1 Introduction

The development of Danish teacher education cannot be understood in isolation but must be viewed in light of several major national and international societal changes. In this chapter, we focus on the changes in Danish teacher education, primarily after the turn of the millennium. These changes are part of a long historical development, and in many ways, they reflect trends that are also seen in other countries. Educational policy development is described elsewhere in this edited volume, so we touch upon this aspect only briefly. First, we examine the characteristics of the changes in Danish teacher education effected through recent reforms. One recurrent feature in several Nordic countries is the challenge of attracting and retaining qualified student teachers. We therefore highlight the enrolment and retention challenges over several years, along with the political initiatives for the past two reforms to address these challenges. Finally, we investigate the current situation and discuss possible further steps.

2 The External Framework for Teacher Education

Chapters 1 and 2 present several issues of major importance for the development of teacher education in Nordic countries. In Denmark, it is crucial that education policy has become ‘highly political’ and is perceived as central to the country’s competitiveness in the global market. In this context, international assessments and comparisons have become key factors for understanding which countries have exemplary education systems and which have inadequate systems. Political demands for uniformity expressed in the Bologna Process with the introduction of a European qualification framework had a decisive influence on the development of teacher education in Denmark. New measures included the common European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) from 2001, which emphasized management according to clear and measurable objectives and a focus on output rather than outcomes.

Over the past 30 years, the Teacher Education Act has been amended four times: in 1991, 1997, 2006 and 2012 (with subsequent implementations in 1992, 1998, 2007 and 2013, respectively). During the same period, the Act on the Folkeskole, covering Danish primary and lower secondary schools, underwent major changes in 1993, 2003, 2006 and 2014, and in this area, there were several major and minor adjustments at the executive order level as well.

These frequent reforms of teacher education have been part of a major reform of the public sector in Denmark since the beginning of the 2000s. Thus, they are not special to teacher education but can be regarded as indicators of the major changes that characterise the public sector, which is currently being reinvented (as discussed by Pedersen et al., 2008). To gain a better understanding of the developments during the recent reforms and the subsequent solutions to educational issues, we will examine the content of the various teacher education laws during this period more closely.

3 The Struggle for the Professional and Educational Content of Teacher Education

The issue of what teacher education should comprise is reflected in the tension between the academic mission and the professional mission. Since 1930, teacher education has had a four-year duration but has changed from a teacher training college programme to a professional bachelor’s degree (2000) for primary and lower secondary school teachers. In parallel with this development at the structural level, a similar development has occurred in the content areas. The two developmental strings are interrelated in that they both entail a shift to a more academic orientation and a clearer professional line of education. A review of the past four laws clearly shows that education has been evolving and that the various reforms can be viewed as steps in this constant process of change.

Denmark participated in the first large international literacy survey in 1991. Politicians lost their confidence in schools, as Denmark unexpectedly received a rating very close to the bottom, whereas the other Nordic countries were at the top. The author, Mejding (1994), aptly called the survey Den grimme ælling og svanerne (The Ugly Duckling and the Swans). Since then, politicians have paid close attention to schools’ national and international evaluations and comparisons to document the extent to which they deliver the quality and standards of education required. Over the same period, an overhaul of teacher education has also been underway, motivated by the assumption that if learners fail in literacy and numeracy, something might also be wrong with teacher education. In particular, the reforms have focused on three key issues:

  1. 1.

    Should a teacher primarily be a generalist who is competent in many school subjects or a specialist who can teach only a few subjects?

  2. 2.

    What is the range of teaching practice in teacher education? What is the proper ratio between theory and practice in student teachers’ professional development?

  3. 3.

    What is the proper ratio between academic school subjects and pedagogical subjects (general teaching qualifications)?

However, this is not a straightforward account of the reforms or changes that are explicitly based on research knowledge of teaching skills. Rather, it is a study of different notions of what it takes to educate qualified teachers (e.g. whether to focus on school subjects or on teaching pedagogy in general). The reforms clearly reflect different political attitudes towards the requirements for qualified teachers. This means that the various reforms have been characterised by political compromises instead of a settled pedagogical approach. Moreover, they have primarily emphasised structural and academic content elements rather than pedagogical changes in teaching and work methods. Below, we take a closer look at how the three issues have been weighted in recent reforms.

4 The Teacher as a Generalist (with Teaching Competence in Many School Subjects) or a Specialist (with Teaching Competence in a Few Subjects)?

In the late 1990s, there was a shift in views on whether curriculum of teacher education should be broad or deep, basic or specialised. Until 1997, teachers were trained as unit teachers who could teach various subjects at the primary school level and two subjects in lower secondary school. Teacher training was divided into two parts: a basic part and a specialisation part. In the basic part, student teachers took a number of basic subjects, which qualified them to teach primary school classes. In the specialisation part, they took two majors, which qualified them for lower secondary education. With the 1997 Act, a break with the former unit schoolteacher concept occurred, with student teachers taking four school subjects named majors but no subjects for primary school.

With the 2007 reform, the number of majors was reduced to two or three (typically two). In 2013, the number of majors remained the same, but with a shift towards qualifying in three subjects. With the 2007 Act, grade specification was introduced in the two majors (Danish and mathematics), and in 2013, it was expanded to include English and sports. This development can be considered an example of the change in views on teacher and teaching skills and as part of a shift towards increased specialisation and a more academic orientation in teacher education.

5 Teaching Practice and the Role of the Profession in Teacher Education

The proportion of practice in teacher education has not changed considerably in the past four teacher education laws. The duration of internships has been approximately half a year’s work (30 ECTS), divided into three to four internship periods. Despite this steady theory-to-practice ratio, there have been changes in internship placements, the length of individual obligatory practice periods and the interrelation between academic school subjects, pedagogical subjects and internships.

With the most recent amendment of the teacher education programme in 2013, internships received a boost, not in proportion but in formal requirements, namely the introduction of final teaching practice exams after all internship periods. In addition to teaching practice in all modules, practice tasks must be included in the curriculum of each module. Such tasks can be anything from observation of classes taught by professional teachers to student teachers practising their own academic subjects in schools or participating in specific school activities. Thus, there is now a sharper focus on various opportunities for student teachers to perform teaching practice tasks throughout their education and, therefore, on increased collaboration with schools, even though the internships have not been extended.

6 Basic Subjects: The Pedagogical Area

In the 1991 law, the pedagogical field was weighted to comprise approximately an entire year’s studies. This was almost halved in the 1997 law and then adjusted in 2007 and again slightly more in 2013. However, it is more important to examine the content of the subject area than its scope. Before examining the shifts in various laws, we will take a brief look at the pedagogical subject area of teacher education as a whole. Over time, it has been difficult to determine a concise content and knowledge base for this area. Several issues have been the subject of constant debate: Should it preferably consist of philosophical and ethical approaches to learners’ upbringing and general formation? Should it include political and sociological analyses of the school’s function in society? Should it introduce psychological issues related to children’s general development and various learning theories? Should it primarily comprise pedagogical approaches and methods for effective teaching?

In his PhD dissertation, Hans Harryson asks, ‘What is the purpose of the pedagogical subjects in teacher education in the 2010s? How do the pedagogical subjects contribute to the development of student teachers’ teaching competences?’ (2018, p. 17; translated by the authors). The questions are examined, among other ways, through a comparative analysis of the subject area in Denmark, Norway and Iceland. Although it is impossible to present an in-depth discussion of all the results here, we would like to emphasise that we are far from finding a clear answer regarding the content and purpose of the pedagogical subject area. Teacher educators view it primarily as a theoretical subject which should preferably keep some distance from practice (p. 198), whereas student teachers mainly expect to acquire tools and methodologies that they can use in practice. Another interesting result is that, to a great extent, both student teachers and teacher educators see the justification of the subject area as ‘closely linked to (1) the inadequacy of the academic subjects and (2) the inadequacy of teaching practice’ (p. 191). According to Harryson (2018), it remains somewhat unclear what the subject teachers’ purpose and content are. Teacher educators use words and phrases such as the following: ‘The subject area helps shape the student teachers’, ‘DNA, backbone, identity’, ‘Professional maturation’, ‘Professional vocabulary’, ‘Grasp of the profession’, and ‘Student teachers’ ability to view teaching and learning in nuanced ways and from different perspectives’ (p. 203).

Harryson’s thesis (2018, p. 45) shows that: (1) There are few (and scattered) studies focusing on pedagogical subjects in teacher education, (2) There are even fewer studies focusing on pedagogical subjects in integrated teacher education, and (3) Most available studies are based on educational psychology and not on other ‘non-specific courses’ (Lohse-Bossenz et al., 2013, p. 546).

Just as it has been difficult to grasp and clearly define the pedagogical subject areas, it has also been difficult to clearly define the subject area’s knowledge base. These difficulties have been a recurring theme in the recent changes to the subject area. The greatest change took place between the 2006 Act and the 2013 Executive Order, namely the replacement of traditional subject pedagogy, psychology and general methodology. The teacher’s foundational competences are subdivided into two clusters: ‘Pedagogy and the teaching profession’ and ‘General education’. ‘Pedagogy and the teaching profession’ consists of four areas of competence: (1) pupils’ learning and development, (2) general teaching proficiency, (3) special needs and remedial training, and (4) Danish as a second language. The other cluster, ‘General education’ (‘almen dannelse’ in Danish) consists of the study of Christianity/philosophy of life/citizenship and prepares student teachers to implement the mission statement of the Danish school system: to develop professional ethics and deal with complex challenges in the teaching profession in the context of cultural, value-based and religious pluralism.

The shift to a competence–goal orientation in school practice has challenged the Danish pedagogical field, which has been characterised by a tradition of philosophical–analytical and sociological–critical perspectives on school and teaching and a lesser emphasis on student teachers’ specific competence development in relation to the teacher’s work. For example, a comparative analysis of the content of teacher education programmes in Canada, Denmark, Finland and Singapore found that normative philosophical literature was considerably more prominent in Denmark than in the other countries (Rasmussen et al., 2010).

With each amendment of the law, there have been new and more time-consuming problems for any new teacher education to solve. Along with the aforementioned shift to a more academic orientation, teacher education has become increasingly oriented towards the profession. In the majors, and subsequently in the teaching subjects, methodology has increasingly become an integral part of the academic subjects, which have moved away from being mini university studies. The 1992 Act on teacher education primarily focused on theoretical and analytical approaches to education. In the subsequent changes, the future profession of the student teachers gradually came into focus. In 2007, as a concrete result of this movement, a compulsory pedagogical element was introduced into the academic majors. As mentioned above, the 2013 Executive Order also requires continuous collaboration with schools for school practice in all disciplines. At the same time, there has been a shift from content-driven to goal-driven education in terms of the competencies that a qualified teacher needs.

7 Enrolment in Teacher Education

During the period in question, it has been challenging to attract the most talented students to teacher education and to reduce the dropout rate. Furthermore, there has been a shortage of qualified teachers during some years. Currently (2022), 10–17% of the permanent teachers in Danish schools do not go through the regular teacher education channel. In 2002, people with different degrees and work experiences were given the opportunity to qualify as teachers in a shorter time by pursuing merit teacher education. Initially, there was great concern about this new type of schoolteacher, not least on the part of The Danish Union of Teachers. However, merit teacher education has now a good reputation. Merit teachers are older when they graduate than those with an ordinary teacher education and have experience from other areas, which they bring into the school. Merit teacher education does not lead to a professional bachelor’s degree but is supplementary education of 150 ECTS, pursued under the Law on Open Education. The programme consists of academic and pedagogical subjects and an internship period of 10 ECTS. The number of applicants has varied over time. During periods of teacher shortages, political pressure to train more merit teachers has intensified. For instance, there is currently strong political interest in recruiting more people to become merit teachers (for instance, by developing attractive education models that combine studies and employment). However, merit teacher education can reduce but not solve the enrolment problem.

Ordinary teacher education is dimensioned to ensure (among other things) a balance between training sites and a balance of teacher education located in urban and rural areas. However, at the national level, the required dimensions have not been achieved, and few university colleges (in Danish: professionshøjskoler) have had more applicants than could be admitted. To meet the challenge of attracting the best students and reducing the dropout rate, the past two reforms have paid attention to tightening the teacher education admission requirements.

8 Admission Requirements

With the 2007 reform, changes to the admission requirements for teacher education courses were introduced despite problems with enrolment. The then-Minister of Education, Bertel Haarder, argued that the reform might initially lead to a decline in the number of applicants but would make teacher education more attractive in the long term. One admission requirement was linked to the academic majors, not to the pedagogical subjects. There were also requirements for a minimum grade in a particular subject in upper secondary school to take the corresponding academic subject in teacher education programmes. For example, to take Danish literature and language, a student should have an A-level grade of 7 in that subject. (A-level is the highest secondary school level, and 7 is an average grade on a 7-step scale from −3 to 12).

The most recent reform of 2013 was still aimed at raising the admission level, but this time, the requirement was changed to a grade of 7 as the minimum average of the total upper secondary school grades. Students who do not have an average grade of 7 can apply for admission in ‘quota 2’ and be admitted through an admission interview. The admission interviews drew inspiration (among others) from the University of Southern Denmark and the so-called multiple mini-interview concept, in which the applicants visit two stations as part of the admission interview. The applicants are tested qualitatively, and the interviewers assess their answers in six content domains: motivation, ethical ability, cooperative ability and integrity, communicative ability, cognitive ability, and text comprehension and word processing.

An evaluation of the admission interviews by the Danish Evaluation Institute (2013) drew the following overall conclusions:

  1. 1.

    The dropout rate among those admitted through quota 2 has fallen slightly.

  2. 2.

    The average grade for admitted students has risen, and more students with high grades are recruited and retained than before.

  3. 3.

    There is a significant inverse correlation between the content domain of motivation and the likelihood of a student dropping out.

Another evaluation of the admission interviews (The Danish Evaluation Institute, 2017, p. 5) draws these conclusions:

  1. 1.

    The admission interviews have helped reduce the dropout rate among students admitted via quota 2.

  2. 2.

    Of the six interview content domains, only motivation indicates the probability of a student dropping out with some certainty.

  3. 3.

    Following the introduction of admission interviews as part of the new quota 2 admission requirements in 2013, students with high grades have increasingly been recruited and retained.

After the introduction of the new admission system in 2013, nationwide intake decreased by approximately 25% but subsequently rose again. In 2012, 3660 students enrolled nationally. In 2013, the number dropped to 2936. Later the number of applicants increased, but not since 2014 have so few applied for teacher education via quota 2 as in 2022. Compared to 2021, 17% fewer have applied for teacher education (Bjerril, 2022). Although the introduction of the new admission system cannot fully explain the decline, it has certainly been a contributing factor. For example, we find that some applicants do not show up for the interviews. One of the reasons for the introduction of the new admission system was the assumption that better and more competent students would mean better retention. However, this assumption has been supported only partially (see the next section).

9 Dropout from Teacher Education Programmes

The dropout rate in teacher education remains high. Moreover, it remains high throughout the course of teacher education, whereas in other professional programmes, it falls significantly after the first year. The reasons for dropping out vary widely among students, and it is rarely possible to identify a decisive factor. However, a study conducted by the Danish Evaluation Institute (2013) found slightly different reasons for dropping out of teacher education programmes depending on when students chose to drop out. Early dropouts cited a wide variety of reasons, such as poor introductory courses, lack of knowledge about the education provided, parallel employment and distance to the educational institutions. For late dropouts, the distance to practice schools and the perceived low academic level appeared to be important factors.

10 Current Status of Teacher Education in Denmark

The discussion about teacher education has been ongoing for a long time but has intensified with the recent reforms. One of the problems is politicians’ disagreements over what kind of education they want. This means that laws and regulations are the result of compromises between competing goals (e.g. more or fewer academic subjects or pedagogical subjects). The rationale behind the teacher education reform of 2007 was the desire for in-depth academic studies, especially in the major school subjects (mathematics and Danish) and science. At the same time, there was a recognition of the sharp difference between teaching primary and lower secondary school classes. This difference led to the division of the major subjects into two levels so that they became broader in scope. An evaluation of the 2007 reform by a follow-up group (The Danish Evaluation Institute, 2011) identified several strengths (e.g. the in-depth academic studies) and weaknesses (e.g. a lack of opportunities for internationalisation). Although the group’s criticism was not particularly harsh, a new reform followed in 2013.

The 2013 reform marked a new break in several areas and is perhaps best understood in light of international calls for governance according to competence goals and a modular structure, as was known from other educational programmes in Denmark and abroad. At the same time, the shift towards more profession-oriented education initiated with the 2007 reform continued. Moreover, the trend towards an increased focus on academic subjects (which started in 2001, when formal education became a professional bachelor’s degree programme) was strongly reflected in the demand for a stronger knowledge base throughout the programme.

Interestingly, neither the evaluation of the 2007 reform nor that of the 2013 reform identified challenges in education sufficiently serious to call for major revisions. Nevertheless, the teacher education programme introduced in 2013 broke with previous programmes in essential areas. An expert group’s evaluation of the 2013 reform (Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science, 2018) highlighted five strengths and three weaknesses. The general conclusion was: ‘Teacher education is thus well underway but will require continued development in several areas to ensure that, as a whole, it lives up to the goals of high quality and clear relevance to the Danish school’ (p. 10, translated by the authors).

Despite the predominantly positive evaluations, there is general dissatisfaction with teacher education, both among politicians and more broadly in the public debate. In March 2019, the government formed a commission whose mission is to look fundamentally at whether Danish teacher education is appropriately structured, has a sufficiently high professional level and whether teacher education is otherwise in line with and follows international developments. The goal was for Denmark to have a long-term sustainable teacher education. Teachers should obtain a strong academic and methodological foundation to both deliver high-quality education and be equipped to apply and evaluate new approaches and methods in line with the development of the primary and lower secondary school in Denmark. Further, the government declared that it is not necessary to make amendments according to the changing trends in primary and lower secondary school (The Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science, 2019). This complex mission reflects the dual focus on academic subjects and professionalism that has become increasingly pronounced throughout the recent reforms.

In summer 2019, there was a change in government, the new government dissolved the commission before it began its work. However, the new government started in 2020 a revision of teacher education. The focus is on development within the frame of a four-year bachelor’s degree:

The government has a high level of ambition for teacher education in Denmark. There are a number of challenges that must be taken care of to make sure that teacher education will attract more talented and motivated students from all over the country. At the same time, it is necessary to develop concrete solutions in order to ensure better coherence and a higher professional level. It is also important to push students to study harder and establish a closer connection with practice in schools. Based on this, the government is starting a process of development in order to rethink teacher education (The Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science, 2020).

The development work was centred on three main themes:

  • Strengthened practice training and connection to practice.

  • Increased study intensity, better professional progression, and a better retention and enrolment

  • Stronger knowledge base for teacher education.

11 What Will the Next Steps Be?

The current political discussions partly concern the duration of education. The discussion on the level of education (Bachelor’s degree or Master’s degree) has more or less been put on hold, and the focus is now on how to make teacher education more oriented towards the profession. The debate is taking place on many levels and in many contexts, and politicians, professionals, unions, universities and university colleges are contributing their own perspectives. A development group consisted of members from the University Colleges Denmark, The Danish Union of Teachers and their students’ organisation and KL - Local Government Denmark. This group has finished their work (The development group for teacher education, 2021). The development group for teacher education (2021) delivered its recommendations in November 2021, and the headlines are:

  • A more ambitious and professional demanding teacher education.

  • Extended and integrated internships and more exercise-based studies. The intention is to strengthen the coherence between the campus teaching and mentoring in the practice schools.

  • A renewed focus on so-called Bildung (‘dannelse’ or self-formation) in education and teacher education.

  • A teacher education with strong progression and coherence, which will ensure more professional teachers.

  • A reduction in the number of goals, and another way of formulating goals, so there will be more open frames to ensure local engagement and different profiles.

Since November 2021, The Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science has held meetings with the political parties about central themes, but when this is written (May 2022) negotiations have not started. Meanwhile, there are also political discussions about raising the funding of teacher education to increase student teachers’ time on task. There will be no new teacher education programme in 2022, but perhaps in 2023.

We are in the middle of a particularly important process: We have the chance to develop teacher education in various ways, and hopefully, we will be given the freedom, as professionals, to realise it in everyday practice. In our opinion, there is no contradiction between the academic and the profession-oriented content; on the contrary, the two areas must go hand in hand. With the last two reforms, we have seen the contours of an education that is finding its own professionalism and identity. Nonetheless, we have not yet reached the target. Several areas should be developed in the coming years, and there is a need to conduct research and develop a teacher education pedagogy that addresses the specific task of educating adults to teach children.

We are in the middle of a particularly important process: We have the chance to develop teacher education in various ways, and hopefully, we will be given the freedom, as professionals, to realise it in everyday practice. In our opinion, there is no contradiction between the academic and the profession-oriented content; on the contrary, the two areas must go hand in hand. With the last two reforms, we have seen the contours of an education that is finding its own professionalism and identity. Nonetheless, we have not yet reached the target. Several areas should be developed in the coming years, and there is a need to conduct research and develop a teacher education pedagogy that addresses the specific task of educating adults to teach children. Below, we list a few suggestions for four key areas that require further work.

  1. 1.

    Teaching and study methods in teacher education (on campus and in internships). Teaching and studying in teacher education are subject to the so-called double pedagogic gaze or second-order pedagogy (see, e.g., Goodwin & Kosnik, 2013), where students learn to teach others through teaching. Situated learning processes are of particular importance because of the immediate comparison between being taught as a student and being taught to teach. Thus, teaching in teacher education must be exemplary in the sense that teachers and students must be able to reflect, justify and often show in practice the connection between teaching aims, content and work methods. Therefore, a wide variety of work methods must be developed. Student teachers should not only become observant, reflective practitioners who can collect data and work empirically to develop their own practice (cf. the more research-oriented and academic competencies). Student teachers should also acquire and practise skills to deal with conflicts and facilitate diverse dialogues ranging from professional academic discussions in class to communication on pupils’ well-being at parent meetings (the more immediate practice and profession-oriented skills). University Colleges Denmark have formulated 10 ambitions for better teacher education. The tenth ambition focuses on ‘teacher education as a development laboratory’. (University Colleges Denmark, 2018).

  2. 2.

    Collaboration with practice schools. Many studies (e.g. Darling-Hammond & Baratz-Snowden, 2005) have shown that continuous collaboration and exchange between theoretical studies and a given professional practice offer considerable benefits. The 2013 reform has increased our focus on this aim, and we have made significant progress, but some aspects are still missing. We may need to further develop the internship model and ensure qualified internship counsellors to enhance both benefits and quality. Moreover, we need to develop a more diverse continuous collaboration with practice schools. This collaboration can be developed into short courses, such as teaching in a given grade for one or more days after careful preparation. The student teacher can later consider and process the teaching in collaboration with both the school teacher and the teacher educator. The collaboration with practice schools can also be developed into longer courses—for example, each student teacher can be assigned to a class during a year (e.g. for English) and provide feedback on the pupils’ written assignments, while the school teacher and the teacher educator can provide the student teacher with feedback on his/her feedback.

In Denmark, although internships in teacher education are also viewed as integrated, in most cases, they have taken place as long-term (e.g. six-week) courses only in practice schools. Therefore, integration primarily takes place in the preparation and post-processing phases in collaboration between campus and school. We believe that this is an important area for ​​development to strengthen cooperation between schools and teacher education through the development of even better internship models and models for integrated practice and collaboration.

  1. 3.

    Students’ opportunities for in-depth studies in subject areas (both teaching subjects and basic pedagogical subjects), including strengthened collaboration regarding academic subjects, the pedagogical field and internships. In a highly specialised education with many subjects and modules, there is a need to develop models that enable students to immerse themselves in specific subject areas. It is also important to ensure collaboration regarding academic subjects, the pedagogical field and practice, since, for example, the integration of classroom management and inclusion strategies in academic subjects provides better opportunities for student teachers to apply it in practice (see, e.g., Hedegaard-Sørensen & Grumløse, 2016).

  2. 4.

    A renewed focus on so-called Bildung (‘dannelse’ or self-formation) in education and teacher education.

To increase enrolment in teacher education, continued effort is needed not only to enhance teacher status but also to develop clear career paths for teachers. Moreover, to retain qualified teachers, work must be done on transitional arrangements to ensure good jobs for new teachers (see, e.g., Lunde et al., 2017). Unfortunately, there are no formal requirements for teacher induction programmes in Denmark. The frequent reforms, along with the fact that the evaluations of the two most recent programmes did not identify alarming issues, indicate that the reforms must (also) be viewed in a broader context as expressions of general developments in society. From one point of view, the globalisation and international trends together with the need for European standards, call for development, while from the another point of view, there is a political need for immediate action.