*What is a Folk High School?*
The Danish Folk High Schools offer non-formal adult education. Most
students are between 18 and 24 years old and the length of a typical
stay is 4 months. You sleep, eat, study and spend your spare time at the
school. There are *no academic requirements for admittance* and there
are _*no exams*_ - but you will get a diploma as a proof of your
attendance.
Teaching in the Folk High School is characterized by professionalism and
dedication. Classes are based on dialogue and mutual learning between
teachers and students. The main focus is to discover and strengthen the
unique skills of each student in a challenging yet supportive social
atmosphere.
*Main Features*
The common features of the Folk High Schools today are:
* A stay is usually from a half to one year of duration.
* Boarding school-like - you sleep, eat, study and spend your spare
time together
* A large variety of subjects
* No finishing exams
* Pedagogical freedom
* Personal development and social skills
* Social and democratic participation
*Similar Traditions*
The Folk High Schools lead an non-formal and, to many, an atypical way
of teaching and learning, but the main ideas of this school system are
to be found in other traditions and cultures around the world.
You find tendencies similar to the Grundtvigian tradition in the
Brazilian Paulo Freire's philosophy of education and "Pedagogy of the
Oppressed". Among other things Freire focused on the reciprocity between
teachers and students; the teacher learning from the student and the
student teaching the teacher are the basic elements of classroom
participation in this tradition.
Also the Indian poet, novelist, composer, Nobel Prize winner and
political activist Rabindrath Tagore (1861-1941) has conceived
educational ideas and a university focusing on "the study on humanity",
both with resemblances to Grundtvig.
In Norway, Sweden, Germany and Finland you find similar schools, working
on almost the same principles as the Folk High Schools in Denmark.
These schools spring from the same movement and all have references to
N. F. S. Grundtvig who originated the idea of the Folk High School,
"folkehøjskolen".
The German and the Swedish schools are closer related to the formal
educational system, than the Danish folk high schools are.
In France you find the Université Populaire also with strong
resemblances to the Folk High Schools.
*From: http://www.ffd.dk/the-danish-folk-high-school *
**
*and: **http://www.ffd.dk/the-folk-high-school*
/Organization/
**
*The Association of Folk High Schools in Denmark*
FFD is short for "Folkehøjskolernes Forening i Danmark": The Association
of Folk High Schools in Denmark.
FFD is the national organizing body of the 80 Danish Folk High Schools.
Each an independent, non-governmental institution with 50-200 adult
students.
FFD develops and maintains political and professional relations with the
Government and partners, both at the national and international levels.
The purpose of FFD is to work for the idea of the folk high school and
to create good and free conditions for the development of this type of
school.
The highest authority of FFD is the General Meeting each spring.
The association is run by a chairman and eight members of the committee.
The posts are open for election every second year.
**
*Main Activities of FFD*
* Policy making and political lobbying
* Advice on legal and organisational matters
* Information and marketing of the Folk High Schools
* Development projects and school innovation
**
*Areas of Action*
* guidance
* Information, marketing and PR
* ethnic minorities at the Folk High Schools (EMPH)
* education partners
* the nordic, european and international dimension
* democratic education
* the future of the Folk High Schools
**
*FFD, the Folk High Schools and Citizenship*
The association is a leading participant in several both national and
trans-national projects on citizenship.
The overall aim is to develop the concepts of citizenship and
democracy in order to re-establish active and responsible citizens, an
essential element in educational and general politics both nationally,
in Europe and globally.
Several FFD member schools co-operate with NGOs in 3rd world countries,
exchanging both students, teachers, and voluntary workers.
*From: http://www.ffd.dk/organization*
*Contacts*
**
*Association of Folk High Schools in Denmark
*Nytorv 7
1450 Copenhagen
Denmark
Mon - Fri: 10.00 to 16.00
Tel.: +45 33364040
Fax: +45 33139870
Mail: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
**
*Secretary general*: Niels Glahn [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
**
*Costumer service:* [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
**
*Information and Communication:* Jakob Rasmussen [email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>
**
*Pedagogy:* Gorm Hansen [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
**
*International:* Torleif Jonasson [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
**
*The Folk High School Magazine:* Andreas Harbsmeier
[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
*From: http://www.ffd.dk/organization/contacts*
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