“It’s not about the grades!” On Shadow Education in Denmark and How Parents Wish to Help Their Children Get Ahead

Abstract

This article is about shadow education in Denmark. Based on qualitative interview data with families that purchase private supplementary tutoring, we analyse how this tutoring is related to child-rearing strategies in the families. With theoretical inspiration from Annette Lareau, we analyse the parents’ involvement in their children’s education as aspects of concerted cultivation. With the concept parentocracy, we shed light on the role parents’ wealth and wishes play in their children’s educational life. Finally, we look to contemporary educational youth research and the concept performance culture, to address implications such as stress, pressure, competitiveness, and a strong focus on grades among students in Danish upper secondary education.

Understanding private supplementary tutoring: metaphors, diversities and agendas for shadow education research (Comprendiendo las clases particulares complementarias: metáforas, variedades y agendas para la investigación sobre educación en la sombra)

“…Thus, Kumon learners certainly gain supplementation, but not in close mimicry. Other forms of tutoring, partly shaped by cultures and social class, stress study skills and personal development as much as subject content (see, e.g., Gravesen & Mikkelsen, 2021). Patterns are also shaped by market evolutions.…”

“…No cabe duda de que los estudiantes de Kumon gozan de esa complementariedad, pero no en un mimetismo estrecho. Otras formas de enseñanza, moldeadas en parte por la cultura y la clase social, enfatizan las técnicas de estudio y el desarrollo personal en la misma medida que los contenidos curriculares (véase Gravesen & Mikkelsen, 2021). La evolución del mercado también influye en estos patrones.…”