American students are falling behind on valuable social skills. In Denmark, one simple classroom tradition works. We all know what a Danish pastry is — that delightful caloric bomb of glazed breakfast deliciousness. But what about a Danish classroom cake? And moreover, how can...
The Local’s columnist Jessica Alexander, whose book ‘The Danish Way of Parenting’ focuses strongly on how Danes teach empathy, says we’d all be better off if we were more understanding and trusting of others. You would think that co-writing a parenting book would automatically...
People ask me all the time what empathy training looks like in Denmark. Empathy is not talked about as a subject as such but rather, it is very entwined in the play and what they teach at school. In Denmark they believe that...
Perhaps unlike their U.S. peers, kids in Denmark—where happiness levels are the highest on Earth—are taught in school to care for one another from a young age. Contrary to popular belief, most people do care about the welfare of others. From an evolutionary standpoint,...
Danish classrooms can be considered as a gym for cooperation capabilities. In my ongoing research about cultural differences and how the “Danish Way” of doing things really does impact happiness, I had some enlightening discussions recently with my two 18-year-old Danish nieces. We went...
We all want our kids to be happy. And happiness is something the Danes have supposedly figured out, with research consistently showing that residents of Denmark are among the happiest in the world. So, it’s not a huge surprise that an article we published...
The terrible twos is a tough time for most parents or as the Danes call it:trodsalder “the boundary pushing age”. This is an interesting word because it points out that little ones are supposed to test everything around them, your boundaries included. No matter...
Are youinterested in learning more about diverseparenting styles? I found The Danish Wayto be spot onand was fortunate enough to haveone of the authors, Jessica Alexander, agree to write a series of guest posts based on Danish parenting styles. This is the first in...
