How It Began

“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”, says Marcellus, a minor character in Shakespeare’s  Hamlet, written around 1600.

21st century Denmark seems to have gotten some things right. The July/August issue of Monocle declared Copenhagen, the Design City, and named it the number one most liveable city in the world.

Denmark has a population close to that of Singapore (5.5 mil). It boasts a philosopher - Kierkegaard, a few Nobel laureates, many global companies - LEGO, Danforst, Carlsberg, Royal Copenhagen, Mersk, Skagen and great designers such as Arne Jacobsen and Georg Jensen.

So what makes Denmark tick?

A group of us visited Denmark in Mar 2007. One of the things we did in Denmark was to visit Lego in Billund. Our first 2 days were spent in Billund where Legoland is, visiting the Lego Factories and their beautiful 'heritage" centre newly built within an old house owned by the founder of Lego. We did a one-day workshop with their key Education people - mainly to uncover what Lego and a school in Singapore can do together to improve some aspect of education.

We used Lego bricks to conceptualise our idea of a future school. We did our models individually and merged ideas to come up with a group model. The Lego researchers presented to us their findings on key trends that will influence the way education will be in Denmark (and the world). We learnt that a Creative Society is characterised by the following:

• multiple truths

• multiple identities

• constant change

• cultural diversity

• individualism

• network economy

• innovation economy

We were reminded of shifts in trends that have led to a change in behaviour:

• from rules and routine to improvisation

• learning about one truth to "how to choose"

• learning how to do something to "learning how to learn"

• receiving input to 'creating new knowledge"

• complying and reproducing to "inventing the world"

• processing data to 'telling stories"

• owning expertise to "networking"

We agreed that the idea of creativity has also evolved from "an elitist domain for artists and actors - and a leisure activity for everybody else” to "a basic, necessary skill - and a core competence". Basic skills pave the way, but creative thinking makes the difference!

The Lego researchers identified three megatrends that will change the way we deliver education:

§     INDIVIDUALISM - characterised by self actualisation, self-reliance, students being more involved and taking charge of the way they learn/play

§     CONNECTIVITY - always-on devices, blurring of boundaries between play and learn/school, real and virtual

§     ACCELERATION - smaller, cheaper, faster devices

We asked ourselves what school would be like if "individualism" meets connectivity? Or if "connectivity" and "acceleration" came together and if all three were at play? The eventual answer was that

Schools would look very different, and the way we teach and deliver must necessarily be very different!

Our brainstorming led us to one research area: how will we enhance teacher facilitation skills if the role of the teacher must change in this new landscape and how can we build teacher capacity for a classroom of the future, to better engage our 21st century students.

How the Danes we met helped shape the project on pedagogies of the future

Lego currently works with the Ministry of Education in Denmark to use Mindstorms to teach innovation in school. There is integration of innovation skills within the science curriculum in these pilot schools, and some assessment criteria to measure student learning in innovation traits.

Danish students were ranked no. 1, in terms of confidence in the previous OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). They were also the "most happy" in school. In our discussion with the Danish politicians, think-tanks and educators, we learnt that it's because in school, children were allowed to voice their opinions and work in teams (project work is assessed in teams). They also do a lot of interdisciplinary work using a thematic approach. The Danes have a strong social consciousness. They do not have National Education lessons. They have a high tax rate of 40-50% of their income, They have in place social security, free health and education up to university level. Danes love their country without needing to be told to do so. That's because they have a stake in the country - they pay so much! Of course, they are also a very homogeneous society.

We saw web 2.0 in action in Denmark - smart, creative individuals involved in social innovation and doing projects on their own to impact Danish society.

We met with a Danish Opposition Member of Parliament, Morten Ostergaard - just 31 years old, who talked to us about a new initiative he had introduced, called "Surplus Denmark". The purpose of the project is to spark off a debate about what "Danish" means and to have Danish brands be globally recognised. Morten told us he was confident that the Danish graduates would be able to work in teams and adapt to any work environment. He said that if we had a system where kids coming out of it are as curious as those going in, we would have done well.

We heard from Ms Anne Kirah, the Dean of 180 Degree Academy - an institution supported by some top global businesses, which trains people to develop, design and execute radical business concepts and think differently. Their first boot-camp was a stint in South Africa ("Survivor" style) to unlearn all that they have been taught and hear from top leaders in design and creativity. Anne said, "You can't innovate when you focus on your strengths and what you are good at." You can only innovate in a state of "discomfort".

An engineer, Henrik Povlsen who heads the School Development and Expansion Project for a municipality, Gentoffe told us their job was to talk to the teachers, headteachers, parents and children in each one of the 11 schools in the district on what and how they wanted to teach and redesign school facilities and buildings around pedagogy. Each school looks different and space is optimised and personalised to ensure engaged learning. Even corridors are learning spaces and students are given cubicles and workspaces for groupwork throughout the school premises.

The interesting thing about the session was that they did not give us a briefing or mere presentation. They engaged us in conversation and asked us to help brainstorm questions such as: In a globalised world, what must the child learn? What is important seen from the child's perspective? Given what is important for a child in a globalised world, how then should schools be organised? How should space in schools be redesigned?

We also had a dinner conversation with Mr Uffe Elbaek - chairman and founder of  Kaospilot, a business school of 15 years, with branches in Sweden and Norway - which trains students to navigate through chaos. He advocates playful leadership, and professes to give students not an education but a mindset.

We also had a dinner conversation with Mr Uffe Elbaek- chairman and founder of Kaospilot, a business school of 15 years, with branches in Sweden and Norway - which trains students to navigate through chaos. He advocates playful leadership, and professes to give students not an education but a mindset. 

We visited Ms Kigge Hvid – CEO and founder of INDEX and organiser of the first global design event held in Denmark. INDEX is a non-profit network organisation that focuses on Design to Improve Life worldwide. Singlehandedly and with a good network of designers across the world, Kigge managed to get the Danish government to award the equivalent of Nobel Prizes to top innovations and designs (based on Form, Impact and Context) and showcased the 100 nominations in and around Copenhagen. The event is a biennial affair which puts Denmark clearly on the map of the Design world.

There was also an exchange with Prof Simona Maschi, who heads the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design - an institute within Copenhagen University which looks into the integration of user-centred designs with IT. The faculty comprises Italians, British and Americans, some of whom were past-leaders in IDEO. Many of their graduates go on to top firms that value design and innovation in lifestyle products. Simona talked about "deconstructing to construct", "re-purposing everyday devices" and making products which are "strangely familiar". Design, in the eyes of the Danes, is a major innovation driver for their knowledge-based economy. Innovation, to them, is "core" strategy in a globalised world.

Among those we interacted with were two young men, Thamas Madsen and Magnus Christensson, who have a successful web-based start-up called 23 - a Flickr-like business which developed photo-sharing centred around openness, archiving, conversation and storytelling. One is a high-school drop-out, the other is a graduate from Kaospilot. They are doing very well without a traditional company address. The world, they said, has moved from being static to dynamic, from mass media to masses of media, manipulation to relation, objective to subjective, professional to amateur and consumer to participation. Before, we were consumers of political messages. People these days want to participate. The role of producers and consumers has changed. In the last 5 years, trust has shifted from authorities such as media and government, to peers like you and me. Our discussion centred around how we could teach young people about "complex systems" and deal with complexity; the power of collaborative intelligence and the power of visual communication. Whilst a picture paints a thousand words…A picture + text + conversation tells even more. That's what 23 seeks to do, enhance the thought life of global citizens through visuals and conversations built around them.

A team from Monday Morning - a think-tank that publishes a weekly free newspaper (since 1989) shared with us their goal to inspire and challenge Danish decision makers to think differently and to help them understand what will be required of them in the future. They also provide an analysis of future trends and set up an Innovation Council with top leaders in government and business to brainstorm the top billion dollar industries that Denmark should build up. The House of Monday Morning also supports pilot innovation projects in schools, such as the initiative which involves using Lego Mindstorm to teach innovation through Science.

We also visited Prof Mads Tofte, Dean of the IT University of Copenhagen which is recognizably the most innovative university in Denmark - set to spearhead Science and Technology and growth for Danish society. The university draws 150 students a year, from Arts, Science and Business and gets graduates to think about how IT can be used in each of their disciplines to improve work and careers related to those disciplines.

Finally, there was Mr Rene Bertramsen, General Director of the Ministry of Science Technology and Innovation, who was transferred from the Danish Ministry of Education to execute changes to bring Science and Technology to the fore in tertiary education. Having visited Singapore with a study team last year, he was particularly interested in our IN2015 vision, A-STAR and SMU. He is supposed to execute the plans contained in a document "Progress, Innovation and Cohesion - Strategy for Denmark in the Global Economy published in May 2006.

The Danes have a fluidity and flexibility of mind that impressed us. They are adaptable and flexible in their thinking, able to play with ideas and create new thoughts. Design is part of their strategy to move and add value to existing products. Social innovation is very important to them because they believe in design not for the product's sake, but design to improve life. The people we met and exchanged ideas with provided the impetus and inspiration for us to embark on a journey to define the pedagogies that will build in young people the necessary skills for the 21^st century.

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