Karen Egedal Andreasen

Standardised Testing In Compulsory Schooling In England And Denmark: A Comparative Study And Analysis

Within education, national testing is flourishing and, considering the important role which assessment plays in the production and reproduction of culture, it is important to examine further the possible impact of such practice. While England has a long tradition of national educational testing, Denmark, in contrast, has only recently introduced such tests. Thus the two countries present excellent cases for comparison and analysis in order to gain knowledge about the possible consequences of such testing schemes on pedagogy and the content of the school curriculum, as well as the impact they may have on pupils’ perceptions of their potential academic skills. This article draws on research into the national testing of reading conducted in England and Denmark in spring 2013 and draws on the work of Basil Bernstein to compare and contrast both sets of national assessment practices.

Assessing Children in the Nordic Countries: Framing, Diversity and Matters of Inclusion and Exclusion in a School for All

Recent tendencies within assessment in comprehensive school in Nordic countries raise the question of the role of different practices of assessments, on how assessments are being used, for which purposes and the consequences of this. Assessments can be considered to be an integrated part of formal educational settings, in different forms and used for different purpose. In the chapter we will discuss and analyse the use of assessments in comprehensive school in the Nordic countries through time, as we will include different kinds of documentary and empirical studies in the argumentation. We will focus on which kinds of assessments have been used, for which purposes and the role of this in the perspective of society. More contemporary trends will be discussed, specifically the use of standardised testing. The Nordic countries differ at some points concerning the use of assessments of this character. Assessments point to and create differences between pupils and play a key role in processes of socialisation, marginalisation and in- and exclusion in society, as discussed by theorists such as Bourdieu and Bernstein. If the comprehensive school is based on the general idea of a school for all, how can different ways of practising assessment support or work against this idea? What conclusions can be drawn from the experiences in the Nordic countries?

Education governance and standardised tests in Denmark and England

Abstract In this study we identify and compare the impact of standardised student assessment in England, an established neoliberal context, and in Denmark where a neoliberal education reform agenda is emerging in response to both national concerns and international governance. National reading tests for students aged 11–12 years, long established in England, were introduced in Denmark in 2010. The form they take differs considerably, being primarily formative in Denmark and largely summative in England. Culturally sensitive extended semi-structured interviews are conducted with both teachers and students and analysed to identify the extent to which neoliberal reform is mobilised through testing in each context and how testing shapes curriculum and pedagogy. Significantly, we find that in Denmark, where professional judgement still dominates, teachers often deploy pedagogical approaches to service what they believe to be their students’ best interests. In England, however, teachers try to accommodate a concern for both their students’ and their own interests, and the pedagogy they enact is more often controlling, instrumental and reductionist; their wish to be proactive is compromised by their need to be responsive. Hence we show how policy technologies shape practice to undermine a deliberate pedagogy rooted in ideas legitimated though scholarship and experience.

The Standard Child

National testing is an institutionalised practice that has been the subject of much debate, including how it can be used by students, parents, and teachers as well as how outcomes affect decision making of principals, local authorities and policy makers. Testing of this kind has been reported to shape students’ motivation for learning.

Reforming Vocational Didactics by Implementing a New VET Teacher Education in Denmark: Tensions and Challenges Reflected in Interviews with Vocational College Teachers.

A new education program, Diploma of Vocational Pedagogy, has recently been implemented in Denmark to upskill vocational college teachers and improve didactics at VET colleges in general. Among many challenges, vocational college teachers have to adapt their pedagogy to a large number of students from backgrounds with no tradition for education. Despite historical changes, the education as vocational college teacher also struggles with the interplay between theory and practice in the program and great diversity among vocational college teachers. Based on empirical data from focus group interviews with students from the Diploma of Vocational Pedagogy program and concepts developed by Bernstein and Bourdieu, the article analyzes how these aspects might affect the development of new vocational didactics. We know that it is not easy to change the culture of educational institutions, and the analysis uncovers several factors that are expected to hamper the development processes.

VET Again: Now as a VET Teacher

In 2010, a mandatory teacher training course was introduced for new vocational college teachers in Denmark. Since then, all vocational teachers have to complete the same course, regardless of practical work experience and educational background. After completion, they apply the knowledge to a very specific practice (i.e. teaching within a specific vocational field at a specific type of college). Thus, individual teachers experience different ‘learning trajectories’, depending on the vocational field and place of employment. They amass different experiences, including going back to school, just like newly enrolled students at a vocational college. This paper is based on empirical data from a qualitative study. It examines the learning trajectories of vocational teachers who choose to return to vocational colleges as VET teachers. Based on the analyses of two cases, we discuss the consequences for teachers’ pedagogical practice at vocational colleges and its potential for solving various challenges that colleges face.

Implicit Knowledge of General Upper Secondary School in a Bridge-building Project

ABSTRACT Bridge-building activities are practiced widely in the education systems of Europe. They are meant to bridge transitions between lower and upper secondary school and form a mandatory part of the youth guidance system in Denmark. By giving pupils the opportunity to experience the different educational context of upper secondary school, bridge-building activities are meant to facilitate their decision-making on educational paths, but also to attract more and new groups of pupils. However, the premises of the inherent differences of educational contexts and of pupils’ lacking knowledge of upper secondary education can be questioned. In this ethnographic case study of a bridge-building project in a rural area in Denmark, we analyse the implicit knowledge of the general upper secondary school, as it is practiced in a bridge-building project, and how it is experienced by the pupils on the background of their prior knowledge. The analysis is theoretically informed by especially the code concepts of Basil Bernstein.