SECD in Scandinavian Countries

New York Times columnist David Brooks had some interesting observations in his February 13, 2020 opinion column. The title is "This is how Scandinavia Got Great - The Power of Educating the Whole Person." It is this education of the whole person we are most interested in.

The article describes some of the reasons why countries like Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland are consistently rated among the very best educated countries, as well as near the top of lists for citizen happiness, health, and life expectancy (all four of these countries have life expectancies over 80 years old). What Mr. Brooks points out is that within their education system, students are thought of as individual human beings from a young age, and there is real value of working on the whole child.

Children are raised and taught in a progression of value to think of not only themselves, but the role each and every person plays in their classroom, their town, and their country. Students think about their own progress and futures, but also learn about how they can help and respect others, and that this contributes to the larger society's progress and future.

This approach the schools have taken for decades is called "bildung," and it refers to an understanding that students need to learn and understand complexity, and relationships between self and society. There is a pride citizens have for looking out for each other, while pursuing their own interests. This is what has allowed these nations to have every citizen go to college and have health care, live in a society with very little violence and fear, while having some of the world's highest ratings for free market openness.

To get to this type of education, many SECD skills and competencies are part of these school systems. Teachers are trained to help all students "see the forces always roiling inside the self - the emotions, cravings, wounds and desires." As a child ages, and begin learning and adopting societal norms, they are encouraged to identify their own values while working with each other to solve problems facing others; they become empathetic people.

This is the power of SECD approaches, and when done on a wide scale we have models in some other countries of what the results can be. Less violence, healthier and happier people who feel a sense of belonging in their communities, and high academic achievement.