Schoolchildren’s classroom experiences in the Greenlandic primary school system - Louise Andersen

This talk will present a nation-wide survey in Greenland that explores how Greenlandic primary schoolchildren experience their school in regards to learning, well-being and teaching. The survey was first conducted as a pilot

study in the spring of 2018, and will in the spring of 2019 be executed nation-wide. The findings from the pilot study have overall shown that the schoolchildren want to learn when they are in school, but issues concerning teaching and well-being prevents this from happening. Based on the pilot study, the nation-wide survey in 2019 will have an explicit focus on the schoolchild in the classroom. The survey consists of a mix of quantitative and qualitative research methods and covers all school subjects.

The reason for the survey is primarily the need to strengthen and give voice to the child’s perspective. School research and political initiatives in Greenland are lacking a child’s perspective on matters that has to do with children’s everyday lives in the classroom. The primary school system in Greenland is often debated and various research reports document different challenges with teachers, school-children and school-leaders. At the same time the political level is working on a reform of the primary school system. These initiatives are however all done without giving voice to the children. Without understanding how schoolchildren experience their school, improving and changing the school for the better is difficult.