UNITED STATES BUREAU OF .EDUCATION BULLETIN, P14, NO. 2 - - - - - - WHOLE NUMBER 595 4 THE DANISH FOLK HIGH SCHOOLS . By H. W. FOGHT , SPECIALIST IN RURAL EDUCATION BUREAU OF EDUCATION WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PfernNc OFFICE 1914 BUREAU CF EDUCATION BoLLETIN. 1914. NO 22PLATEI A. ASKOV FOLK HIGH SCHOOL. OLDEST AND LARGEST OF THE FOLK HIGH SCHOOLS. B. THE HISTORIC FOLK HIGH SCHOOL AT RYSLINGE. I ADDITIONAL COPIES or TIC. TVIII !CATION DI AY 11F rT)c tlo:o FROM 11117 SUPFRINTENDENT Or 111N-l'hG.NTS 1;t.1RNMENT PRINTING OFPICP. WAAIIINGTON, D. C. AT :to CENTS PEI( COPY V 4 CONTENTS . 1.4)t ter of transmit t al 5 l'reface. 7 9 1. Recent .1grictiltural E ,Mutioti and the Folk 11 igh School . Dettulark a hind a-ticre agrictilt tin is a science A marked reclamation service ...... 9 Itetuarkable growth of coteieral ice Cunt rot unions and Government breed ill g ern t ers 11 l'iurcling out the large estates 11 Rum' social lile 12 A cornet outlook on life.... .... Id The changes of a century 14 Place of the folk high school in the agricultural evolution ... 16 Testimony of leading economists and achoolmett 16 flEvolution of the Folk It igh School in Denmack Nikolsi Frederik Sisverin Gruntliyig 18 (lninitivig :old the gospel of youth 20 t ;flintily ig's early ideas of a hat the school should be. 21 Elite Christian VIII invited to open a rvIyal free school ler lib.. 11, 24 lbsdsling folk high school founded ?4 Kristen Fuld lid5-15701 the rest organizer of the folk high m howl 25 Ill. Row the School is I mganized tool Administered 28 i iii net-ship of the folk high schools . .............. 28 The teat-tiers: Their tnsitting ;to The students is ha alumni the schools... ... .................... state all to schools and students .. ..... 32 Cost of schooling 34 The school a detuoeratie buds ...... ........ ............ 34 IV. The Subject Matter and Its l'resentation ... ....... .......... ...... The spirit of the teaching 35 Two hinds ol folk high schools Sonic subjects of particular Interest: Song .................. ........ Gymnastics and play life :17 Historical study the nail,' background Spiritual growth and the is ark of the tiny. 39 V. Some Typical filch Pcliools 41 itencrill statesmen' 41 . 11 A day at Roskilde Folk ii igh . ....!eat. ............... Freilriekslsorg Folk 11 tali School, the Inspirer of English schools 43. Vallekilde, a great folk high school -44 C. 45 !Insley, a folk high school of the ',ram khirl 47 ityslinge In l'yen, a historieschool Askuv " Expanded" Folk 11 igh School 61 VI. Local Agricultural SCi1001A and Their Work ettemititIeflmettt " 59 I.yngby Agricultural School . ...... lioluin Agricultural and Dairy School 59 The Royal Veterinary and .1grleultural Institute 03 VII. Special AgTknilltainl Schools for Small Holders and Rural Schools of llotraditatI Economics 64 Genenil statement 64 Kiereliare Ilusmantle (small-huh! nehool) 64 Fri Stiffs School, no:11-0410nm, 68 Rural schools of liotiselitatl.ersmomics 69 Hataldshorg School of Household Economics 70 4 CONTENTS. Pun. VIII. The Folk High &tool Tnutxplanted to Other, Nurthertt I:trope:In Countries 71 The adaptability of the folk high tichisil- 71 The folk school in Sweden 71 lIvilan Folkhogskolan och Lannitannaskolan 72 Origin of the Norwogkan folk high schools 73 The folk high schools in Finland 74 The folk high schools on English soil 75 IX. Danish-American Eolk.High Schools in the Mates Early history of the transplantation 79' Elk Horn Folk High School Nysted Folk High School 81 Danebod Folk High School 82 IIIndrancce to satisfactory growth of the Danish-A merlon schools X. Feasibility of .tdapting the Folk High Schools to American Cialdithats 84 General statement 84 The agricultural reorgan tzat to The old rural schools unable to cope with the situation Coining of the tanners' cenl rallied schools HOW the reargatited schools may profit by the Danish syxtem 80 , The folk high -scMool spirit in our agricultural communities 88 Inspirational lectures and extension courses 87 Short courses for all who need help 118 %%hy there Is need of schools for grown-ups in the United States 88. The South Atlantic II ighland a good place to begot 82 The moonlight schools of Kentucky, an experiment in the etimina:iiitt of adult illiteracy. 00 How the schools might lie organi.:ed 92 School-I in which to train the "inxpirers" 92 ILLUSTRATIONS. Page; PLATE I. A, Askov Folk High School, oldest and largest of the folk high schools: 11, The historic folk high school at Ityslinge Front i: dime. 2. A, Folk High School tiymnost; 11, A group of folk high school students, chosen to reore sent Denmark at the International Hygienic Congress at Dresden , 113 3. A, Young women at play and gymnastics, Folk If School, Zealand; B, "The White House," Askov Folk High School, Jutland 32 4. 'A, Model 5-acre small hold (Iterated as a park of the school for small bottlers near Odense, Fyen; B, In the model kitchen, rural school of househRld economics, Haslet., Zealand 48 5. A, Dalum Local Agricultural School near Odemr, Fyen;likperinteutal field In foreground; D, Fircroft Folk High School, Bounwille, England 0. A, Nysted Folk High School, Nysted, !toward County, Nebr.; B, Elk Horn Folk I ligh School, Elk Horn, Shelby County, Iowa KO .4 LErrER OF TRANSMITTAL. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, BUREAU OF Enue,mos, Washngfon, January 3, 1914. I am transmitting herewith for publication as a bulletin of the Bureau of Education the third section of Harold W. Foght's report on the rural schools of Denmark.This section of the report pertains almost wholly to the folk high schoOls, which have by com- mon consent been the most important factor in the transformation in the rural life of Denmitrk and in the phedomenal economic and social development of that country.In the 30 years from 1881 to 1912 the value of the exports of standard agricultural products bacon, eggs, and butterincreased from $12,000,000 to"$125,000,000. 'Waste and worn-out lands have been reclaimed and renewed.. Coop- eration in production and marketing has become more common than in any other country.Landlordism and farm tenantry have almost disappeared.Only 2 per cent of Danisli farmers are now tenants or leaseholders.Rural social life has become inelligent, organic, and attractive. A high type of idealism has been diffused among the masses of the people. A real democracy has been established. This is the outgrowth of an educational system, universal, practical, and democratic. Any agency so simple, modest, and inexpensive as the Danish fdlk high school that can be considered even as one of the important factor', in such a result, or rather in such a combination of results, is well worth careful study by the people of.tho United States. \ That the Danish folk high school may be successfully transplanted ais abundantly shown by the success of such t;choois in other Scandi- at navian countriesNorway, Sweden, Finland., That the form of the school must be modified for successful transplanting to English- spreqdng countries' is not only shown by the attemptS to establish schools of this kind in England and America, but is inherent in the very Nave of the schools and in the principles and ideals out of which they have grown!'' I.agree fully with Mr. Foght's suggestions aS to how these principles and idtals may be embodied as factors. in ,the readjustment of our rural public schools for children and applied in the establishment of schools for the instruction of adult illiterates. Both are desirable.An. extensive study of rural conditions and neesls and of rural population in the united States has, however, led me to t . 6 LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. believe that with the necessary modifications to adapt them to varying natural resources and economic add social conditions, schools of the Danish typeembodying the principles and ideals of Grundtvig, Flor, Kohl, Schroder, Appel, and other 'Danish educatorsshort course schools for young men and women from 18 to 30 or 35 years old might be no less successful in America than thpy have been in Scan- dinavian countries. Respectfully submitted. P. P. CLAxToN, C011iMisimi cr. SEIRETARYOF THE INTERIOR. PREFACE. The following pagQs tell briefly the story of Denmark's contribution . to the theoryand practice of echscation; i. o., the Danish folk high school.As Rousseau in his day preached the gospel of childhood, so Ortmdtvig, the father of the folk high school, gave his life to the gospel of young manhood and womanhood.Rousseau contended that childhood was more than a preparation for becoming grown-up; Crundtvig proclaimed the significance of youth as a definite epoch driug which is determined much of the life to be lived by the man. Out of Orundtvig's philosophy, of life a system of schools for grown-tip people gradually took' shape.Just such. schools no other country has produced.Almost ant progressive people can boast some sort of agricultural or other industrial schools preparingits youth for the life tasks; but the 'Danish schools are quite different from all such.The great work of these schools has been to lift an -entire war-scarred, bankrupt nation out of its slough of despair, and to set it high among the producing peoples of the world.Nor wis this done inediatelS' through carefully wrought out technical courses of study, but rather by disseminating a broad folk culture among all the peopleyoung and old alike until illiteracy is now practically unknown in the Kingdom.This latter has furnished b, broad-minded leadership in townid rural communities.Out of it lies come a love for Wile and soil an five bind, and a remarkable ability to cooperate, man with man, in matters of community and national importance in a way that mere practical industrial schools can never give.