Folkschools
Tonight Jff is working on a presentation he is giving tomorrow, so I have lots of time to blog. I feel like I have been blogging a lot and that is probably why (plus I am trying to conserve my reading books). I wonder how often I will post once we are on the road in a few days...
Anyways, an answer to Kat's comment/question: Folk Schools originated in Denmark back before the 20th century by a guy name Nikolaj Frederik Severin Grundtvig. They are schools that are government supported and are based around informal education of teenagers between high school and college and college and life (although sometimes they involve adults too). They offer short and longer courses for people who want to do a little exploring before they decide on a career or life path. They have traditionally been big into the arts or into niche areas of the trades.
They are all very different, as they are independently run, and they are place-based meaning that their purpose is usually linked closely to where they are. However, the basic mission of all of the folk schools is the same. They strive to create community, develop a love of learning within their students, and provide an open learning environment for people to explore themselves. They are residential, there are professors (often visiting professors), and they encourage student exchange- learning through conversations and mutual reflection.
Today they are dwindling slightly in Denmark- federal subsidies are decreasing, the focus on Danish language has had to change, and many of them are very rural and do not attract the same number of students anymore. However, in the past they are credited with allowing a peaceful transformation from an authoritarian government to a democracy in Denmark because of how educated all classes of people were. They also provided a reinvigoration of Danish culture and created communities of learning and cooperation across the country.
I am writing my thesis on nonformal, democratic educational spaces and what they could do to inform community in neighborhoods where there is a great need for more collaboration. I have done about a year and a half of research in one particular community that is centered around Somali and East African immigrants. Essentially I am looking at folk schools as models for new ways to create conversations and life-long learning in community spaces. Last summer I spent a week at Philosophy camp which is a model of an outgrowth of Danish Folk Schools in the U.S.
So while I am here I am doing my best to learn more about how the Danes see them and to see what they look like. The folk school we went to for renewable energy was just an example of one kind, but the woman we talked to gave me a lot of good information. It was a meeting of the interests of both John and I in a very lucky way! Anyways, thanks for asking. I have done a lot of research on them over the last year and hardly ever get to talk about them.
Anyways, an answer to Kat's comment/question: Folk Schools originated in Denmark back before the 20th century by a guy name Nikolaj Frederik Severin Grundtvig. They are schools that are government supported and are based around informal education of teenagers between high school and college and college and life (although sometimes they involve adults too). They offer short and longer courses for people who want to do a little exploring before they decide on a career or life path. They have traditionally been big into the arts or into niche areas of the trades.
They are all very different, as they are independently run, and they are place-based meaning that their purpose is usually linked closely to where they are. However, the basic mission of all of the folk schools is the same. They strive to create community, develop a love of learning within their students, and provide an open learning environment for people to explore themselves. They are residential, there are professors (often visiting professors), and they encourage student exchange- learning through conversations and mutual reflection.
Today they are dwindling slightly in Denmark- federal subsidies are decreasing, the focus on Danish language has had to change, and many of them are very rural and do not attract the same number of students anymore. However, in the past they are credited with allowing a peaceful transformation from an authoritarian government to a democracy in Denmark because of how educated all classes of people were. They also provided a reinvigoration of Danish culture and created communities of learning and cooperation across the country.
I am writing my thesis on nonformal, democratic educational spaces and what they could do to inform community in neighborhoods where there is a great need for more collaboration. I have done about a year and a half of research in one particular community that is centered around Somali and East African immigrants. Essentially I am looking at folk schools as models for new ways to create conversations and life-long learning in community spaces. Last summer I spent a week at Philosophy camp which is a model of an outgrowth of Danish Folk Schools in the U.S.
So while I am here I am doing my best to learn more about how the Danes see them and to see what they look like. The folk school we went to for renewable energy was just an example of one kind, but the woman we talked to gave me a lot of good information. It was a meeting of the interests of both John and I in a very lucky way! Anyways, thanks for asking. I have done a lot of research on them over the last year and hardly ever get to talk about them.
posted by KLOU | 11:31 AM
1 Comments:
Ah, tres bien! Merci pour l'explanation. How cool that it is of interest to your study.
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