We decided to do a research project on civic education as it was something we were all interested in. Our project will examine how civic education is taught in Scandinavia. We each decided to focus on a specific country within the area and compare and contrast our findings. We were all fascinated by the happiness levels present in Denmark and other parts of Scandinavia. We also all have some heritage residing from there and thought it would be interesting to learn more about their ways of life. We will unpack the styles of government and types of schooling, and then we will discuss how this contributes to the success of active citizenship. We want to understand how their residents are so happy and if their mental health correlates with education and citizenship.

I am going to look specifically at Denmark. My great grandparents are from Denmark and Norway and growing up I often did research projects on one of the two countries. They have always seemed like wonderful places to live, and I wanted to further research aspects of the culture to try to understand why. I have not researched their civic education system before this project so I am enjoying learning about it.

Some of our preliminary findings are that Scandinavia is one of the regions of the world that uses a lot of their resources to benefit their schools. This academic journal covers the overarching ideals of civic engagement with classrooms. “In Denmark, Norway, and Sweden the aim is not only to train the students’ skills and enhance their knowledge of democracy, but also to create a context in which the students gain experience of self-dependence in social, political, and democratic processes.” This study focuses on democratization of the primary school, students’ political self confidence and self-belief and how students can engage not only in politics at the national level but also the local levels in their schools.

This academic journal analyzes the impacts of the schooling environment and civic education in Scandinavia. The journal is based on historical and secondary analysis of the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS). With the help from this academic journal, we can explore the research and look into Scandinavia as a whole instead of by each country. This may give us a more holistic view of the research question and our understanding of civic education in Scandinavia.

I have also learned that Denmark Civic and Citizenship Education (CCE) is based on a whole school approach. This means it entails a combination of cross-curriculum, curricular, and non-curricular elements. The way school principals implement CCE depends on what they value most of the specific components. By tradition Denmark employs relatively progressive education and emphasizes personal and cultural maturation in the process of human development and this concept is at the center of the CCE system there. This article is helpful because it gives a nice overview on the Danish CCE and its values it promotes. I know it is reliable because it is a chapter from a published book Influences of the IEA Civic and Citizenship Education Studies.

Both authors have taken part in many credible studies and are educated in psychology and civic education and were a part of the IEA. The “IEA (International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement) is an international cooperative of national research institutions, governmental research agencies, scholars, and analysts working to research, understand, and improve education worldwide.” I am excited to continue researching and learning more.

Sources:

 Bruun, Jens. (2021). Civic and Citizenship Education in Denmark 1999–2019: Discourses of Progressive and Productive Education. 10.1007/978-3-030-71102-3_5.

Democratic Experience and the Democratic Challenge: A Historical and Comparative Citizenship Education Study of Scandinavian Schools. B Lieberkind, Jonas.