Folk high school
Encyclopedia
Folk high schools are institutions for adult education
that generally do not grant academic degree
s, though certain courses might exist leading to that goal. They are most commonly found in Nordic countries
and in Germany
and Austria
. The concept originally came from the Danish writer, poet, philosopher and pastor Nikolaj Frederik Severin Grundtvig
(1783–1872). Grundtvig was inspired by the Marquis de Condorcet's
Report on the General Organization of Public Instruction which was written in 1792 during the French Revolution
. The Revolution had a direct influence on popular education in France
. In the United States, a Danish folk school called Danebod was founded in Tyler, Minnesota
.
Despite similar names and somewhat similar goals, the institutions are quite different in Germany and Sweden as opposed to the traditions in Denmark and Norway. Folk high schools in Germany and Sweden are in fact much closer to the institutions known as folkeuniversitet or folkuniversitet in Norway and Denmark which provide adult education. However, unlike the folkuniversitet, folk high schools in Sweden are not connected to a regular university
. The Finnish työväenopisto or kansalaisopisto (called arbetarinstitut in Swedish) are also part of the educational Folk tradition.
Other countries have been inspired by Grundtvig's concept of popular education. In Africa
, the United States
and India
, a few schools have been built upon Grundtvig's principles for education.
boarding schools, but Grundtvig's focus was not on formal education but on popular education
and enlightenment. The idea was to give the peasantry and other people from the lower echelons of society a higher educational level through personal development; what Grundtvig called “the living word”. The language and history of the fatherland, its constitution and main industries (farming) along with folk songs should be the guiding principles for an education based on a Christian framework.
The first folk high school was established in 1844 in Rødding
in Denmark
. The school in Rødding, however, was somewhat aristocratic as chiefly civil servants and rich farmers were enrolled.
Another pioneer for the folk high school was the teacher Christen Kold. His, for that time, highly unorthodox
way of teaching gave the folk high schools a broader democratic basis in comparison to the initial religious focus. The teaching took place from November to March because students did farm work the rest of the year. Kold's goal was for students to return to the school regularly in the winter to continue their education. In the beginning only young men could attend the courses, but in 1861 young women also gained access to folk high schools when teaching began being offered from May to July. The men still only attended during winter.
The breakthrough for the idea was the Second War of Schleswig
in 1864 when Denmark had to surrender a large part of its territory. This incident allowed the growth of a new Danish consciousness and nationalism based on enlightenment of the people. Denmark's loss of territory to Prussia
hit the Danish national consciousness hard, but there was a group of young men determined to benefit from the disastrous war, which became a catalyst for a new Danish identity. They established folk high schools all around the country and by 1867 twenty-one folk high schools had opened. Almost everyone working at the folk high schools had been an apprentice of Grundtvig. In 1918 the number of folk high schools in Denmark had reached 68.
The modern folk high schools vary significantly. Some still have a religious focus but most of them are secular. The schools are still “Grundtvigian” folk high schools which means that their focus is on enlightenment, ethics
, morality
and democracy
although they are not taught explicitly. The Grundtvigian philosophy is embedded in the teaching of various subjects, e.g. the arts
, gymnastics
, and journalism
. Most of the schools have an area of expertise, for example sports, music
, art or writing
. Since no degree or diploma is awarded the teaching is freer and more informal than at ordinary educational institutions. Most Scandinavia
n folk high schools are boarding schools where the students live for 2–6 months. It is possible to stay for up to 1 year though, at least in Norway.
as the primary focus. The folk high school movement was an act against a conservative ideal of both education and culture. An act against an ideal of literacy and book-learning, a use of language unknown to common people and a learning ideal where the primary relation was between the individual and the book alone.
The movement therefore started as a row with the old school. Grundtvig fought for a public education as an alternative to the university
elite. The folk high schools should be for those wanting to learn in general and to help people form part of human relations and society
.
The folk high schools have changed naturally - some also radically - through time, but many of Grundtvigs core-ideas about the folk high school are still to be found in the way they are run today. The folk high school of today is engaged in a complex modern reality and influenced both by national, international and global questions.
One of the main concepts still to be found at the folk high schools today is “lifelong learning
”. The schools should educate for life. They should shed light on basic questions surrounding life of people both as individuals and as members of society.
To Grundtvig the ideal was to give the students a sense of a common best and focusing on life as it really is. Therefore Grundtvig never set down guidelines for the future schools or a detailed description of how they should be run. He declared that the folk high schools should be arranged and developed according to life as it is and the schools should not hold exams because the education and enlightenment was a sufficient reward.
The essential element was and is the life at the schools. A folk high school becomes what it is because of the individuals of which it is made. Learning happens across social positions and differences – the teacher learns from the student and vice versa in a living exchange and mutual teaching. For Grundtvig dialogue across differences was essential – the ideal was that people must learn to bear with the differences of each other before enlightenment can be realized.
Especially in non-German speaking countries, the folk high schools may be boarding school
s or may mainly offer courses for adults age 18–30.
, Denmark
in 1844. It began on the initiative of Christen Kold
, who was a follower of Grundtvig. The school was inspired by the need to educate those not fortunate enough to have an education and the poor, or peasantry, who could not spare the time or the money to attend a university. Among the other old folk high schools in Denmark are Askov Højskole and Ry Højskole in Jutland
and Vallekilde Højskole
in Zealand, both founded in 1865 and Rødkilde Højskole
on Møn
founded in 1866.
By the end of 2009 there were 76 folk high schools in Denmark. The principal subjects of instruction vary from the creative arts such as music, arts, design, writing, to intellectual courses such as religion, philosophy, literature and psychology. Some schools even have courses that specialize in sports. Tuition varies, but is typically around 1200 Danish kroner per week, including board and lodging.
In recent history, globalization
has exercised an increasingly important influence on Danish schools. Many courses are open to foreigners as well as Danes, and many courses include travelling or voluntary stays in other countries as part of the curriculum.
, Sagatun
, was founded in 1864. As of 2007, there were 77 folk high schools spread across the country, thirty of which were Christian
schools. Folk high schools provide opportunities in general education, primarily for young adults. These schools are different from lower secondary schools, upper secondary schools, and higher education. All students are eligible for normal financial aid. Most folk high schools are connected to some sort of organization. Most courses last for one year, but certain last for two years.
were established in 1868. As of 2008, there are about 150 folk high schools throughout the country, most of which are situated in the countryside, often in remote areas. Tuition
is free, and the students are eligible for normal financial aid for expenses such as accommodation and other school costs. After graduating, the students are eligible to study at a university.
Some schools, for example Södra Vätterbygdens Folkhögskola
near Jönköping
, cooperate with schools in other countries and have an exchange student program.
This type of folk high school is currently most widespread in Germany. Because they offer preparatory classes for school exams, the German folk high schools also function as the equivalent of adult high school
s in other countries. Germany also has folk high schools that are boarding schools, called Heimvolkshochschulen.
, popular education remained an important part of the workers' movement, especially in the anarcho-syndicalist movement
which set up, with Fernand Pelloutier
, various Bourses du travail centres, where workers gathered and discussed politics and sciences. The Jules Ferry laws
that were passed in the 1880s established free, secular
, mandatory public education as one of the founding principles of the Third Republic
. In addition, many teachers were strong supporters of Alfred Dreyfus
during the Dreyfus Affair
of the 1890s. Afterward, some teachers set up free educational lectures on humanist topics in order to struggle against the spread of anti-semitism
in France.
In more recent times, following the 1981 presidential election
Minister of Education Alain Savary
supported Jean Lévi's initiative to create a public high school that would deliver the baccalauréat
but would be organized on the principles of autogestion (or "self-management"). This high school took the name Lycée autogéré de Paris (LAP). The LAP was explicitly inspired by the secondary school Vitruve, which opened in 1962 in the 20th arrondissement of Paris (and is still active), Oslo Experimental High School, which opened in 1967 in Norway, and Saint-Nazaire
Experimental High School, which opened six months before the LAP. Theoretical influences include the works of Célestin Freinet
, Raymond Fonvieille, Fernand Oury
, and other theoreticians of the institutional pedagogy
, institutional analysis
(René Lourau in particular), and institutional psychotherapeutic movements.
, born in Indiana in 1867, and raised in Wisconsin, studied education and theology in New England. At the turn of the century, the Southern Appalachian region was viewed as a fertile field for educational and social missions. With his new bride, Olive Dame of Massachusetts, John undertook a fact-finding survey of social conditions in the mountains in 1908-1909. After John died in 1919, Olive and her friend Marguerite Butler traveled to Europe and studied folk schools in Denmark, Sweden and other countries. In 1925, the John C. Campbell Folk School
began its work in Brasstown, North Carolina. Students learn American traditional arts and crafts, including blacksmithing, ceramics, cooking, jewelry, dance and music. Myles Horton
who was a co-founder of Highlander Folk School in 1932, was also inspired by the Danish folk high school movement.
Adult education
Adult education is the practice of teaching and educating adults. Adult education takes place in the workplace, through 'extension' school or 'school of continuing education' . Other learning places include folk high schools, community colleges, and lifelong learning centers...
that generally do not grant academic degree
Academic degree
An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...
s, though certain courses might exist leading to that goal. They are most commonly found in Nordic countries
Nordic countries
The Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland...
and in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. The concept originally came from the Danish writer, poet, philosopher and pastor Nikolaj Frederik Severin Grundtvig
Nikolaj Frederik Severin Grundtvig
Nikolaj Frederik Severin Grundtvig , most often referred to as simply N. F. S. Grundtvig, was a Danish pastor, author, poet, philosopher, historian, teacher, and politician. He was one of the most influential people in Danish history, as his philosophy gave rise to a new form of nationalism in...
(1783–1872). Grundtvig was inspired by the Marquis de Condorcet's
Marquis de Condorcet
Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas de Caritat, marquis de Condorcet , known as Nicolas de Condorcet, was a French philosopher, mathematician, and early political scientist whose Condorcet method in voting tally selects the candidate who would beat each of the other candidates in a run-off election...
Report on the General Organization of Public Instruction which was written in 1792 during the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
. The Revolution had a direct influence on popular education in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. In the United States, a Danish folk school called Danebod was founded in Tyler, Minnesota
Tyler, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 1,218 people, 532 households, and 338 families residing in the city. The population density was 632.8 people per square mile . There were 577 housing units at an average density of 299.8 per square mile . The racial makeup of the city was 97.78% White, 0.49%...
.
Despite similar names and somewhat similar goals, the institutions are quite different in Germany and Sweden as opposed to the traditions in Denmark and Norway. Folk high schools in Germany and Sweden are in fact much closer to the institutions known as folkeuniversitet or folkuniversitet in Norway and Denmark which provide adult education. However, unlike the folkuniversitet, folk high schools in Sweden are not connected to a regular university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
. The Finnish työväenopisto or kansalaisopisto (called arbetarinstitut in Swedish) are also part of the educational Folk tradition.
Other countries have been inspired by Grundtvig's concept of popular education. In Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, a few schools have been built upon Grundtvig's principles for education.
History
Grundtvig, regarded as the founder of the folk high school, received inspiration for the concept from the EnglishEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
boarding schools, but Grundtvig's focus was not on formal education but on popular education
Popular education
Popular education is a concept grounded in notions of class, political struggle, and social transformation. The term is a translation from the Spanish educación popular or the Portuguese educação popular and rather than the English usage as when describing a 'popular television program,' popular...
and enlightenment. The idea was to give the peasantry and other people from the lower echelons of society a higher educational level through personal development; what Grundtvig called “the living word”. The language and history of the fatherland, its constitution and main industries (farming) along with folk songs should be the guiding principles for an education based on a Christian framework.
The first folk high school was established in 1844 in Rødding
Rødding
Rødding is a town with a population of 2,622 and a former municipality in Vejen municipality in Region of Southern Denmark on the Jutland peninsula in south Denmark. The former Rødding municipality covered an area of 273 km², and had a total population of 10,915...
in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
. The school in Rødding, however, was somewhat aristocratic as chiefly civil servants and rich farmers were enrolled.
Another pioneer for the folk high school was the teacher Christen Kold. His, for that time, highly unorthodox
Unorthodox
Unorthodox refers to something that is not orthodox.Unorthodox may also refer to:In music:* Unorthodox , a song by Wretch 32* Unorthodox , a doom metal band from Maryland...
way of teaching gave the folk high schools a broader democratic basis in comparison to the initial religious focus. The teaching took place from November to March because students did farm work the rest of the year. Kold's goal was for students to return to the school regularly in the winter to continue their education. In the beginning only young men could attend the courses, but in 1861 young women also gained access to folk high schools when teaching began being offered from May to July. The men still only attended during winter.
The breakthrough for the idea was the Second War of Schleswig
Second War of Schleswig
The Second Schleswig War was the second military conflict as a result of the Schleswig-Holstein Question. It began on 1 February 1864, when Prussian forces crossed the border into Schleswig.Denmark fought Prussia and Austria...
in 1864 when Denmark had to surrender a large part of its territory. This incident allowed the growth of a new Danish consciousness and nationalism based on enlightenment of the people. Denmark's loss of territory to Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
hit the Danish national consciousness hard, but there was a group of young men determined to benefit from the disastrous war, which became a catalyst for a new Danish identity. They established folk high schools all around the country and by 1867 twenty-one folk high schools had opened. Almost everyone working at the folk high schools had been an apprentice of Grundtvig. In 1918 the number of folk high schools in Denmark had reached 68.
The modern folk high schools vary significantly. Some still have a religious focus but most of them are secular. The schools are still “Grundtvigian” folk high schools which means that their focus is on enlightenment, ethics
Ethics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
, morality
Morality
Morality is the differentiation among intentions, decisions, and actions between those that are good and bad . A moral code is a system of morality and a moral is any one practice or teaching within a moral code...
and democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
although they are not taught explicitly. The Grundtvigian philosophy is embedded in the teaching of various subjects, e.g. the arts
ARts
aRts, which stands for analog Real time synthesizer, is an audio framework that is no longer under development. It is best known for previously being used in KDE to simulate an analog synthesizer....
, gymnastics
Gymnastics
Gymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body...
, and journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
. Most of the schools have an area of expertise, for example sports, music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, art or writing
Writing
Writing is the representation of language in a textual medium through the use of a set of signs or symbols . It is distinguished from illustration, such as cave drawing and painting, and non-symbolic preservation of language via non-textual media, such as magnetic tape audio.Writing most likely...
. Since no degree or diploma is awarded the teaching is freer and more informal than at ordinary educational institutions. Most Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
n folk high schools are boarding schools where the students live for 2–6 months. It is possible to stay for up to 1 year though, at least in Norway.
The School and Lifelong Learning
Grundtvig fought for a school with popular educationPopular education
Popular education is a concept grounded in notions of class, political struggle, and social transformation. The term is a translation from the Spanish educación popular or the Portuguese educação popular and rather than the English usage as when describing a 'popular television program,' popular...
as the primary focus. The folk high school movement was an act against a conservative ideal of both education and culture. An act against an ideal of literacy and book-learning, a use of language unknown to common people and a learning ideal where the primary relation was between the individual and the book alone.
The movement therefore started as a row with the old school. Grundtvig fought for a public education as an alternative to the university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
elite. The folk high schools should be for those wanting to learn in general and to help people form part of human relations and society
Society
A society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations...
.
The folk high schools have changed naturally - some also radically - through time, but many of Grundtvigs core-ideas about the folk high school are still to be found in the way they are run today. The folk high school of today is engaged in a complex modern reality and influenced both by national, international and global questions.
One of the main concepts still to be found at the folk high schools today is “lifelong learning
Lifelong learning
Lifelong learning is the continuous building of skills and knowledge throughout the life of an individual. It occurs through experiences encountered in the course of a lifetime...
”. The schools should educate for life. They should shed light on basic questions surrounding life of people both as individuals and as members of society.
To Grundtvig the ideal was to give the students a sense of a common best and focusing on life as it really is. Therefore Grundtvig never set down guidelines for the future schools or a detailed description of how they should be run. He declared that the folk high schools should be arranged and developed according to life as it is and the schools should not hold exams because the education and enlightenment was a sufficient reward.
The essential element was and is the life at the schools. A folk high school becomes what it is because of the individuals of which it is made. Learning happens across social positions and differences – the teacher learns from the student and vice versa in a living exchange and mutual teaching. For Grundtvig dialogue across differences was essential – the ideal was that people must learn to bear with the differences of each other before enlightenment can be realized.
Features
The character of folk high schools differ from country to country, but usually institutions have the following common features:- Large variety of subject
- No final exams
- A focus on self-development
- Pedagogical freedom
- Courses last between a few months and one year
Especially in non-German speaking countries, the folk high schools may be boarding school
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
s or may mainly offer courses for adults age 18–30.
Denmark
The first folk high school was founded in RøddingRødding
Rødding is a town with a population of 2,622 and a former municipality in Vejen municipality in Region of Southern Denmark on the Jutland peninsula in south Denmark. The former Rødding municipality covered an area of 273 km², and had a total population of 10,915...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
in 1844. It began on the initiative of Christen Kold
Cristen Mikkelsen Kold
Christen Mikkelsen Kold was a Danish teacher, notable for creating the Danish high-school system.Kold was born in Thisted, Jutland....
, who was a follower of Grundtvig. The school was inspired by the need to educate those not fortunate enough to have an education and the poor, or peasantry, who could not spare the time or the money to attend a university. Among the other old folk high schools in Denmark are Askov Højskole and Ry Højskole in Jutland
Jutland
Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German...
and Vallekilde Højskole
Vallekilde Højskole
Vallekilde Højskole is a Danish institution of adult education in the folk high school tradition. The school is situated in the village of Vallekilde in Odsherred municipality on the island of Zealand.-History:...
in Zealand, both founded in 1865 and Rødkilde Højskole
Rødkilde Højskole
Rødkilde Højskole is a folk high school just south of Stege on the Danish island of Møn. Founded in 1866, it is one of the older folk high schools in Denmark...
on Møn
Møn
-Location:Møn is located just off the south-eastern tip of Zealand from which it is separated by the waters of the Hølen strait between Kalvehave and the island of Nyord, at the northern end of Møn. Further south is Stege Bugt...
founded in 1866.
By the end of 2009 there were 76 folk high schools in Denmark. The principal subjects of instruction vary from the creative arts such as music, arts, design, writing, to intellectual courses such as religion, philosophy, literature and psychology. Some schools even have courses that specialize in sports. Tuition varies, but is typically around 1200 Danish kroner per week, including board and lodging.
In recent history, globalization
Globalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
has exercised an increasingly important influence on Danish schools. Many courses are open to foreigners as well as Danes, and many courses include travelling or voluntary stays in other countries as part of the curriculum.
Norway
The first folk high school in NorwayNorway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, Sagatun
Sagatun folk high school
Sagatun Folk High School was a folk high school in Hamar, Norway.The first of its kind in Norway, it was founded by Herman Anker and Olaus Arvesen in 1864. The school building was erected around 1865, and drawn by architect Emil Victor Langlet. The school was disestablished in 1892, having been...
, was founded in 1864. As of 2007, there were 77 folk high schools spread across the country, thirty of which were Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
schools. Folk high schools provide opportunities in general education, primarily for young adults. These schools are different from lower secondary schools, upper secondary schools, and higher education. All students are eligible for normal financial aid. Most folk high schools are connected to some sort of organization. Most courses last for one year, but certain last for two years.
Sweden
The first folk high schools in SwedenSweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
were established in 1868. As of 2008, there are about 150 folk high schools throughout the country, most of which are situated in the countryside, often in remote areas. Tuition
Tuition
Tuition payments, known primarily as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in British English, Canadian English, Australian English, New Zealand English and Indian English, refers to a fee charged for educational instruction during higher education.Tuition payments are charged by...
is free, and the students are eligible for normal financial aid for expenses such as accommodation and other school costs. After graduating, the students are eligible to study at a university.
Some schools, for example Södra Vätterbygdens Folkhögskola
Södra Vätterbygdens Folkhögskola
Södra Vätterbygdens Folkhögskola is a folk high school located in the town Jönköping, Sweden. In total it has around 300 students.The school offers a number of study programs in different fields: bible, journalism, graphic design and music. It has a program that will ensure a gymnasium diploma in...
near Jönköping
Jönköping
-Notable people:*Lillian Asplund, RMS Titanic survivor*John Bauer, illustrator, painter*Amy Diamond, singer*Agnetha Fältskog, ABBA*Carl Henrik Fredriksson, editor-in-chief and co-founder of Eurozine*Anders Gustafsson, kayaker, Olympian...
, cooperate with schools in other countries and have an exchange student program.
Germany and Austria
Folk high schools in Germany and Austria are usually funded on a local level and provide non-credit courses for adults in:- general education
- vocational education
- political education
- German as a second language (especially for immigrantsImmigrationImmigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
) - various foreign languages
- various forms of art
- information technology
- health education
- preparatory classes for school exams (especially for the AbiturAbiturAbitur is a designation used in Germany, Finland and Estonia for final exams that pupils take at the end of their secondary education, usually after 12 or 13 years of schooling, see also for Germany Abitur after twelve years.The Zeugnis der Allgemeinen Hochschulreife, often referred to as...
or MaturaMaturaMatura or a similar term is the common name for the high-school leaving exam or "maturity exam" in various countries, including Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia,...
)
This type of folk high school is currently most widespread in Germany. Because they offer preparatory classes for school exams, the German folk high schools also function as the equivalent of adult high school
Adult high school
An adult high school or adult school is a high school facility designed for adult education. It is intended for adults who have not completed high school to continue their education. Some adult high schools offer child care, special integration programs for immigrants and refugees, career...
s in other countries. Germany also has folk high schools that are boarding schools, called Heimvolkshochschulen.
France
In 1866, during the Second Empire, Jean Macé founded the Ligue de l'enseignement ("Teaching League"),which was devoted to popular instruction. Following the split between the Anarchists and the Marxists at the 1872 Hague CongressHague Congress
There have been two events called as the Hague Congress:* Hague Congress * Hague Congress...
, popular education remained an important part of the workers' movement, especially in the anarcho-syndicalist movement
Anarchism in France
Thinker Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, who grew up during the Restoration was the first self-described anarchist. French anarchists fought in the Spanish Civil War as volunteers in the International Brigades. French anarchism reached its height in the late 19th century...
which set up, with Fernand Pelloutier
Fernand Pelloutier
Fernand Pelloutier was a French anarchist .He was the leader of the Bourses du Travail, a major French trade union, from 1895 until his death in 1901. He was succeeded by Yvetot...
, various Bourses du travail centres, where workers gathered and discussed politics and sciences. The Jules Ferry laws
Jules Ferry laws
The Jules Ferry Laws are a set of French Laws which established free education , then mandatory and laic education . Jules Ferry, a lawyer holding the office of Minister of Public Instruction in the 1880s, is widely credited for creating the modern Republican School...
that were passed in the 1880s established free, secular
Laïcité
French secularism, in French, laïcité is a concept denoting the absence of religious involvement in government affairs as well as absence of government involvement in religious affairs. French secularism has a long history but the current regime is based on the 1905 French law on the Separation of...
, mandatory public education as one of the founding principles of the Third Republic
French Third Republic
The French Third Republic was the republican government of France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed due to the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, to 1940, when France was overrun by Nazi Germany during World War II, resulting in the German and Italian occupations of France...
. In addition, many teachers were strong supporters of Alfred Dreyfus
Alfred Dreyfus
Alfred Dreyfus was a French artillery officer of Jewish background whose trial and conviction in 1894 on charges of treason became one of the most tense political dramas in modern French and European history...
during the Dreyfus Affair
Dreyfus Affair
The Dreyfus affair was a political scandal that divided France in the 1890s and the early 1900s. It involved the conviction for treason in November 1894 of Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a young French artillery officer of Alsatian Jewish descent...
of the 1890s. Afterward, some teachers set up free educational lectures on humanist topics in order to struggle against the spread of anti-semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
in France.
In more recent times, following the 1981 presidential election
French presidential election, 1981
The French presidential election of 1981 took place on 10 May 1981, giving the presidency of France to François Mitterrand, the first Socialist president of the Fifth Republic....
Minister of Education Alain Savary
Alain Savary
Alain Savary was a French Socialist politician, deputy to the National Assembly of France during the Fourth and Fifth Republic, chairman of the Socialist Party and a government minister in the 1950s and in 1981, when he was nominated by President François Mitterrand as Minister of National...
supported Jean Lévi's initiative to create a public high school that would deliver the baccalauréat
Baccalauréat
The baccalauréat , often known in France colloquially as le bac, is an academic qualification which French and international students take at the end of the lycée . It was introduced by Napoleon I in 1808. It is the main diploma required to pursue university studies...
but would be organized on the principles of autogestion (or "self-management"). This high school took the name Lycée autogéré de Paris (LAP). The LAP was explicitly inspired by the secondary school Vitruve, which opened in 1962 in the 20th arrondissement of Paris (and is still active), Oslo Experimental High School, which opened in 1967 in Norway, and Saint-Nazaire
Saint-Nazaire
Saint-Nazaire , is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France.The town has a major harbour, on the right bank of the Loire River estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean. The town is at the south of the second-largest swamp in France, called "la Brière"...
Experimental High School, which opened six months before the LAP. Theoretical influences include the works of Célestin Freinet
Célestin Freinet
Célestin Freinet was a noted French pedagogue, and educational reformer.- Early life :...
, Raymond Fonvieille, Fernand Oury
Fernand Oury
Fernand Oury was a pedagogue and creator of modern French schooling, recommending a "school of the people", where the children are no longer the passive ones "taught", but the people with a whole share in managing their training and the everyday life of their classes...
, and other theoreticians of the institutional pedagogy
Institutional pedagogy
Institutional pedagogy is a practice of education that is centered on two factors: 1. the complexity of the learner, and the "unconscious" that he or she brings to the classroom. This unconscious is another name for the diversity of social, economic, cultural and other unspoken elements that an...
, institutional analysis
Institutional analysis
Institutional analysis is that part of the social sciences which studies how institutions—i.e., structures and mechanisms of social order and cooperation governing the behavior of two or more individuals—behave and function according to both empirical rules and also theoretical rules...
(René Lourau in particular), and institutional psychotherapeutic movements.
United States
John C. CampbellJohn C. Campbell
John C. Campbell was born in La Porte, Indiana, on 14 September 1867 to Gavin and Anna Barbara Campbell, and grew up in Steven's Point, Wisconsin...
, born in Indiana in 1867, and raised in Wisconsin, studied education and theology in New England. At the turn of the century, the Southern Appalachian region was viewed as a fertile field for educational and social missions. With his new bride, Olive Dame of Massachusetts, John undertook a fact-finding survey of social conditions in the mountains in 1908-1909. After John died in 1919, Olive and her friend Marguerite Butler traveled to Europe and studied folk schools in Denmark, Sweden and other countries. In 1925, the John C. Campbell Folk School
John C. Campbell Folk School
John C. Campbell Folk School, also referred to as "The Folk School" is located in Brasstown, North Carolina. The School was founded to nurture and preserve the folk arts of the Appalachian Mountains, it is an non-profit adult educational organization based on non-competitive learning...
began its work in Brasstown, North Carolina. Students learn American traditional arts and crafts, including blacksmithing, ceramics, cooking, jewelry, dance and music. Myles Horton
Myles Horton
Myles Horton was an American educator, socialist and cofounder of the Highlander Folk School, famous for its role in the Civil Rights Movement . Horton taught and heavily influenced most of the era's leaders. They included Dr...
who was a co-founder of Highlander Folk School in 1932, was also inspired by the Danish folk high school movement.
External links
- 'Research on Folk High schools', Mimer - research on popular education in Sweden and Scandinavia
- folk high school, Columbia Encyclopedia article
- Information about Folk High Schools in Austria
- Information about Folk High Schools in Denmark
- Ry Højskole's History - Official Site, Danish
- Information about Folk High Schools in Germany
- Information about Folk High Schools in Finland
- Information about Folk High Schools in France, called Université populaire du Rhin
- Information about Folk High Schools in Nordic countries
- Information about Folk High Schools in Norway
- Information about Folk High Schools in South Tyrol
- Information about Folk High Schools in Sweden
- Information about Folk High Schools in Switzerland
- John C. Campbell Folk School, North Carolina USA
- Driftless Folk School, Wisconsin USA
- And the Sun Rises with the Farmer:The Philosophical History of the Nordic Folkhighschool