Mr Uffe ELBÆK
uffe.elbaek@kaospilot.dk
Chairman
The KaosPilots, Denmark

Mr Uffe Elbaek is Chairman of the KaosPilot International Board and founder of The KaosPilots - International School of New Business Design & Social Innovation. Mr Elbaek was born in 1954 and as he says himself, he has already managed to live several lives, both personally as well as professionally.

From 1991 to 2006 he has been the principal of the KaosPilots in Denmark, but is also a regular contributor to a range of leading Danish and International newspapers and magazines. In November 2001 and again in 2005, he was elected to Aarhus City Council (Denmark’s second city) for the Danish Social-Liberal Party.

He is also on the board of several Danish and international organizations, and has over the years received numerous honors and awards, ranging from his appointment as ambassador for the local premiere league football club AGF to Knight of the Dannebrog. Uffe Elbaek is the father of 29 year old Frej and step-dad to 30 year-old Jacob. He lives in a big old apartment in the heart of Copenhagen, together with his partner Jens.

Everything begins and ends with the student

Whenever we discuss the quality of the education system in my country, Denmark, it is all too often “the secondary parties” who express themselves in the debates. That is to say, either our local or nationally elected politicians, teachers (and their professional organisations), the national or international education experts, the future employers (public as well as private), or the parents.

But very rarely do those, who this is actually all about, speak out: namely, our children and youth. Which seems paradoxical, since it is their “work milieu” and, not least, their future (life) possibilities and (job) challenges that is debated.

So if what we really desire is a “customer perspective” (which, in these times of marketing-centeredness, is so popular since the customer is always right) on the quality of –in this case- the Danish education system, then, by all means, go and ask the children and youth. Ask them whether they find their public schools, technical schools, high schools, the continuing education programs or the universities motivating? Creative? Innovative? What about academically as well as personally challenging?

Every so often, when I am assigned the task of evaluating the quality of the Danish education system – or a particular educational institution- I always consider two crucial parameters:
To what degree is the educational milieu in question both academically and personally motivating – seen from the students’ point of view?

And:
To what degree is the education program in question appropriate to the student such that she or he is prepared to take responsibility for her/his future life after completing the education program?

For no matter how you ask the question about the quality of my country’s education system, it always begins and ends with the student: Does the student experience being part of a motivating and dynamic education milieu? Or the contrary? And how well is the student qualified, both academically and personally, to tackle (professional) life after completing the education?

Uffe Elbaek先生

Uffe Elbaek先生自1991年起擔任丹麥KaosPilot (新業務設計及社會創新國際學校)的主席。他也為多份丹麥和國際報章撰文，亦為當地市政府民選議員。

「從頭到尾都是以學生為中心」

很多時筆者參與的丹麥教育辯論，都是由其他持份者主導，例如政客、教師、家長等，甚少由學生發聲。其實在「顧客至上」的年代。學生才是重心人物，我們要問他們對教育的看法：學校、課程具創意嗎？筆者認為素質教育的評估準則應是(1) 由學生評估其學習環境是否活潑和有激勵性；(2)學生畢業後，課程是否讓他有足夠裝備，認識何謂責任？