This paper explores policy related to digital competence and the digitalisation of Nordic K-12 schools. Anchored in some key transnational policies on digital competence, it describes some current Nordic movements in the national policies of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. The concept of boundary objects is used as an analytical lens, for…

Drawing on experiences from a large-scale Nordic co-design research project, this paper explores the development of cross-border blended education with the aim to strengthen students' Nordic identity and knowledge of neighboring Nordic languages illuminating the flow of didactical designs students were offered to engage in, i.e. the knowledge…

This article explores how complex globalization processes play out in early childhood education (ECE) in Denmark. The article builds on two concepts of globalization: First, we understand globalization as the ways in which transnational educational policy discourses characterized by neoliberal pedagogical values affect national and local policies.…

We study a decade of achievement gaps for fifth-, eighth-, and 10th-grade students in Norway using administrative population data. Norway is a wealthy and egalitarian country with a homogeneous educational system, yet achievement gaps between students at the 90th and 10th percentiles of parental income and between students whose parents have at…

Students' positive experiences in schools positively predicts students' political trust. However, little research has examined how individual students' feelings of exclusion at their schools may relate to students' political trust. Moreover, how does an overall sense of exclusion from the school relate to political trust apart from individual…

Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) focuses on the reading proficiency of students mostly in the fourth year of schooling. A wide selection of studies has shown that family background and early literacy activities at home have substantial associations with student achievement in reading literacy. However, research focusing on…

The theme for this article is parents' and centre leaders' opinions regarding what makes a good kindergarten. Both stakeholder groups agree on statements expressing child-centred values as indicators of a good kindergarten. However, their opinions differ regarding children's learning and work with letters and numbers; more parents than centre…

Theoretical foundations are fundamental to research in health and physical education. They reflect historical and cultural ideas and values. In this article, we seek to introduce the philosophy of "Bildung" from the Nordic-German cultural region to an English-speaking audience as one theoretical foundation for student-centered teaching.…

Drawing on the tradition of childhood studies, this study explores how children's problems are being conceptualised by primary school teachers in Finland and Norway and what kind of institutional childhood is reflected in those conceptualisations. I use thematic content analysis to analyse data derived from two primary schools in Tampere, Finland,…

Purpose: Pupils' perspective should be better taken into account when developing nutrition education at school. The purpose of this paper is to explore Nordic children's perspectives on the healthiness of meals in the context of school lunches. Design/methodology/approach: In total, 78 focus group discussions were conducted with 10-11-year-old…

Cultural and linguistic diversity of kindergarten children in Iceland has been growing rapidly in recent years (Reykjavíkurborg, Skóla- og frístundasvið, 2017; Statistics Iceland, 2017), creating challenges for kindergartens. The main aim of the paper is to explore how principals, kindergarten teachers and parents in three kindergartens in Iceland…

From once being synonymous with reading and writing, literacy, as a concept has expanded in the last three decades to today being associated with multiple meaning making forms and competences. Impactful, in this shift, has been the research orientation of New Literacy Studies. Besides academia, the literacy concept has also had a major influence…

Literature regarding the gap between the conceptualization of inequality and school staffs' perception of it in Norwegian schools is scarce. Therefore, we explore the challenges that Norwegian school staff have experienced as they work to ensure inclusive education at three schools. We address this challenge by examining three purposefully…

There is a tendency in European education policy to emphasise more and better deliberate learning outcomes. The tendency is criticised for taking an instrumental view of education [Biesta, G. (2010). Good education in an age of measurement: "Ethics, politics, democracy." Routledge,; van Manen, M. (2008). Pedagogical sensitivity and…

Transition to school is recurrently pointed out as key to children's immediate well-being at school start, as well as to their long-term educational endeavors. Aspirations towards continuity during transition is a common denominator across research, policy, and practice, in Denmark as well as internationally. This theoretical-conceptual paper…