What Makes School in Denmark Better (and What We Can Learn from Them)

Listen to the interview with Pernille Ripp (transcript):

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I have known Pernille Ripp for over ten years now. Through her blog and her books, she writes about learning and literacy and how we show up every day in a way that makes school a humane and enriching place. She’s been a guest on the podcast before, an interview we called How to Stop Killing the Love of Reading, and we’ve stayed in touch over the years since, which included her move from the U.S. to her native country of Denmark, where she has been living for the past few years.

Our more recent conversations have been about Pernille’s experiences teaching in Denmark compared to how it was to teach in the U.S., and it’s been fascinating, so I asked her if we could do a deeper dive here. Comparing education in the U.S. to schools in other countries is not a new thing, and when we do it, the U.S. almost always looks worse by comparison. The interview follows that same pattern, but I’ve asked Pernille to take it a step further: Yes, talk about a handful of things that make teaching in Denmark better, but as we talk, we consider how we might bring some of these same features to U.S. schools. 

What I think you’re going to find is that most, if not all, of the possibilities are about doing less, not adding something more. They are simple subtractions from the long, long list of expectations we place on teachers and students. They wouldn’t necessarily require more money or new programs, just an adjustment of expectations to make them more realistic. It’s pretty amazing what a difference it can make when the to-do list is just shorter. My hope is that when you listen, you won’t be left with the wistful feeling of “must be nice… but we could never be like that,” and instead you start imagining how we might bring elements of the Danish way of doing things into our own schools. It’s always been my belief that any system created by people can also be changed by people, so I hope this episode inspires someone to make a few changes in their own school.

You can listen to the full interview in the player above, read the full transcript here, or just take a look at the summary of key ideas below.

How Danish Schools Work Better for Teachers

The System Assumes Teachers Are Competent

One of the most striking differences Pernille describes is what it feels like to be trusted as a professional. In Denmark, there are no pacing guides or checkboxes; teachers work from broad, age-based goals and are expected to figure out how to get there. The government recently reduced its list of educational goals from the hundreds down to about ten. Rather than sitting in committees to approve changes, teachers can bring ideas to colleagues and move on them quickly. Decisions happen at the school level, so different schools can use different curricula based on their students.

“(The system) assumes that I know what I’m talking about and that the experience that I have with my students is one that is valid and also valuable,” Pernille explains.

Making this work in the U.S.: Take whatever mandated curriculum or program teachers are currently required to use and put it in front of them as a starting point rather than a script. Ask: We can’t completely remove this, but how would you change it? Then actually try it and meet back in six weeks to talk about what worked. Questioning programs is something any school can do without a budget.

Trust Over Control

In the US, Pernille says, the restrictions placed on teachers communicate a lack of trust. Along with scripted curriculum, mandatory pacing guides, and policies that treat teachers as implementers rather than decision-makers, there are rules that limit teachers’ freedom of movement. In Denmark, trust is the default. This shows up in small but meaningful ways, like not needing permission to take students outside, or being able to take her class on the train to her house for an afternoon without filling out a single form.

“There is a huge professional trust in me and it’s given to me until I lose it,” she says. “It’s mine to lose rather than mine to gain.”

Making this work in the U.S.: Administrators should say out loud, and often, that they trust their teachers. Most do trust them, Pernille says, but forget to communicate it — and every new mandate or scripted program sends the opposite message. Look at your field trip requirements, your sign-out policies, your permission processes, and ask: Which of these restrictions can we loosen to free up teacher energy?

Professional Work Conditions

Pernille works a 40-hour week, 20 of which are spent in front of students. In one busy season when she was overloaded with extra committees, her principal’s response was: What can we remove from your plate?

In her school, teachers prep in a separate office after students leave — door locked, no intercom announcements, a clear norm that noise-canceling headphones mean do not disturb. This physical separation also reduces the pressure to personally maintain and decorate “their” classroom.

When she’s sick, all she has to do is call in before 7 a.m. That’s it. No sub plans. Denmark uses permanent subs attached to each building who know the students and come prepared with their own activity ideas.

“It allows me to be sick. And it allows me to actually stay in bed.”

Making it work in the U.S.: Protect prep time so it’s actually prep time. This means no coverage requests, announcements, or drop-in interruptions. If you can’t shorten the school day, restructure it: Bulk prep time into longer blocks rather than scattered 30-minute windows. Revisit the sub culture entirely — set an expectation that sick teachers do not write sub plans, keep a small pool of permanent or recurring subs who know the building, and develop a set of school-wide sub activities so the curriculum doesn’t have to keep moving when a teacher is out.

How Danish Schools Work Better for Students

Autonomy Is Developmental, Not Earned

Danish students are trusted with responsibility early, which includes things like packing their own backpacks, managing their materials, and deciding where to sit. When Pernille’s own daughter moved to Denmark in third grade, her teacher was surprised she didn’t know how to pack her lunch. The backpack in the US had been largely decorative because school supplied everything.

Rather than scripting every hallway walk and cafeteria arrangement, Danish schools give students the expectations and trust them to function within them. When a poor decision happens, it becomes a teachable moment.

“We are constantly asking children in Denmark to take responsibility in ways that we don’t do in America,” Pernille explains.

Making it work in the U.S.: Start letting students make more decisions, even small ones, and resist the impulse to control every movement. When a poor choice happens, treat it as instruction rather than a failure of the system. As a school, take a look at the existing rules and consider which ones might be loosened to allow for more autonomy.

Design is for Regulation, Not Control

The Danish school day is built around the idea that movement, outdoor time, and unstructured play are a necessary part of a student’s needs. Students go outside every day, even in bad weather, and risky play is encouraged; when Pernille sees kids wrestling in the schoolyard, her instinct now is to ask Are you having fun? rather than Stop that. Her school has designated snowball-fight zones where kids who want to play rough can go, with the understanding that they might get hit.

“I’m not out at recess yelling at children going, put the snow down. Here instead it’s like, OK, let’s make this as safe as we can.”

Play also doesn’t need an educational justification. When Pernille took her class on the train to her house for cake and trampoline time, her principal’s reaction was Oh, that’s so fun! — not What’s the learning objective?

Making it work in the U.S.: Get kids outside more, and make it real outdoor time rather than a structured GoNoodle break. Longer recess, movement that isn’t a video, and tolerance for some physical roughness in play are all things a building can pilot without a district mandate.

Less Homework (Especially in Elementary)

Homework is minimal in Denmark; when it exists, it’s purposeful. When Pernille once sent books home as part of a research project, a parent politely replied: I would like you to focus on what you’re doing in school — we’ve got the evenings covered. She was initially taken aback, then found herself agreeing.

“Kids are expected to be kids,” she says. “If there is homework, it should be very specific and manageable. And if not, there will be pushback.”

Making it work in the U.S.: Cut out homework, or at minimum make it intentional. Pernille suggests asking: Why does this homework exist, and what would actually be lost if I didn’t assign it? Protect evenings as family time and trust that what happens at home is part of the developmental puzzle too; school doesn’t have to own all of it.

Student Voice Is Expected, Not Extra

Rather than adding SEL lessons to a school day, Danish schools build in student voice through a regular class hour, which is dedicated time for community, self-regulation, and working through how choices affect one another. The community work happens when students navigate real conflict, discuss real situations, and learn how to function in public spaces together.

“Schools are for community and not for individualism in Denmark. You’re expected to be able to function within a community.”

Making it work in the U.S.: Carve out a regular class meeting or community time that isn’t tied to a curriculum objective; it’s just space for students to talk about how things are going and how to function better together. Don’t treat it as time stolen from academics; treat the whole experience as curriculum. Ask students what they’d change about the day, and actually try some of it.

Academic Rigor Without Constant Pressure

There are high expectations in Denmark, but without the urgency that makes U.S. classrooms feel so high-stakes. Grades don’t begin until seventh grade. Reading development doesn’t formally start until first grade in Denmark (equivalent to second grade in the U.S.) and entering kindergarten without knowing all your letters is considered normal. Pernille has watched kids she worried about in first grade arrive in third grade suddenly reading fluently.

The philosophy is fewer things done better. She described running two weeks behind on a unit on purpose because students were engaged, and no one panicked.

Making it work in the U.S.: Slow down on purpose. Even if no one gives you permission, Pernille says, you can choose to go deeper on fewer things. “Pretend that you’ve been placed on just 80 percent time instead of full time,” she says. “What would you have to cut from your schedule in order to only teach 80 percent? And then go back and do that. Cut that out.” Forgive yourself for doing less, reflect on how it feels, and put the energy you recover somewhere outside of school.

If You’re a Teacher in the U.S. Right Now

When asked what advice she would give to teachers working in the U.S., those who may not have the authority to make some of these bigger changes, Pernille started with grace.

“I think my biggest thing is that I would give myself grace in good enough. Even if nobody’s going to come and tell me that I can slow down, I would start to purposefully slow down. I would take a hard look at my curriculum and I would slow it down. I would cut things out, even kill the darlings. And again, bring students in. Like, where do you find most meaning and maybe use some of the things that you have planned or that you’re coached to do as differentiation opportunities. Give students different pathways. But yeah, I think I would forgive myself for doing less. That’s where I would start.”

Learn more from Pernille Ripp on her Instagram page and in her book, Passionate Learners: