Three Groups of Student Delegations was thoroughly introduced to countless aspects of Danish Society

This summer, from mid-August till early September, we received three different Study Groups from Japan: respectively from the Tokai University’s Junior College of Nursing and Medical Technology, it’s Dept. of Health Management and its Dept. of Nordic Studies. Below you can read a bit about each groups Student Study Tour in Denmark, hosted by TUEC.

Nursing and Medical Technology:

From August 20th-29th, a delegation from Tokai University, School of Medicine, Department of Nursing spent ten days in Denmark. The study group consisted of 11 nursing students and two accompanying teachers, and the first four days of the study program in Denmark were spent at TUEC, with a program provided by TUEC in the Copenhagen area.
On the day of arrival, the group were introduced to Danish society and culture through a presentation by TUEC’s Director – Head of Administration, Jakob Skyt Jensen.
 
The group’s first program visit was to the Danish Nurses’ Organization (DNO) in Central Copenhagen. They were welcomed by the president of DNO’s student organization (SLS) who introduced the organization’s many activities with a strong focus on the political engagement for improving working conditions for nurses and nursing education in Denmark.  
In addition, Tokai nursing students were invited by SLS leaders to make a joint video, briefly introducing nursing-related data in Denmark and Japan. The recording has been uploaded on SLS SoMe platforms and has already generated over 50.000 viewings in total on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.
 
After the DNO visit, the group enjoyed sightseeing in Copenhagen accompanied by TUEC staff.
 
The following day, the group visited Marthagården Kindergarten, an institution affiliated with University College Deaconess (UCD), which is a formal partner of Tokai University. The delegation was welcomed by the kindergarten’s manager who spoke about various aspects of childcare in a Danish kindergarten. The students were given a tour of both indoor and outdoor facilities at the kindergarten.
 
Finally, the delegation also visited the Center for Rehabilitation and Acute Care (CRA). A presentation about CRA was held in Japanese by a Japanese nurse living and working in Denmark. The students obtained insights concerning working culture for nurses in Denmark along with various comparative health and medical-related statistics in Denmark and Japan. Based on her own personal experiences, the Japanese nurse was able to answer the students’ questions thoroughly based on her intercultural perspective.
 
In the evening on Friday, August 22nd, a garden party to celebrate the delegation visit from Japan was held at TUEC in collaboration with Tokai University Alumni Association Denmark. The Tokai nursing students provided delicious Japanese food for the Danish guests and entertained during dinner with Japanese song and dance. 
 
On Sunday, August 24th, the delegation left TUEC and travelled to Silkeborg in Western Denmark, where VIA University College, Department of Nursing, had prepared a three-day study program for the Tokai nursing students.

Department of Health Management

The second delegation, which we received, was the delegation from the Department og Health Management, consisting of 9 students and 2 professors. This group spent a total of 8 days in Denmark from August 26th to September 3rd, visiting various places of academic interest following a program coordinated by TUEC in collaboration with the professors.

This group visited a total of ten different places during their stay, so some of these will only be mentioned briefly here. In broad terms, the group learned about various ways, in which Denmark, as a nation and state, takes care of its citizens health and well being.

On the first day, the group visited DBS, the Danish Association for Blind Citizens, to hear about what the organization does to help Blind Citizens in Denmark, both through local initiatives and broader political ones. One of the students from the study group was blind herself, so this was especially inspiring for her to learn about.
Later the same day, the group visited a Homework Café run by local volunteers in HøjeHø Gladsaxe, and were invited to hear about the café, as well as observe it whilst the elementary school pupils received free assistance.
Next day the group visited the Nursing Home Ingeborggården. Here they were taught about how the Nursing Home operates and takes care of the elderly citizens. One of their key values is to have the elderly maintain their own autonomy, dignity and sense of self-worth.

These values are also shared by Ældresagen, whose main office they visited later that day. Here the study group learned how the organization works to ensure a good life for elderly citizens in Denmark, both through political lobbyism, and voluntary aid in their local chapters. The following day the group also met with a volunteer from a local chapter of Ældresagen, near TUEC, to hear more about their specific initiatives. The aim of these initiatives is to improve the elderly citizens’ quality of life, mainly through social interactions and activities, and help with everyday tasks they might struggle with. In this way, the elderly also become part of a local community and safety network.

Another visit which the study group made was to the Department of Public Health of Copenhagen University. This is also where one of the professors of the group, Dr. Manami Hori, did her research exchange whilst in Denmark. Here, the group was presented with a broader understanding of the Danish Health Care System, and how each citizens health data is being used across different public sectors in relation to treatments and care.

The next week the group visited Bosei, the Danish folk high school in Præstø which was formerly Tokai’s own boarding school. Here they would attend activities together with the Bosei students, such as an interactive English class, where they baked cakes together, an afternoon assembly, and a Mixed Martial Arts and Fitness training class.

On their last full day, they also visited Fontana Skolen, a school for young students with special needs, many of whom have neurodivergent diagnoses. The group were shown around the school, and were able to hear directly from students there, how the school helped them, and enabled them to grow both professionally but also personally.
                                                                                                              
Lastly, the study group went to Københavns Idrætsefterskole. “Efterskole” is often translated as a boarding school, however, the concept is more unique than that. An “efterskole” is in many ways quite like a Danish folk high school, as they’re both based on Grundtvigs values of teaching the students, how to become active democratic citizens of society. This was conveyed to the study group as well, who were also able to see the school’s many facilities aimed at its students specializing in various sports.

Department of Nordic Studies:

The third delegation we had the honor of hosting was from the School of Nordic Studies. The delegation, comprising 16 students and 2 professors, visited us after spending approximately a week in Bergen and Oslo, Norway. Their visit to Denmark took place between September 3rd and September 8th, during which they followed a program carefully crafted by TUEC staff, with the wonderful help of input from professors who had already visited Denmark numerous times.

During their stay, the group focused heavily on the uniqueness of the Danish education system, alongside learning about Danish history and our historical institutions.
During their stay, the group visited the medieval capital of Denmark, called Roskilde, where they first visited a Danish high-school called Himmelev, where the students had the unique opportunity to observe classes and speak to Danish high-school students about their lives, and their impression of the Danish education system. Thereafter, the group went to both the historic and beautiful Cathedral of Roskilde and the wonderful Viking Museum of Roskilde.

The group also had the amazing opportunity to experience the phenomenon, which has slowly gained traction worldwide, but was invented by Danes in the 1950s – The Forest Kindergarten.
The Japanese students learned about (and were truly fascinated by) this outdoorsy approach to early childhood education in Denmark. While Forest Kindergartens are also on the rise in Japan, the Japanese students were truly surprised by the Danish Forest Kindergartens. How much outdoor activity and how much early childhood education is rooted in nature was particularly interesting. Some of the Japanese students of the Nordic studies group had studied the Danish language, so they had a unique opportunity to interact with the children, who mainly spoke only Danish.

The students were also escorted to Elsinore, where the wonderful people of the only truly international ‘folk-high-school’ of Denmark greeted us and showed us around. The international folk-high-school called International Peoples College (IPC) taught the students about the interesting history of the folk-high-school movement in Denmark since the time of N.F.S. Grundtvig and his many brilliant ideas. Thereafter, a tour of the facilities and an explanation of IPC and their schooling system were provided. Three of the Japanese students fell in love with the school so much that they plan on applying to the school after the completion of their undergraduate degree!
Obviously, while the students were in Elsinore, they also visited the world-famous Kronborg Castle and Elsinore Cathedral!

The students also visited the Danish parliament in Christiansborg Castle and were given a very informative and exciting tour of the facilities, along with a thorough explanation of the Danish political system and the daily lives of Danish politicians. Thereafter, the group visited the National Museum of Denmark, where archaeology students from the University of Copenhagen showed them around and gave them their deep insights into subjects concerning Danish history and pre-history.