Finding the balance: How European societies navigate the tensions in education
Studies across Europe reveal how education balances equity, competition, culture, policy, and history within diverse social traditions
image: This collection captures the diverse landscape of education across China and Europe, exploring how systems from Finland to Belarus navigate tensions between equity and competition, public tradition and private choice. Through comparative studies on shadow education, teacher training, sustainability, and civic values, it reveals education as a dynamic field of cultural dialogue and policy learning.
Credit: Faculty of Education, East China Normal University, China
ECNU Review of Education | Special Issue: Education Beyond Borders: China and Europe
This feature explores how European education systems negotiate tensions between collective ideals and growing competition. Drawing on studies from Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Belarus, it examines shadow education, policy debates over equity, culturally grounded early childhood learning, and enduring post-Soviet public institutions. Together, these perspectives reveal education as a social mirror, continuously balancing public good, cultural identity, historical legacy, and individual ambition across diverse European contexts and shared societal values.
Imagine a parent in Copenhagen, hesitating over a private tutoring brochure. That moment of unease captures a central tension in European education today: the pull between collective values—like equality and public trust—and the growing allure of private options and competitive edge.
ROE’s research across the continent reveals that education is never just about lessons and grades; it’s a mirror of a society’s soul. The journey through recent studies from Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and beyond reveals communities grappling with a common question: where should the line be drawn between the public good and private ambition?
The Nordic Dilemma: Egalitarian Ideals Meet Market Realities
In the Nordic countries, the rise of “shadow education” creates a noticeable social friction. One research project (Cone, 2020) in Denmark unpacks this friction not through dry statistics, but through the “mood” it creates. Interviews with parents and tutors paint a picture tinged with quiet discomfort. Parents speak of needing help for their child while quickly defending their public school teachers. Tutors, often university students, express conflict, feeling their wealthy clients “would do just fine without me,” and questioning their role in a system not built for competition.
This “moral guilt,” as another article (Zhang, 2021) frames it, stems from a powerful social contract: education is the great equalizer. In Denmark, tutoring companies often avoid names emphasizing “VIP,” focusing instead on confidence building, primarily serving lower achievers to help them reach the average. The social norm values sameness and modesty over individual distinction. Using private tutoring feels, for many, like a quiet betrayal of this communal ideal.
Sweden’s story, detailed in another analysis (Hallsén, 2020), shows how policy itself can become the arena for this conflict. When tax deductions for private “homework support” were introduced, it sparked intense debate. Was this a welcome support for families, or a state-subsidized threat to educational equity? The political pendulum swung, and today, the emphasis has shifted back toward funding free, school-organized support. The Swedish case illustrates a conscious effort to pull supplementary learning back into the public fold, reasserting the school’s role as the cornerstone of a fair society.
Beyond the Classroom: Education as Cultural and Sensory Formation
But what happens within the trusted realm of public education itself? A beautiful narrative inquiry (Ødegaard & Marandon, 2020) from the wild, west coast of Norway shifts our gaze from academic support to a more fundamental form of learning: children’s encounter with their local world.
Researchers followed a kindergarten where weather wasn’t a barrier—it was a teacher. Through stories of building shelters in icy rain and learning to move carefully on slippery roots, the study shows how “cultures of exploration” are built. Here, pedagogy is about fostering resilience. This is education as cultural formation—where children learn their place in a community and an ecosystem, forging a deep, sensory connection to their environment that no textbook can provide.
In an age of climate crisis, some of the most vital learning happens not in pursuit of grades, but in dialogue with the wind and the rain.
Legacy and Adaptation: The Post-Soviet Path
Moving east, the picture changes yet again. An examination (Liu & Zubko, 2023) of out-of-school education in Belarus reveals a system shaped by a different historical legacy: that of the Soviet Union. Here, a vast network of public palaces, clubs, and stations for young naturalists, technologists, and artists remains strong. These institutions serve clear national goals: fostering patriotism, environmental consciousness, and scientific talent.
In this context, the “public” out-of-school system isn’t a hesitant alternative to a private market; it is a deliberate, state-supported project for shaping collective identity and future citizens, illustrating another distinct answer to the question of education’s purpose.
Conclusion: A Continent in Conversation
Together, these stories paint a rich, nuanced portrait of European education at a crossroads. It is not a search for a single best model, but a collective grappling with timeless tensions: between individual advancement and collective good, between standardized outcomes and holistic formation, between preserving heritage and embracing change.
Yet, the journey continues beyond these pages… For a deeper exploration of the tensions and transformations shaping European education, we invite you to discover the full collection of open-access research on our website: ECNU Review of Education: Sage Journals.
References
Cone, L. (2020). “They Would Do Just Fine Without Me”: Experiences of Private Tutoring in Denmark. ECNU Review of Education, 4(3), 566–589. https://doi.org/10.1177/2096531120940718
Zhang, W. (2021). Modes and Trajectories of Shadow Education in Denmark and China: Fieldwork Reflections by a Comparativist. ECNU Review of Education, 4(3), 615–629. https://doi.org/10.1177/20965311211042026
Liu, M., & Zubko, D. (2023). Out-of-School Education in Belarus. ECNU Review of Education, 7(1), 131–143. https://doi.org/10.1177/20965311221147311
Hallsén, S. (2020). The Rise of Supplementary Education in Sweden: Arguments, Thought Styles, and Policy Enactment. ECNU Review of Education, 4(3), 476–493. https://doi.org/10.1177/2096531120952096
Ødegaard, E. E., & Marandon, A. S. (2020). Local Weather Events: Stories of Pedagogical Practice as Possible Cultures of Exploration. ECNU Review of Education, 2(4), 421–440. https://doi.org/10.1177/2096531119893481