FURTHER EDUCATION VS TRUE VOCATION

By Stephen Gadd

It’s never too late to get an education is the sort of adage you might expect somebody like Benjamin Franklin to have said, but no, it was nobody famous.

Nevertheless, is it true? Theoretically, of course it is, but sometimes reality bites. Sometimes, to get an education we need an education.

It’s not fanciful to imagine that we might have opted to leave school at 16 to take an apprenticeship, and then, by the time we’re 30 and eyeing a degree to further our career, we realise we need the equivalent of a high school diploma to qualify.

This is why the decision we take when we finish elementary schooling at the age of 15-17 is probably the most important one we will ever take on our educational journey.

Upper Secondary Education

Upper secondary education typically starts at the end of full-time compulsory education and caters for students aged 16-19. Unless a private school is chosen, it is free of charge.

At present there are 18 international uppersecondary schools in Denmark offering the International Baccalaureate (IB).

A prerequisite is that the international course offered must be able to provide access to higher education in Denmark.

Stepping Stone To Higher Education

Students can take several different routes at this level and there are four academically-orientated programs available (see factbox).

These four programs prepare young people for higher education and ensure that they acquire a general education, knowledge and competences by means of the subjects they study and through the interaction between them.

The Choice Ahead

The STX and HF programs consist of a broad range of subjects in the humanities, natural science and social sciences, whereas the HHX program focuses on business and socio-economic disciplines, in combination with foreign languages and other general subjects.

The HTX program is focused on technological and scientific subjects, in combination with general subjects.

Each of the programs has a range of compulsory subjects. Additionally, in STX, HHX and HTX, each school offers a number of specialised studies packages normally containing three subjects and offers elective subjects for students to choose between. In HF, students choose from among the elective subjects offered by the individual school.

All the programs contain multi-subject courses which serve to strengthen students’ preparedness for further study.

Admission Criteria

To be admitted to one of the three-year upper secondary education programs (STX, HHX, HTX), students must have completed nine years of Danish basic education or have received corresponding teaching and have taken the primary and lower secondary school compulsory final examination.

For HF, a student must have completed ten years of Danish basic education and have taken examinations in Danish, English, mathematics, a second foreign language (French or German) and physics/ chemistry.

If for some reason a student has not taken the required examinations for admission to STX/HHX/HTX or HF, an admission test can also be taken. Students who have not attended a Danish school can be admitted following a concrete assessment as to whether their qualifications correspond to those required by students who have attended a Danish school. They may also be required to take an admission test.

Student Involvement

The needs and wishes of the students are taken very seriously and they have the right to form a student council and are also represented on the school board.

The school must also ensure that students are involved in the planning of class teaching.

Schools are obliged to provide academic guidance and guidance on higher education and careers.

Choice Of Four

The 3-year Upper Secondary School Leaving Examination (STX)

The 3-year Higher Commercial Examination (HHX)

The 3-year Higher Technical Examination (HTX)

The 2-year Higher Preparatory Examination (HF)

By Louise Wandel Communication Specialist at UCplus

Qualified teachers that provide high quality teaching, with the right amount of linguistic support combined with flexibility. These are key ingredients in UCplus’ approach to teaching Danish. But what is it really like to learn Danish online? We have spoken to two teachers from UCplus and to some of their students.

High quality online lessons

Unlike many other teachers, language consultant at UCplus Tina Terp does not teach at one of UCplus’ language centres. Tina’s workplace is at home in her private house because she is part of UCplus’ online teaching team.

The team consists of herself and two other teachers who are based in Aarhus and Aalborg, and every week they ensure that over 70 students can take the Official Danish Education online, and almost as many can follow FVU education from home.

Although Tina does not meet her students physically. Nevertheless, she still gets close to them. And it is precisely this ‘closeness’ that helps students learn Danish.

“I have a lot of contact with the students. I write to them frequently, and when we have online classes, we always start with a round, where everyone talks about how they are, and what they have been doing since the last time we were together online before we start with the topic of the day.”

This initial and informal chat creates a community feeling, and at the same time the students practice their Danish. And Tina is ready, both when the students need help with getting the Danish pronunciation in place, or when they need words. In the online chat, Tina gives tips about pronunciation, and she provides the vocabulary that the students need for the given topic.

The best of both worlds: online and on-site lessons

UCplus also offers a mixture of on-site and online Danish lessons, so language consultant Lisa Bang Larsen both teaches from home, and at UCplus’ main language centre in Copenhagen.

She makes a great effort to tailor the lessons to suit the format; when teaching on-site she makes sure that her students interact with each other, that they have time for discussions in groups and that there are good opportunities for small talk, so that they get to know each other well. She then builds on this, when the students tune in for online lessons, where she uses lots of breakout rooms, so the students stay active.

The mixture of attending on-site lessons every Thursday and tuning in for online lessons every Tuesday evening suits Alexa and Sarah perfectly. They are from the US, they came to Denmark to study, and both now have jobs in Copenhagen.

“It’s a good balance for me, because my job takes up a lot of time, and I don’t think that I would have time to attend on-site lessons twice a week”, says Sarah. And Alexa agrees:

“I tend to have a very busy schedule, so I like having the flexible option, where half of the course is online. But I also really like attending the on-site lessons once a week. I like meeting the others, and it is easier to talk and to get to know each other when we meet up at UCplus” says Alexa.

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