Danes believe, should be encouraged to design their own study plans and to question anything the professor says if they feel it is flawed.

The Master's program I am enrolled is international, and contains students from all over the world.  About a third of the students are Chinese; a nation, I have learned, with a very different academic tradition.  Chinese students rarely, if ever, ask questions during class  When I asked one student why this was, she replied that it would be considered rude in China.  Chinese students, I have found, are also much more likely to complete an assignment by addressing its requirements precisely and ensuring that it has the proper form.  They rarely question motives or established processes.  A Dane once summed it by telling me of a time in class where Danish students were having a lively discussion about government motives and environmental protection while the Chinese students were silent.  The professor asked one Chinese student his opinion and the student replied with something to the effect of: "Sometimes, government just knows best."

It is interesting to me to think about where the American educational focus falls on this entirely unscientific continuum of styles.  While at first glance most of us would reject the "Chinese" model and find a lot to admire in the "Danish" one, I think that we may admire it for the wrong reasons.  It's appeal, in my opinion, is not necessarily the freedom and creativity it promotes, though they are certainly admirable.  It is the emphasis on equally preparing all citizens for participation in their nation's society.  Denmark provides free education, including college, for all its students.  And, lo and behold, China has recently begun to take steps toward ensuring that its poorest residents receive extra money to pay for their children's education.

If, as a nation, we do not do more to ensure that all our students have the ability to get a full college education regardless of wealth, it won't matter whether we promote the free-spirited "Danish" model or the rigid "Chinese" one.  We'll have already failed.