Visual thinking strategies as a pedagogical tool: initial expectations, applications, and perspectives in Denmark

Abstract

This paper examines the introduction of Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) in Denmark and its potential as a pedagogical tool used throughout Danish education culture and particularly in Danish primary schools. The first active Danish users of and trainers in VTS in the country provide purposive qualitative interview data through structured e-mail interviews focused on their experiences with VTS and their impressions of this pedagogical tool in the Danish education culture context. The analysis of this qualitative data indicates that VTS is highly and widely adaptable to Danish education culture which, like other Scandinavian education systems, is based on bildung didactic principles. In their contemporary manifestation, these principles value the emancipation of the individual and the promotion of democratic learning processes. The introduction of VTS is still a work in progress in the Danish context and is not yet formally used in the school system. However, it is precisely there that a rich vein of opportunities exists for VTS in Denmark.