5. Opposing Cultures

In chapter five, ‘Opposing Cultures: Science and Humanities Teaching in Danish Schools’, Marianne Høyen and Mumiah Rasmussen examine the cultural divide between the expectations and practices of humanities (culture) and science (nature) teachers in Denmark, whose different learning is mandated within the state curriculum, possibly permitting a derogatory discourse around cultural subjects. They collect and analyse the life stories of newly qualified teachers, seeking to understand what informs their choice to work within these distinctive traditions and the extent to which this is due to family, schooling or external influences. Are their decisions culturally embedded or determined by opportunity at a later career stage?