Case Study: Denmark Alternative Education Fostered by Support Mechanisms Cultivated Through the History of the Common People

Abstract

Denmark, an enthusiastically education-minded nation, is among the European Union (EU) countries with the highest spending on education (as a percentage of GNP). That enthusiasm, however, does not take the heated forms of competition in scholastic skills or examination hell. Rather, it appears to be fostering movement toward greater care for the psychological peace and well-being of individual children and young people. This is an education that is in a certain sense free of pressure, but by no means does this mean that public literacy in Denmark is low. Indeed, it is among the highest in Europe.¹ It does not necessarily follow from this that a thoroughly efficient system of education and training exists in Denmark, but we can say that a free and noncompetitive educational community that values dialogue has come into being there. This case study will proceed to examine the modality of alternative education in such a society by placing the focus on its support mechanisms.