Folk high school

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Folk high schools (Danish: Folkehøjskole; Finnish: kansanopisto and työväenopisto or kansalaisopisto; German: Volkshochschule and Heimvolkshochschule; Norwegian: Folkehøgskole; Swedish: Folkhögskola) are institutions of adult education that do not grant academic degrees. They are common in the Nordic countries and in Germany. The concept was originally inspired by the Danish writer, poet, philosopher, and pastor Nikolaj Frederik Severin Grundtvig (1783–1872), who was inspired in part by the Marquis de Condorcet's Report on the General Organization of Public Instruction, written in 1792 during the French Revolution. The Condorcet report also had a direct influence on popular education in France.

Despite similar names and somewhat similar goals, the institutions are quite different in the German/Swedish vs. the Norwegian/Danish traditions. German and Swedish folk high schools 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, Swedish folk high schools are not connected to a regular university. The Finnish työväenopisto or kansalaisopisto (called arbetarinstitut in Swedish) are also part of this educational tradition.

Other countries have also been inspired by Grundtvig's concept of popular education. In Africa, the United States, and India, a few schools have been built upon these principles.

1 Features
2 Denmark
3 Norway
4 Sweden
5 Germany
6 France
7 See also
8 References
9 External links

[edit] Features

The character of folk high schools differs from country to country, but usually such institutions have the following common features:

A large variety of subjects
No final exams
Focus on self-development
Pedagogical freedom
Courses last between a few months and one year

Especially in non-German speaking countries, folk high schools may be boarding schools or may mainly offer courses for adults age 18–30 only.

[edit] Denmark

The first folk high school was founded in Rødding, Denmark, in 1844, on the initiative of Kristen Kold, a follower of Grundtvig. It was inspired by a need to educate the uneducated and often poor peasantry, who could not spare the time or the money to attend a regular university.

As of 2008 there are 79 folk high schools in Denmark. The principal subjects of instruction vary from the creative (e.g. music, arts, design, writing, etc.) to the intellectual (e.g. religion, philosophy, literature, psychology, etc.). A handful of schools specialize in sports.

In recent history, globalization has exercised an increasingly important influence on the 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.

[edit] Norway

Norway's first folk high school was founded in 1864. As of 2007, there were 77 folk high schools spread across the country, 30 of which were Christian schools. Folk high schools provide opportunities in general education, primarily for young adults. These schools are different from secondary schools, high 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 are for one year, but there are a few that are two years.

[edit] Sweden

The first folk high schools in Sweden 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 accommodations and othe 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.

[edit] Germany

Folk high schools in the German-speaking countries usually provide non-credit courses for adults in:

general education
vocational education
political education
German as a second language (especially for immigrants)
various foreign languages
various forms of art
information technology
health education
preparatory classes for school exams (especially for the Abitur or Matura)

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 schools in other countries. Germany also has folk high schools that are boarding schools, called Heimvolkshochschulen.

[edit] France

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Main article: Popular Education

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 Congress, 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)^[1]. 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.