Danish Pedagogy & Social Values

The aim of this event is to provide insights into some of the social values guiding pedagogical practices in Danish educational settings. 

We will do this by highlighting the somewhat contradictory pedagogical aims of ‘learning to be social’ – which involve both cultivating strong sentiments of social togetherness (fællesskab) and working to develop self-autonomy such that one can ‘be oneself’  (at være sig selv). We will also touch on other cornerstones of Danish pedagogy focused on creating particular moralities of sociability and co-existence. These include obligations to ‘make room for everybody’, ‘fit oneself in,’ and ‘participate and contribute to the whole’. 

The event will end with a brief discussion of the implicit hierarchies and ‘symbolic fences’ that many of us feel we bump into but don’t always understand. After the talk, there will be room for questions and answers.

Sally Anderson

Sally Anderson, a trained anthropologist with many years of experience in children's everyday sociality, will share her knowledge and experience with us.

Sally is an American who moved to Denmark in 1976. Here, she married a Dane, raised children and took her final university degrees (Magister, PhD). During her studies, she taught part time at Copenhagen International School. Trained as an anthropologist, she has worked, until just recently, in the Department of Educational Anthropology at Aarhus University.

Sally Anderson has done fieldwork in a wide array of Danish institutions: public schools, faith-based private schools, children’s sports associations and city integration projects. She is presently working with the Center for Children and Nature at Copenhagen University. Central to all of her research has been the question of children’s everyday sociality and what they may be learning about the world from participating in a wide range of valued social practices: birthday parties, morning song, common meals, Wednesday sports and more.

Nanja Holland Hansen

Nanja Holland Hansen brings a psychological and comparative perspective to our understanding of educational values and cultural experiences. Born and raised in Copenhagen, she moved to the United States at 21, where she completed both her Bachelor’s and master’s degrees in psychology and later worked professionally, most recently at Stanford University. After returning to Denmark in 2016 with her Danish husband and children, Nanja completed a PhD at the Department of Clinical Medicine at Aarhus University in 2022. She holds postdoctoral positions at Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen and Herlev and Gentofte Hospital and teaches at several Danish universities, including Aarhus University, the University of Copenhagen, and the Technical University of Denmark. Alongside her academic roles, she runs a private clinical practice. Her research focuses on compassion and mental health, particularly how compassion can be embedded as a core value in healthcare systems and how compassionate communities can be supported among families living with type 1 diabetes.

In her contribution to this event, Nanja will draw on her personal experiences as a student in Danish folkeskole and gymnasium, as well as her time in an American high school and US universities, to offer comparative insights into educational culture and values. She will also reflect on her experiences as a parent of children moving between different educational systems, and will discuss these life experiences through the lens of psychology — with special attention to the perspectives of children themselves.

The event is co-funded by the European Union through the Interreg ØKS program and is part of the Cross-border Talent Bridge project. Learn more about the project here.

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