Global Education Reform Movement: Challenge to Nordic Childhood
Keywords:
Global Education Reform Movement (GERM), Danish education, Nordic social pedagogic tradition, early childhood education, developmentally appropriate practiceAbstract
In the Nordic countries there is a general concern for early years and the challenges facing early childhood education and care in an era of increasing globalization, with focus on accountability and academic competition (Ringsmose, Kragh-Müller, 2017).
In Denmark, the social pedagogical tradition has been part of the culture of early childhood education for decades. In the social pedagogical tradition, relationships, play, and children’s influence are considered of key importance, and as the child’s natural way to learn about, and make sense of the world. It is considered that children learn and explore through play and participation embedded in the culture.
Recently, the ministry of education has discussed more focused learning plans, and has tried out a program with more structured learning approaches. The gradual changes, together with the possible political action, are changes seriously threatening the social pedagogical tradition with more school-like, and more structured ways for children to interact. The purpose of this article is to present the Danish example as an alternative to the schoolification of early years that we see in many countries.
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