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Yew Ning Denmark Study Trip Reflection

The spirit of collaboration is present among students and teachers, school leaders, parents, and the nation (Denmark), which takes on a strong community spirit. While community learning is present in Singapore’s education, how can we strengthen it? What are the reasons for strengthening it? Are there better variations, how can I adapt this in the classroom and a whole-school approach? It is important to be critically minded when exposed to various new ideas and not just accept them as they are. There needs to be a lens to analyse these ideas – especially relating these ideas to the Singapore context and our approaches to education. I recognise that while these ideas fit in Denmark’s education, it has their boons and banes, and we need to be aware of the pros and cons of the flexibility in the educational system. For example, some Danish teachers have shared their challenges in authority in the classroom. However, because of this flexibility, students are comfortable with discussions, a...
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Han Dong's reflections

  This Denmark study trip highlighted the similarities and differences between the Singapore cultures and the Danish culture, and how these similarities and differences lead to significant difference in our mindset in approaching education. There is no right or wrong in education. After all, humans are complex and difficult to understand. However, the context of a society have to be considered in order to decide which kind of approaches to adopt for our education/classroom pedagogy.   This study trip has reaffirmed my notion that education needs a whole nation approach. The previous generation gone through a certain type of education, and is hence educated to think in a certain way. If a large scale change in education is proposed, it is almost impossible for it to succeed if the mindset (or rather, willingness to change) of the society does not first change. However, mindsets are hard to change, so aren’t we stuck in a cycle where nothing can be done? While I don’t think a la...
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TeamDenmark Group 1 🇩🇰

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  Fun in the Sun with Group One!! Denmark was a blessing to visit as a final learning and sharing experience to have to our NIE journey! Read on to join us in our fun ☺️ Denmark Reflections  The observations we made are admittedly small scale and may not be truly reflective of Denmark’s schools and society. Reader discretion is to be advised. Denmark as a country and as an Education System provided another perspective that was eye-opening for us teachers from the Singapore and the Singapore Education System. The innate cultural differences in both countries influence what each system prioritises and how it functions. As what a teacher said, “Education is the soul of society” and as we can see, Singapore and Denmark are vastly different societies and thus placing different levels of importance on the different nuances of life. Denmark as a welfare state and Singapore as a meritocratic state thus vastly influences how the education system has been propagated.  The balance o...
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Melissa Leow's Learning in Denmark Trip

Education the culture of Danish is very different from that of Singapore’s. the overall approach to education was more process-driven than performance-oriented. It was definitely a culture shock to me but it had me more intrigued to find out more about their beliefs. And so, there is a general consensus that the system is built on the trust established between different stakeholders (eg. Between teachers and students, government and teachers, etc). In the context of the education system, it was evident that this translated to the differences.  Flexibility: Being able to bring students out for their lessons when they deem suitable and bridging the gap between content and context seaminglessly. For example, bringing students out on field trips to better understand the biodiversity of animals and plants. Additionally, teachers are able to plan and structure their students’ learning objectives over a span of years as they follow students up during their schooling years. Structure: But ...
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Clarence Denmark Study Trip Reflection

     The study trip to Copenhagen was a refreshing experience, where I had the opportunity to interact with students and teachers from Danish public schools as well as student-teachers and lecturers from University College, Copenhagen. Throughout the week, I learnt a lot more details about the Danish education system and also had the chance to observe lessons in Danish classrooms first-hand.          This trip has reinforced my perception that education is context-dependent and there really is no right or wrong in the different education systems adopted in the world. The Danish education system is one that focuses a lot on processes and on the joy of learning as well as teaching. Upon further conversations with locals, I realized that this is a product of the Danish culture, which emphasizes on mutual trust and self-exploration. The system and policies adopted by the Danes are appropriate to the context and culture of Denmark. At the same time, I ...
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Denmark Trip Reflection by Si Qi

During the course of this study trip, we visited different schools in Copenhagen. I appreciated the opportunity to interact with different stakeholders— from principals and teachers of public schools to lecturers and student-teachers from the University College Copenhagen (UCC).   With Danish kids ranked the happiest students in the world, there were a lot to glean from the pedagogical practices employed by educators. Danish students often exemplify “joy of learning”, which Singaporean educators seek to inculcate in our students. A statement made by a Danish secondary school principal perfectly sums up the core ideology underpinning education in Denmark,    “the classroom belongs to students and not to the teacher”. Each lesson is carefully planned to meet the learning style and interests of the students, with great autonomy given in learning tasks. For example, in a grade 7 class, students were tasked to create a presentation on the theme of health. Students were given a...
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Live to work or Work to Live

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