Teacher shares ‘huge difference’ between schools in Denmark vs. America: ‘A million times better’

A grade school teacher is going viral after sharing the “huge difference” she’s experienced in her job since moving abroad.

The teacher, who previously taught in the U.S. and now teaches second grade in Denmark, shared her experience on TikTok. Her video, which now has more than 1.7 million views, explains why her new job is “a million times better.”

In the clip, the TikToker —whose first name is Ilana — shares that she was working between 55-60 hours as a teacher in the U.S. Those hours included 45 “contract hours,” or on-the-clock time she spent in school. Meanwhile, she spent an extra 10-15 hours planning and prepping for classes.

In Denmark, those hours are noticeably lower. Ilana says she now works just 40-45 hours per week. Only 35 of those are her contract hours, and by comparison, she only needed 5-10 hours of extra planning work.

Ilana explained that she believes she’s a better teacher in Denmark, because she’s “not so tired and burnt out.”

“I don’t think I could ever go back,” she captioned her video.

@ilanamba

I don’t think I could ever go back ##teachingabroad ##teachingindenmark ##americanexpat ##lifeindenmark ##tiktokteacher ##pypteacher

♬ original sound – ilanamba

There are some other key differences in Ilana’s breakdown, too. For example, the teacher says that in Denmark, she spends less time in the classroom with her students, meaning she actually has more hours for weekly planning than she did in the U.S.

In earlier videos on her page, Ilana shared other benefits to teaching in Denmark. For one, she claims she hasn’t spent any money on her own school supplies since getting her new job.

That’s a major difference from the U.S. For example, a 2019 analysis by the Economic Policy Institute found the average American teacher spends $459 of their own money on school supplies each year.

@ilanamba

Getting a job teaching in Denmark, part 1! Aka: how to not pay for your own school supplies. @ms_frazzled ##teachingabroad ##americanexpat

♬ Backyard Boy – Claire Rosinkranz

Ilana’s videos have been met with plenty of praise, plus comments from users who are seemingly packing their bags for Denmark.

“100 percent agree. I went from Texas to Sweden and the work hours look almost identical,” one user wrote.

“So what I’m hearing is I should move to Denmark,” another added.

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