Folk high school

Folk high schools are institutions of adult and continuing education. The first folk high schools were founded by Danish author Nicolai Grundtvig and they are today mainly spread in the Nordic countries and in the German-speaking countries in Europe. The word is in Danish: folkehøjskole, in Norwegian: folkehøgskole, Swedish:folkhögskola, and in German: Volkshochschule.

Related Topics:
Nicolai Grundtvig - Nordic countries - Danish - Norwegian - Swedish - German

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The first school of this kind was founded in Rødding, Denmark, in 1844. In the Nordic countries, folk high schools are currently most widespread in Norway. The common features of different folk high schools are:

Related Topics:
Rødding - Denmark - 1844 - Norway

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• Usually one year in duration
• Boarding school
• A large variety of subjects
• No finishing exams
• Focus on self-development
• Pedagogical freedom

There is a differentiation between Christian folk high schools and free-thinking schools.

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A Volkshochschule in one of the German-speaking countries usually provides non-credit continuing adult education in:

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• general education
• vocational education
• political education
• German as a second language (especially for immigrants)
• different foreign languages
• different 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.

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