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 managed to develop a stronger understanding of the Singaporean education system, which is more systematic and efficiency driven. This is also an outcome of our society and culture. The structure of our education system helps all individuals work towards a common goal in education and to provide a standardized education for our students. This is also the most appropriate for our students at this current juncture, as the structure reassures them that the content they are studying are aligned to the higher goals of education.

 

    Another insight I gleaned from this study trip is that education is a common language spoken by all educators in the world. All of us, as educators, want the best for our students and students are always at the heart and centre of our classrooms. Danish or Singaporean, teachers always strive to ensure that all our students are learning in the classroom and that our students grow up to moral, distinguished members of society with good values. The (local and international) teaching fraternity should ultimately be a close-knitted society that focuses on collaboration and working towards the collective cause of our students. As the Danish teachers in one of the public schools we went to described—these are OUR students and we as teachers should work together for their learning. All teachers should strive to work together in teams and to share our ideas, good practices and activities to further elevate all of our teaching practices.

 

    In the trip, I was also impressed by the fact that differentiated instruction or DI, is in the DNA of every Danish teacher. Danish teachers see and practice DI as part of their journey to provide a personalised route of education for each student. They see it as a tool to empower every student and to help build student confidence. The way Singaporean educators see DI is more structured and more methodical while Danish educators view DI from a more practical perspective. Perhaps we as Singaporean educators can adopt some of these best practices and remind ourselves once again that the needs of our students are central to our teaching—It is ultimately the students’ classroom and not ours. By focusing our efforts on understanding each students’ learning profile and needs, we can perhaps more naturally incorporate DI into our lessons.