ABSTRACT
The concluding chapter discusses central observations from the edited volume’s individual contributions. From a bird’s-eye view, the common Lutheran heritage from the sixteenth century and the initiatives towards schooling under absolutist regimes during the seventeenth century were decisive, shared steppingstones for the establishment of later mass schooling and state-driven teacher education in the Nordic region. Considerable differences between the Eastern and Western Nordic countries can, however, be observed, emanating from the two earlier dominant powers of Denmark and Sweden. The affinity to, and later struggle with, the German influence was far more decisive for the Danish, Norwegian, and Icelandic teacher cultures than for the Swedish and Finnish. A shared Nordic education model is most clearly observed in the years around 1970, where comprehensive, non-tracked, and socially inclusive schools formed the arena for Nordic teachers’ work and life. Finally, the chapter distinguishes between three possible readings of recent developments for both teachers and education in the light of new global trends: first, an idea of necessary reforms based on pressures from globalisation, second, an evolving complex conglomerate of tradition and renewal, and third, a specific Nordic path into the era of globalised education.
