Behavioural disorders in Danish schools: a qualitative analysis of background factors

A national survey has shown that the incidence of serious behavioural problems in Danish schools stands at 10 per cent. The present qualitative study makes use of a broad-spectrum ecological model in the search for aetiological factors underlying behavioural disturbance. The study covers 34 typical Danish schools matched in pairs on the basis of degree of disturbance in the national survey. The results indicate behavioural problems to be related more to system factors than to purely individual factors.     

Country Briefing: Special education in Denmark

Denmark is a country with a relatively high expenditure on education, and was one of the first countries in the Integration movement. Now the country is including all but 1.25 per cent of all pupils in a comprehensive school. The 1.25 per cent are attending special schools or special classes. To make this possible, 13 per cent of all students in regular schools on a yearly basis receive special needs education support as a supplement to regular education. Special education within the regular school system has existed for 99 years, and special teacher training has a 66-year history, originating in training of speech therapists. At present, the prevalence of special needs education is between 25 and 35 per cent, and this gives rise to questions about the relation between special needs education and differentiation of instruction which, in turn, has implications for training of teachers in special needs education.     

Behavioural disorders in Danish schools: a quantitative survey

Behavioural problems in schools have been a topic of political debate in Denmark recently. The last time the topic was in the news was before the establishing of special educational provisions for pupils with social and emotional disorders in the 1960s. As a result of the recent debate, a national survey was made. It shows that the incidence of serious problems is 10 per cent. Comparisons with earlier studies indicate that there is an increase in behavioural problems during the first years of primary schooling. A multivariate analysis shows that pupils gender, the degree of urbanization, teacher experience and geographical location are significant predictors of disturbance, while school size, class size, teacher age and gender are insignificant.     

PBL:大学课程的改革与创新

本文阐述了PBL的基本概念、学习原理以及不同层面PBL课程改革需要考虑的因素。以技术、人文与社会课程(旨在提高工程师的社会责任感)为案例,分析了三种不同形式的教案设计:以传统授课为基础的教学设计、单门课程的PBL教学设计及交叉学科的PBL课程设计。最后得出结论:交叉学科的PBL方法是一种比传统授课模式更有效的课程设计,可以有效地提高和促进学生的认知学习、合作学习、内容掌握、自我满意程度及职业认同感等。     

Educational assessment in Danish schools

This profile describes the methods used for assessing pupils in Danish schools. The Danish school system is rooted in traditions going back almost 200 years. The per pupil expenditure is the highest of any country at the level of primary education and at the lower secondary level is only exceeded by three countries. Public satisfaction with the system has generally been high, but international comparisons have shown disappointing results. This may be a result of complacency and possibly also of a weak evaluation culture in a country without a national curriculum, without marking before grade eight, and without national tests of proficiency before the end of grade nine. However, there are changes underway in terms of strengthening the evaluation culture.     

School Closure: What are the consequences for the local society?

School closures have been common in rural areas since the middle of the last century, when new and modern schools replaced small old‐fashioned schools with only one or two classrooms. Due mainly to the industrialisation of farming and hastened by the merging and globalisation of industry, the last 50 years have seen a migration of people from rural areas to large towns. This has caused closures of schools built in the 1950s and 1960s, which had been the pride of and a sign of development in local societies. These closures most often give rise to heated debate, the main cry of protest being that the closure of the school is a death‐blow to the local society. The present study is based on a qualitative analysis performed in 2003 of 30 Danish school closures in the period 1990–1999. The results show that school closure in itself does not have the devastating effects mentioned in the debate. The main problem for local societies is a lack of people and thus lack of human capital, and in remote areas and on small islands school closure is a sign of a community in the final phase of the death process, not a cause.