New 'Classmate' Tage Hensyn Helps Danish Students Navigate Conflicts

Every classroom at Skovsgård Tranum School in North Jutland has welcomed a new student this week: Tage Hensyn. But Tage isn’t a real child. He’s a symbolic figure created to strengthen classroom community and help children understand how to show consideration for one another. What Tage looks like and how he helps is entirely up to the students themselves. In Pia Britt Sørensen’s combined third- and fourth-grade class, Tage has taken the form of a paper cutout wearing blue clothes and sporting curly hair. According to Sørensen, having a visual representation makes it easier for kids to discuss conflicts. “When we talk about a specific conflict, we can bring him into the conversation,” she explains. “It’s just simpler when you’re speaking through someone else rather than about yourself.” Her students agree. Johanne Pedersen calls Tage “a good person who helps us take care of each other,” while Elias Glimdvad Kristensen says he helps them resolve disagreements. The school itself developed the Tage Hensyn project—a trend school principal Kim Haaning Pedersen believes is shared by many schools across Denmark. “We see a need to work on communities so there’s room for differences,” he says. Having a tangible, physical tool like Tage encourages children to reflect on their role within the group. Even though Tage has only been in class for a few days, Haaning Pedersen says students from the youngest to the oldest have already embraced him.