A survival guide to Danish Education

A survival guide to Danish Education

by Hanne Tange,

School of Business & Social Science

Program:

• Who am I – why am I  doing this?

• Leaving home – going global: some reflections on home & away

• What you see – what you don’t see

• Studying in Denmark: 

six things you may want

to know

Why me?

• Cand. Mag. degree in English and  European Ethnology

• M.Phil.+ Ph.D. from Glasgow  University – so I’ve been an  international student myself

• Lecturer in intercultural

communication and Cultural Studies

• Research on international education

‐ from a lecturer’s perspective

• I am a world scout – and I think it is  cool to be part of a global family! 

I. Leaving home – going global

‐ Some reflections

Leaving home ain’t easy

• Leaving home = a farewell to relatives and  friends; the colleagues whom you really like

• Leaving home = losing your way in an 

unfamiliar organisation, town or university

• Leaving home = strange people speaking in a 

foreign language or accent. Are they talking

about me?

Leaving home ain’t easy

• Being at home = you enjoy the privilege of 

playing with the home team; at home you can take your social position and status for 

granted

• Leaving home means that you have to get

used to playing away – where you have no

established position; where you are the 

stranger

Leaving home ain’t easy

(Endless Mountains Nature Centre, n.d. ]

• 1990: I left Odense to work in  Lancs., UK. I thought I knew English well enough – the first two weeks I didn’t understand  anything . . . 

• 1997: I became a Ph.D. 

student at Glasgow. In  Denmark Ph.D.s were

recognised as staff; in the UK  they were ”mere” students. By  going to Scotland I lost status.  

Going global = leaving home

• When you ”go global,” you arrive with no or only few close allies; you need to build new social 

relationships and networks.

• When you ”go global,” you have to invest an  awful lot of time navigating; getting to the 

university, finding the HR dept., looking for flour in the supermarket. 

• And if you do not speak the language, asking for 

help can be awkward; even if they speak English, 

do you understand their kind of English?

Going global = intercultural learning

Because you will have to  . . . 

• Abandon ethnocentrism: you cannot survive for  long in a foreign country if you insist on using

your home culture as a benchmark.

• Acknowledge that you are in a minority position; 

that the people surrounding you live by different rules.

• Postpone judgement – ask questions. The 

information is out there –but the locals do not 

know what kind of knowledge you are looking for.

II. What you see ‐

and what you don’t see

Reflection

Please discuss with your

neighbour(s) 2-3 things that you

have noticed about Denmark

since your arrival in the country

Did any of you talk about bicycles?

(Perry n.d.)

Bicycles and culture

• Onstage culture:

The things that you can see; your first impressions (what)

• Backstage culture:

Things you cannot see; norms and

values that you only notice and grasp

later (why)

Danes ride bicycles because

• They cannot afford a car

• They are concerned with their health

• They care for the environment

• The buses always run late

• A practical way of getting around town, etc. etc.

The Cultural Iceberg

(Matejovsky 2011)

If you’re expected to be good at

weightlifting back home, but you’re told that at Aarhus University athletics is the most important thing, you will start trying to improve your speed around the track.

But the Danish students have been training for three years already, so of

course they can run faster than you can.

(Prof. Philipp Schröder, quoted in Nielson 2010)

III. Studying in Denmark

‐ six things you may want to know

Six things you may want to know

‐ a survival guide to Danish education

1. Lecturing, learning and talking 2. Student‐teacher relations

3. Problem‐oriented learning 4. Reproduction vs. reflection 5. The Danish students

6. English in a Danish institution

1. Lecturing, learning & talking

(Wikipedia 2007)

• A mixture of forms: lecturing, class discussions, group work, 

presentations, etc.

• Learning: students are responsible for their own learning; we expect you to read and to reflect on your reading. 

• Interaction: students talk in Danish  classes, ask questions, enter into discussions with and perhaps challenge the teacher.

Example

But clearly, there are many of the 

international students who say that they are very puzzled or surprised about the 

relationship between the lecturer and 

[students] – that I, the professor, arrive and  actually, at the same time, will talk to them and try to involve them, as equals, in the  lectures. And that many of the Danish 

students may question or protest against the 

things that I say.  (lecturer, life sciences)

2. Student‐teacher relations

• An informal relationship: 

First names, no titles and plenty of small‐talking with the professors. We like to see Danish education as democratic and egalitarian in nature, which means that the power distance between teacher and students is relatively small. 

• Facilitator rather than authority: 

Teachers will listen to you and ask questions, but rarely provide you with a  final solution. This is not because we lack scientific knowledge but 

because we think you need to work out an answer for yourselves. 

• Danish universalism: 

Despite our informality we make decisions that are nonnegotiable. Please don’t waste our time asking for alternative exam dates and class

schedules. We belive that one set of rules applies to all and find requests for exceptional treatment embarrassing.  

Example

[There] is also a difference between teacher‐

student relations in Germany and the 

Netherlands and here in Denmark.  Well, 

authoritarianism, that is one of the things we talk  about. That we have a more casual way of doing things. Which does not mean that you have no

respect for your fellow‐students and lecturers, of  course you have that, but that it is welcomed and  appreciated if you partake in debates and carry

through an academic argument and discuss with 

your teacher.  (lecturer, humanities)

3. Problem‐oriented learning

[Students] here are expected to try and  work with their own understanding of a  theory or a problem, ask questions when they don’t understand. It also means that the professors do not always give you the  answer, but sometimes will try and make you find the answers yourself. 

(Sørensen and Worm (2004), p. 1)

In other words . .  .

• Danish higher education is inductive rather than deductive,  relying on students’ participation in and engagement with  class and group activities.

• Central to this approach is the project – individual or team‐

based – which requests that you define a problem, seek out  literature to explain your problem, and try to examine your problem from different angles.

• Many local students have tried this before as it plays a key role within the Danish educational system; not all 

international students have encountered such an approach to  learning and may need to learn it!

4. Reproduction or reflection

• Reproduction:

When in written papers and oral exams students uncritically report the information presented in course literature and 

lectures. You will need to unlearn this practice, if you want to  do well in Danish exams!!!

• Reflection:

When you think carefully about a particular question, 

approach this from different perspectives and engage critically with the theories and methods that you use. When you can explain to us why a specific theory or model works for you. 

Example

[Sometimes] with the Danish students I am used to talking a lot and then I leave them to catch

whichever of the balls I throw at them that they

find are most relevant, and then they can ignore

the rest. And here I have found with the foreign

students that if I am talking away, then they will

have written everything down and become very

frustrated about how they can include all of this

in the 25‐50 pages available to them.  (lecturer, 

business)

Meet the locals . . . 

5. The Danish students

‐ playing at home

• Meeting the locals:

International students often describe the Danes as cold or reserved,  but this is unfair. They have well‐established social networks while you have to start anew. Try to participate in sports or social 

activities where you have an opportunity to interact with the locals.  

• Your local experts:

The Danes in your course are the local experts – they know the 

rules of the game. They will explain this to you, but only if you offer  them something in return. Multicultural teamwork is a joint effort – not a one‐way communication. 

• And if you get to know them well, your local classmates may even introduce you to this very important Danish idea of ”hygge” –

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mk‐oOXmMl0&feature=relmfu

6. English – in a Danish university

• Remember ‐ this is not an English‐speaking country; the 

Danes will also have to work in their second or third language.

• Slow down – the people you meet in class or around town may not have heard your kind of English before and will need to adjust to it.

• And ‐ if you are really brave – you may want to have a go at  the impossible, tongue‐twisting Danish language:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m64WfHTWZps

Welcome – velkommen – to Århus

‐ enjoy your stay!

List of references

• Denmarkdotdk. (2010). Danes on Hygge. [video online]. 

Available at: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m64WfHTWZps&featur e=relmfu [Accessed 23‐8‐2012]

• Denmarkdotdk. (2011). The Danish Language. [video  online]. Available at:   

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m64WfHTWZps&featur e=relmfu [Accessed 23‐8‐2012].

• Nielson, I.2010. New Report Modifies Old Prejudices. 

Univers 11, p. 2.

• Sørensen, B. and Worm, B. 2004. Guidelines for 

International Students at OUC. Odense, OUC, unpublished,  p. 1. 

List of illustrations

Endless Mountains Nature Center (n.d.). Compass. Found at 

http://www.emnconline.org/birthday_party.php [Accessed 23‐8‐

2012].

Matejovsky, S. (2011), Iceberg Model [online]. Found at  

http://www.diploweb.com/Understanding‐culture‐and‐managing.html [Accessed 23‐8‐2012].

Perry, P. (n.d.). Boy riding a bicycle. [Online]. Found at 

http://www.clipartguide.com/_pages/0511‐1011‐1011‐5038.html [Accessed 23‐8‐2012].

Whalen, J. (2011). Confused person. Found at 

http://isedb.com/20111103‐16032.php [Accessed 23‐8‐2012].

Wikipedia (2007). Teaching. [online]. Found at 

http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fil:Teaching.png [Accessed 23‐8‐2012].

Wulffmorgenthaler (2004). The Founders of Scandinavia. [online]. 

Found at www.detbedste.com. [Accessed 23‐8‐2012].