Teachers say Danish schools are not failing on every front

Two teachers say there is more to Denmark’s public schools than falling test results and complaints about phones, discipline and special treatment. Speaking to DR’s P1 host Svend Brinkmann, Henrik Froholdt and Stig Thorup Winther said they remain fond of their pupils and their jobs, while arguing that the challenges facing schools are more complicated than public debate suggests.

The teachers, colleagues at Gug School, a large public school in Aalborg, were guests on Brinkmann’s Briks. They said there are many possible reasons for declining Danish results in the latest PISA assessment, and that a problem in one class may not be a problem in another.

At Gug School, pupils’ phones are already locked away during the school day. Winther said screens can cause problems, but sees those as a challenge for society as a whole, not just schools. “We all struggle with it at home, and sometimes with ourselves too, saying: ‘Put that screen away now,’” he said.

The teachers also said classroom authority is not always automatic. Winther, who has taught for 23 years, said he has always had to show pupils that he is the teacher. Froholdt said clear expectations and classroom leadership matter, but that the same approach can work one day and fail the next.

They argued that meeting pupils’ individual needs should be a collaboration between schools and families, rather than a service provided on demand. Froholdt said inclusion requires consideration of different needs, but that parents and teachers can have different ideas about what that means. Winther said teachers should make clear what they can offer, while recognising that some children need help beyond what a public-school teacher can provide.

Gug School has three or four classes at each grade level from the introductory grade through ninth grade, according to DR. Froholdt has taught for 16 years and teaches subjects including music, mathematics, and science and technology. Winther teaches mainly history, mathematics, and music.