From a Nordic and British perspective, the history of education is a vibrant field of knowledge production. It invites scholars from the humanities and social sciences to investigate the continuities and changes in education over time, as well as "Bildung," nurturing, learning, and teaching. By underlining the breadth of the history of…

This UK focussed theoretical paper builds on Harper's (2017. "Outdoor Risky Play and Healthy Child Development in the Shadow of the "Risk Society": A Forest and Nature School Perspective." "Child & Youth Services" 38 (4): 318-334) work in Canadian Forest Schools and the role that Forest Schools play in education…

Purpose: This article provides an exploration of the internal relationship between ethics and pedagogy in early childhood education and care (ECEC). It aims at a clarification of the interrelationships between political and administrative government, the absence/presence of a pedagogical foundation, and the need for a code of ethics.…

This conceptual research analyses the historical development of the German concept of "Bildung" to the Danish "dannelse." The starting point is J.G. Fichte's 1808 "Addresses to the German Nation," in which "Bildung" is analyzed as a key concept. The paper illustrates the influence Fichte had on N.F.S.…

In the current conceptualisations of Problem Based Learning and how we practice it, the students are expected to possess the necessary academic competencies in order to study through PBL. However, a desk research reveals that students in many cases don't have the necessary understanding or conceptual comprehension of disciplines such as problem…

In this theoretical paper, we reflect on the optimistic neoliberal fantasies that are played out in today's education, even though that they rarely live up to their promises. Inspired by Lauren Berlant's concept of cruel optimism, and psychoanalytical thinkers as Slavoj Žižek and Ilan Kapoor, and their focus on concepts such as fantasy, desire,…

Metamodernism, which is used synonymous with post-postmodernism or neo-modernism, has come forward in response to postmodernism and the emerged crises, instabilities, and uncertainties in all areas of this epoch. Metamodernism is a perspective situated epistemologically "with" (post)modernism, ontologically "between"…

This paper reports on a study carried out by tutors and students on Early Childhood Studies degree courses at a University in England. The research explored perspectives of three to six-year-old children's outdoor play in Danish forest kindergartens with the aim of troubling and informing approaches to outdoor pedagogy. Inspired by Somerville and…

In which ways do curricula recognize existential questions of compulsory school students, and what direction is given regarding how to address them? By asking these two questions, this study analyses syllabi for the school subject of religion education and its equivalents in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, and in the two German regions of Bavaria and…

This paper explores the work of a particular document in issuing educational values. The document is the report "Embedding Values and Attitudes in Curriculum": "Shaping a Better Future", launched in 2021 and published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Inspired by a practice-oriented method of…

Departing from discussions at Research in Management Learning & Education (RMLE) Unconferences, we identify the problem of practical deliberation: When faced with multiple, relevant theories that all demand to be given weight in a process of deliberation, how do management students, while drawing on these theories, justify their choice? Based…

In a time when the world is facing social, political, public health, and environmental upheaval, Danes are lighting candles, baking cookies, and engaging in 'hygge', or 'cozy togetherness'. Interestingly, Denmark also happens to be ranked as one of the happiest, most harmonious and prosperous societies across several global indexes. Could there be…

This article defines Danish togetherness, putting it in the context of Danish social and political history, and placing particular emphasis on the gradual development of Denmark's homogeneity, on the growth of national awareness, on aspects of social capital, and on the central role of education as enlightenment in the process of democratisation.…

The aim of the article is to analyse aesthetic encounters in Danish early childhood and care (ECEC) centres and create knowledge of and a language for aesthetics as sensitive encounters and vibrant matters between humans and the world. The article thus challenges traditional assumptions about and understandings of aesthetics as simply impression,…

This paper presents and discusses the findings of a collaborative investigation into Nordic approaches to evaluation and assessment in early childhood education and care. The project explored values and principles that underpin and guide evaluation in ECEC systems and practices in five Nordic countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and…