Education

Elisabeth Staksrud is professor in media and communications at the University of Oslo.

2021.03.04 | Podcast, Elisabeth Staksrud, Media, Education

Norway: Uncovering Nordic Childhood in an Online World with Elisabeth Staksrud

Children being exposed to a certain level of risk is not always seen as a bad thing in the Nordics; exposure can give children the tools to deal with risk and help them to become resilient and independent. The attitude of caregivers, teachers and children in the Nordics to online risk also reflects this approach - while elsewhere in the world a…

Janne Holmén is Associate Professor in the Department of Education at the University of Uppsala in Sweden.

2021.02.15 | Podcast, Janne Holmén, Education, Public policy

Sweden: Uncovering Nordic Education and Society with Janne Holmén

This podcast tackles a wide-range of factors about the educational systems of the Nordic countries, focusing primarily on Sweden and comparisons with Finland. On the way, it answers the following questions: Why does the Finnish education system have such a good reputation around the world? After decades of reform, is the Swedish education…

The interplay between schooling, religion, and political decision-making at the local and national level is complex. Listen to Mette Buchardt providing a historical overview of how all these issues weave together from 1950 to today. Photo: Yadid Levy, Norden.org (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).

2021.01.28 | Podcast, Mette Buchardt, Education, Multiculturalism

Podcast: Migrant Children in the Nordics: A Conversation on Schooling

In current times, schools are often hot spots for education policy initiatives driven by party politics. Encounters between the majority ethnic group and newcomer children can be exaggerated or underplayed depending on the political context, and it can be a highly contested area. In this podcast, the head of Aalborg University’s Centre for…

Members of the armed forces on exercise in Sweden. Photo: Johannes Jansson, norden.org, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

2020.09.01 | Article, Beate Sløk Andersen, Gender, Culture, Education

Humor in the military professions: a case study on exclusion in the Nordics

In principle, all levels of the male-dominated professions in the Nordic countries are accessible to men and women alike. But, informal processes of exclusion may interfere with gender integration; an extensive use of humor can, for example, interfere with women’s attempts to become part of the military profession. While military organizations are…

Were correspondence courses in Tanzania in 1960s and 1970s essentially 'Swedish' or 'African' or a mixture of both? Photo: colourbox.dk.

2020.03.02 | Article, Nikolas Glover, The Nordics in the World, Education, Research

Nordic adult educators encounter Tanzanian development in the 1960s and 1970s

In 1962 Sweden was said to be the country with the most extensive correspondence education enrolment per capita in the world. This was explained with reference to its sparse and widespread population with a high level of literacy, an efficient publishing industry and reliable postal services. None of these conditions existed in Tanganyika (renamed…

Studio-Based Learning is not only for the arts, but is also used to teach students to think imaginatively in business for example. Picture: KADK, The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts Schools of Architecture, Design, and Conservation, Denmark. Source: https://kadk.dk/galleri/

2019.10.17 | Article, Sille Julie J. Abildgaard, Education, Business, Research

Studio-Based Learning in the Nordics

Studio-Based Learning (SBL) is an educational tradition with a student-centered approach. The practice originates in Northern Europe, where Nordic arts and design programs have a long tradition of using studio spaces for teaching. The physical space is considered a powerful factor in facilitating learning and accomplishing instructional goals, and…

The SIPRI Year Book is the main publication of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. It is published every year accounting for armaments, military spending and conflicts internationally. Photo: Courtesy of SIPRI.

2019.03.26 | The Quick Read, Thomas Hylland Eriksen, Education

Peace studies in the Nordics

A number of peace research institutes emerged in the Nordics from around 1960. They were initially seen as politically radical and interdisciplinary with a focus on the applied rather than the academic side of peace studies. Since them, they have become more part of the establishment, advising governments and producing staff skilled in peace…

Heyerdahl directed archaeological excavations in a variety of places including Easter Island and Azerbaijan. Photo: Kon-Tiki Museum (CC BY 3.0)

2019.03.20 | Biography, Thomas Hylland Eriksen, Education

Thor Heyerdahl (1916-2002)

The Norwegian scientist Thor Heyerdahl was internationally renowned for leading expeditions across vast oceans in rudimentary vessels.

An illustration of the Indo-European and Uralic language trees. Art by Minna Sundberg. Courtesy of Tom Wigley. (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).

2019.03.15 | The Quick Read, Marc Pierce, Education

Linguistics in the Nordics

The scientific study of language form and meaning, including the specialised branch of runology, has been a prominent academic pursuit in the Nordics since the Middle Ages.

Sundbyberg's folk high school in Sweden. Photo: Wikimedia, CC0.

2019.03.01 | The Quick Read, Kyle Frackman, Education, Democracy

Nordic folk high schools

Folk high schools are institutions which provide general and vocational education for young people and adults. Based on the philosophy of Danish educator, pastor, and religious revivalist N.F.S. Grundtvig (1783-1872), the first school was founded in Denmark in 1844, but the concept spread to other Nordic countries in the following decades. There…