Moral Agency in a Danish Educational Context: A Vision for the Future

Merete Wiberg; Carsten Fogh Nielsen

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Chapter 2 Moral Agency in a Danish Educational Context

A Vision for the Future

In: Nordic Perspectives on Moral and Citizenship Education

Authors:

Merete Wiberg

Merete Wiberg
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Carsten Fogh Nielsen

Carsten Fogh Nielsen
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Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 13–30

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004745902_002

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Abstract

Apart from a small-scale study that the authors of this chapter conducted at three municipal schools in 2017–2018, there have been no systematic empirical investigations of how understandings of moral agency and ethical formation have developed and changed in Danish school settings.

This chapter uses the aforementioned study to ground a pedagogical-philosophical discussion of how and whether the term moral education makes sense in a Danish context. Due to its size, we view the empirical study as exemplary, not representative, using it as our starting point for a discussion of why the educators that participated often seemed to connect the term moral education with some form of moralization. We then suggest that ‘moral agency’ and ‘ethical formation’ (Bildung) might be more suitable terms for discussing moral education in a Danish context. Furthermore, we discuss why moral development is often not explicitly discussed in Danish educational contexts. We argue that educators cannot avoid influencing their students’ moral understanding and agency due to the inherent normativity of education and teaching. This raises the question: How (and to what extent) can educators support students’ moral agency, ethical formation, and competence to deal with ethical issues without explicitly teaching ethics and addressing moral conduct? Theoretically, we draw on the German and Nordic Bildung tradition, which is influential in Denmark, while discussing and illustrating how such approaches might support moral agency in a democratic framework. To further analyze moral education with regard to democratic values, we distinguish between non-expansive and expansive approaches. In Denmark, a center for character education is about to be launched. We briefly explore the values and ideas on which this center is to be founded by discussing character education in Denmark from historical, democratic, and contemporary perspectives.

We conclude the chapter by outlining a vision for how Danish educators might better support students’ moral agency and ethical formation in the future.

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Nordic Perspectives on Moral and Citizenship Education

Series: Moral Development and Citizenship Education, Volume: 26

E-Book ISBN:: 9789004745902

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 24 Feb 2026

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- Education

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Chapter 2 Moral Agency in a Danish Educational Context

A Vision for the Future

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Nordic Perspectives on Moral and Citizenship Education

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