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The Nordic Countries

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The Nordic Countries Part III The Nordic Countries Iceland Finland Norway Sweden Denmark 8684 Map III.1 The Nordic countries 100 III The Nordic Countries While many people know the term Scandinavia, the cooperating countries in the north of Europe prefer the term ‘Nordic’. This term refers to Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. 1 All countries score high on indexes of human development and wealth. They also have related traditions and intensive political cooperation. The common heritage, culture and educational tradition lead to a comparable view towards excellence, even though there are huge differences in the development of honors education between the countries. Common Heritage and Cooperation The Nordic countries share a large part of their history. While the individual countries have existed in different forms and unions for many centuries (Nordic Council 2014 ), 2 the current division in countries was fi nalized only in the fi rst decades of the twentieth century. This common history is partly expressed in languages: Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and to a lesser extent Icelandic are closely related.3 After World War II, the Nordic countries started intensive forms of cooperation. They form a passport union since 1958, have a common labor market and guarantee free movement of citizens. These practices are regulated by the Nordic Council (for interparliamentary cooperation) and the Nordic Council of Ministers (for intergovernmental cooperation). 4 These councils make common policies and have a budget for projects that facilitate cooperation between the countries. Culture Towards Excellence All the Nordic countries have a twentieth century tradition of focusing on equal opportunities, equity and equality. 5 In popular language, this egalitarianism gains expression in the Law of Jante. 6 Taken from a 1933 novel by Danish-Norwegian 1 It also refers to the autonomous regions of Ǻland, the Faeroes and Greenland, which fall outside the scope of this research. 2 Sweden and Norway formed a united kingdom between 1814 and 1905 while Iceland was dependent upon Denmark. Denmark, Norway and Iceland were ruled in a personal union from the sixteenth century. And before that, in the fi fteenth century all countries were united in the Kalmar Union. See Nordic Council 2014 for more information on Nordic history. 3 While Finnish is completely different, Swedish is an offi cial language in Finland and a compulsory subject in schools. 4 The Nordic Council was introduced in 1952. In 1971, the Nordic Council of Ministers was formed. 5 This can partly be explained by the strong position of socio-democratic parties in all countries. They came up in the early twentieth century and with these parties in power, welfare state provisions were developed throughout the twentieth century. 6 The Law of Jante is Janteloven in Danish and Norwegian and Jantelagen in Swedish. III The Nordic Countries 101 author Aksel Sandemose (Sandemose 1970 [1933]),7 the concept suggests that the culture within Scandinavian countries discourages people from promoting their own achievements over those of others (Scott 2013 , see also Persson et al. 2000 , p. 718). In the novel, ten rules are mentioned that all basically amount to the same: ‘you are not to think you are special or that you are any better than us’. This idea strongly infl uences the Danish, Swedish and Norwegian societies and becomes visible in the university system.8 Different interviewees spontaneously referred to it when asked about the local culture towards excellence. Swedish gifted education researcher Roland Persson thinks these ideas go back even further. Referring mostly to Denmark, Norway and Sweden he states that ‘the strict notion of equality and social collectivism at all levels of society, is best under- stood as an inherent cultural characteristic in which certain political ideals have merged with indigenous traditions and sentiments, which draw on historical facts and events dating from early medieval times and possibly even earlier’ (Persson 2009 , p. 4). The situation for Iceland and especially Finland presents itself differently, due to uniqueness in tradition: ‘Individuality and freedom of choice are emphasized more strongly in the Finnish school system than in any other Scandinavian country’ (Persson et al. 2000 , p. 720). However, the principle of equality is very visible in the structure of the education systems in all Nordic countries. Two important common features are: 1. No tuition fees are charged: (state) education is offered free at all levels, including higher education; 2. Compulsory education is organized in only one type of school (single structure education). A government-funded comprehensive school is available9 for primary and lower secondary education. This school runs from age 6 or 7 to age 15 or 16. After this, upper secondary education is offered at different levels. The rules governing admission to higher education differ between the countries. 7 Sandemose was born in Denmark and has a Danish father and Norwegian mother. He migrated to Norway in 1930 and there the book was fi rst published in 1933. It was later reprinted with a new foreword by the author. 8 Recently, German university professor Linda Maria Koldau published a trilogy called ‘Jante University. Episodes from Life behind the Wall’, giving a (fi ctional) insight in what university life is like in a new public management university based on this law. The book is based on her experiences at a Danish university. 9 In all Nordic countries private education also exists alongside the state system, but everywhere the great majority of pupils attend state schools. More info about private education follows in the country chapters. 102 III The Nordic Countries Nordic Collaboration in Talent Development Education is one of the areas of cooperation in the Nordic Council. At the higher education level, this takes shape in the Nordic Master programs. Since 2007, Nordic higher education institutions can apply for a subsidy to develop a master program which includes university courses from at least three countries (see Nordic Council of Ministers 2014 10 ). There has also been some effort to develop Nordic cooperation in the fi eld of talent development. Denmark initiated a Nordic talent seminar in November 2007. At that time, the Danish organizers concluded that ‘there are many enthu- siasts and local talent development projects in the North, but none of the other Nordic countries have yet developed a formal talent development policy’ (Folketinget 2008 ). 11 In recent years, Denmark has been at the forefront among the Nordic countries in talent development. In August 2013, researchers interested in talent support and excellence in education in the Nordic countries gathered in Denmark and started the Nordic Talent Network. They wrote a manifesto stating the need to make provisions for the talented in the education system in the Nordic countries (Nordisk Talentnetværk 2013 ). 12 The network creates possibilities for more effective lobby- ing. In Boxed text III.1 below, network coordinator Uffe Sveegaard elaborates on the background of the network. Box III.1: ‘Denmark Has a Ten Year Lead on Talent Development in the Nordic Countries’ Interview Uffe Sveegaard, coordinator Nordic Talent Network, based at ScienceTalenter, Denmark ‘In the Nordic countries w e have a tradition of being social-democratic countries where equity has been the leading factor. You couldn’t make special provisions for the very skilled ones [in education]. That would be considered very wrong. Of course you could do that within arts, or football. In sports, everybody knows and accepts that in order to be part of the national team you need to be very skilled. And if you go to the Royal Conservatory to play the violin, you are of course expected to receive an elite training. So everyone agrees to make provisions for the very talented in arts and sports, but never in (continued) 10 These are English-language programs covering at least 120 ECTS. 11 The seminar was organized on the initiative of the Danish Ministry of Education, supported by the Nordic Council of Ministers. 12 The full manifest is published in Danish only. III The Nordic Countries 103 the education system. The [intellectually] skilled children in Denmark were supposed to manage on their own, because it was said that intelligent children are never bored. (…) That has been the attitude. The same goes for the other Nordic countries.’ ‘But in 2004 , Denmark was hit by globalization. Everybody in the political system was suddenly saying: “what are we going to do about this global com- petition?” The Danish ministry of Education then launched a task force to look into provisions for talented children. It turned out that nothing happened. Then the minister launched TalentCamp05. He invited 48 experts within edu- cation, business, arts, sports and so on to be together for 48 hours and have brainstorms about making provisions for the talented and gifted. After Talent Camp 05, (…) more and more politicians and teachers in Denmark have come to the conclusion that you really need to do something for the very skilled and talented. It is a slow turn, but now in Denmark we are the pioneers for the Nordic countries for this agenda.’ ‘Now we are also trying to launch a Nordic cooperation [The Nordic Talent Network]. It is a huge task (…). In August 2013 we had fi fty to sixty people from the Nordic countries here to talk about talent development. This shows that they are aware of this agenda and want to adopt it. (…) I think Norway, Sweden and Finland will slowly come along. They are now where we [in Denmark] were ten years ago.’ In the next chapters, the differences between the Nordic countries in the development of talent in general and honors programs in particular will become clear. We fi rst look at the country that is taking the lead in these developments: Denmark.
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