“Experience Democracy By Living In It”: Danish perspectives of children as individual beings

As I reflect back on this semester, with only a few weeks left until the end (unbelievable, I know!), I have noticed an underlying theme within all of the topics we have read about and discussed in my core course for child development and education. Throughout Danish pedagogical practice, it is clear that there is a strong emphasis on values of independence, autonomy, and self-efficacy as children are encouraged to develop these qualities as a part of their own character at the earliest age possible. This also goes hand-in-hand with a prominent belief that children should learn about democracy and learn how to become democratic citizens by experiencing it for themselves. Daycares and schools try to create democratic environments for children to promote their development into democratic beings with the appropriate values and skills.

For example, as discussed in my last post, Danish children are provided with opportunities for free play everyday where they get to decide how they spend their time and with whom they want to play with, which often occurs without adult supervision or interference. In fact, providing children with the opportunity for free play is a majority of daycares’ goal and priority as a way to create the best environments and experiences for them. As a result, children can explore their own interests and learn a variety of skills and competences that are most relevant to their own lives, including skills of communication and problem solving among peers as conflicts may arise during play.

Another area where values of independence, self-efficacy, and democracy in Danish pedagogical practice are clear is an emphasis on ensuring that the voices and perspectives of each individual child is heard and understood. In fact, Danish child care tradition believes it is children’s right to be heard and given influence over their everyday lives. It is even included in Danish law where daycare institutions are required to do an annual intake of children’s opinions and perspectives regarding their experiences at daycare to inform developments of daily practices and environments. I think this is another major difference between daycare practices in Denmark versus those in the U.S where we don’t really ask children for their input and feedback on how daycares or schools are performing and how we might improve experiences for them.

Examples of free play and a focus on children’s rights and voices illustrates Danish child care institutions’ child-centered approaches. Each child’s well-being and holistic development is prioritized and used to structure the services provided to them. I admire this approach where the child care system and institutions are centered around the needs and wants of its primary stakeholders (the children and their families) who are also included in the process. It ensures that the institutions are, in fact, serving the children, which should be its main function. Overall, I feel that the U.S can learn from this aspect of Danish pedagogical practice where children are valued as individual beings with their own valuable voices and experiences that can offer a new perspective.