Nørrebro Park School, an Experience of Danish Primary School’s Context, Priorities, and Practices

Abstract

This article reports a practical experience of the implementation of the Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) project in a Danish primary school. The main purpose of the paper is to discuss the benefits, priorities, facilitators, and barriers in implementing the project, describing classroom interventions, teachers’ methodology and students' responses. The research approach is qualitative, through planning, implementation, and evaluation of first-hand SEL activities in the classroom. The participants were 25 children, aged 9 and 10 years old, from the third grade in a multicultural public school located in the district of Nørrebro, an eclectic area in the centre of Copenhagen, Denmark. The results show all the SEL activities carried out with the students, together with the teacher’s account of the student’s reactions regarding engagement and participation. We discuss the project developed by two researchers, one of them is the children’s class teacher and the other one is a Ph.D. student. For the first three months, the researchers worked together and for the last three months, the collaboration was carried out in an online format. In conclusion, the study contributes to developing research regarding field investigation experiences in the Danish system regarding social and emotional education. Furthermore, provides useful recommendations for educational professionals responsible for the application of methodology and practices to develop social and emotional competencies in a multicultural context.