‘Her Modest Demeanour and Motherly Care': Danish Female Primary School Teachers, 1860–1900

Feminization has been – in tandem with the professionalization of the teaching field – at the heart of modernizing educational systems across the Nordic countries. In 1859, Danish politicians allowed women to teach public primary school’s girls’ classes, and this was extended to boys from 1867. Danish scholars have delved into the early generations of formally trained female educators. However, limited attention has been dedicated to the numerous women who were not part of the pioneering generation of educated teachers but who served as public primary school educators. This study focuses on the history of ”ordinary” Danish women who operated within the regionalized school system during the emergence of mass schooling, from the 1860s to 1890s. Based on a cohort comprising 1,929 teachers and the Danish Link Lives Population Database, the objective is to investigate the socio-economic background of the first formally employed female public primary teachers as a part of a broader study of determining whether the teaching profession transformed into an independent arena for women. Diverging from prior research, this study provides new results and insights into the multifaceted process of feminization in Danish primary schools and the consequent professionalization of teaching staff.