Kindergarten in Denmark and the USA

Abstract

On the basis of ethnological research methods, the everyday life of one Danish and one US kindergarten class in school is described. In the US kindergarten class, teaching of the three Rs (reading, writing and arithmetic) was predominant, whereas play constituted the life in the Danish classroom. This study shows that US teacher‐controlled ‘academic’ practice and the children's concrete cultural background contributed to the development of motivation for learning at the age of six. On the other hand, the US children were egocentric and had difficulties participating in group activities. In contrast, the more ‘child‐controlled’ practice in the Danish kindergarten developed social competence but neglected the development of motivation for learning. If the educational aim is comprehensive development, neither the American teacher‐controlled ‘academic’ practice nor the Danish child‐controlled ‘play’ approach is quite adequate.