Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Orsak, Charles G., Jr

Titel

The Folk High School: Denmark's Contribution to Adult Education

Erscheinungsjahr

1981

Quelle

ERIC

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• This paper provides an historical record of the folk high school as a liberal educational philosophy since the mid-nineteenth century. The social and political setting in which the Danish folk high school began, along with a biographical sketch of its founder, N. F. S. Grundtvig (1783-1872), are reviewed within the first eight pages. The folk high school in Denmark is reviewed in terms of basic characteristics, the residential collective adult education concept, course scheduling, instructor qualifications, administration, and financing. A description of the Skaelskoer folk high school is presented and includes statistical data, aims and objectives, financial and recruitment aspects, course length and descriptions, teaching methods and techniques, function and education of teachers, intended and unintended effects, and fundamental risks. Then descriptions of the folk high school programs in Norway, Sweden, and Finland are presented. Included in the 5-page section on impact are the following: participation figures; similarities and differences among folk high schools in Nordic countries; and a brief overview of folk high schools in England and Scotland, continental Europe, North America, Asia, and Africa. The paper concludes with considerations of the future of the folk high school. (BPB)