Folk High School
Folk high schools (Danish: Folkehøjskole; Finnish: kansanopisto and työväenopisto or kansalaisopisto; German: Volkshochschule and (uncommon) Heimvolkshochschule; Norwegian: Folkehøgskole; Swedish: Folkhögskola) are institutions for adult education that generally do not grant academic degrees, 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.
Read more about Folk High School: History, The School and Lifelong Learning, Features, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany and Austria, France, United States
Famous quotes containing the words high school, folk, high and/or school:
“Someday soon, we hope that all middle and high school will have required courses in child rearing for girls and boys to help prepare them for one of the most important and rewarding tasks of their adulthood: being a parent. Most of us become parents in our lifetime and it is not acceptable for young people to be steeped in ignorance or questionable folklore when they begin their critical journey as mothers and fathers.”
—James P. Comer (20th century)
“Babies are beautiful, wonderful, exciting, enchanting, extraordinary little creatures—who grow up into ordinary folk like us.”
—Doris Dyson. quoted in What Is a Baby?, By Richard and Helen Exley.
“I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;”
—William Wordsworth (1770–1850)
“A drunkard would not give money to sober people. He said they would only eat it, and buy clothes and send their children to school with it.”
—Samuel Butler (1835–1902)