december 30, 2025

RU/EN

Headings of Vestnik

November 2025, № 4 (248), pages 12-23

doi: 10.25198/1814-6457-248-12

Kostikov S.V., Martishina N.V. FACTORS IN THE EMERGENCE OF FOLK SCHOOLS FOR YOUTH IN 19THCENTURY DENMARKRelevance of research is based on the presence of rapid changes in all aspects of our lives, and education is not an exception. The mentioned changes encourage us to seek for solutions which are appropriate to the challenges and requirements of modern life. The process is complex. On the one hand, it contains search and implementation of innovations which are unique. On the other hand, revision of the existing ideas and experience leads to undertaking attempts to adapt and integrate them into actual and forecastable life models. There is also a worldwide trend to create, develop and protect “national heritage” simultaneously interacting with other cultures in order to compare, match and mutually enrich existing educational models. These trends, providing absence of conflicts, are used as a basement for creating productive present and future. Furthermore, the importance of valuesemantic polylogue performed in different (time, spatial and cultural) coordinate systems should not be avoided. This article is an example of the mentioned above. The aim is to identify and justify the prerequisites of creation and development of Folk High Schools which served as a prominent alternative to state educational system in the second half of XIX century and in the period prior to WWII. That time was similar to present in regard of tremendous changes of society. The FHS’s experiences and achievements were eagerly adopted in Scandinavian and other countries. Research result, presented in the article, facilitates and broadens understanding of alternative educational systems and influence of historical, social, economic and cultural phenomena and processes on school and education in general, adds to the history of pedagogical and educational science as well as to comparative pedagogy. Key words: Scandinavian education, Danish education system of the 19th century, folk high schools, development of folk schools for youth, pedagogical philosophy, N.F.S. Grundtvig, K. Kold.

Download

References:

1. Campbell O. D. (1928) The Danish folk school: Its influence in the life of Denmark and the North. New York, USA: Macmillan, 359 p.

2. Landis B. Y. and Willard J. D. (1933) Rural adult education. New York, USA: Macmillan, 229 p.

3. Begtrup H., Lund H.P., Manniche P. and Sadler M.S. (1936) The folk high schools of Denmark and the development of a farming community. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. H. Milford, 176 p.

4. Begtrup H. (1916) Christen Kold. Kjøbenhavn, Denmark: Gyldendal, 96 p.

5. Manniche P. (1970) Living Democracy in Denmark: Independent Farmers, Farmers’ Cooperation, the Folk High Schools, Cooperation in the Towns, Social and Cultural Activities, Social Legislation, a Danish Village. Westport, Connecticut, USA, Praeger, 237 p.

6. Allchin A.M. (1997) N.F.S. Grundtvig: An introduction to his life and work. Aarhus, Denmark, Aarhus University Press, 338 p.

7. Maliszewski T. (2002) Folk High School — School for Life. On Traditions of Adult Education in the Context of Educational Needs of the Future. Adult Education at the Beginning of the 21st Century. Theoretical and Practical Contexts. Poland, University of Opole, (pp.144-153).

8. Mannische P. (1969) Rural development in Denmark and the changing countries of the world: A study of Danish rural conditions and the folk high schools with special relevance to the developing countries. Oxford, UK, Pergamon Press, 525 p.

9. Kulich J. (2002) Grundtvig’s educational ideas in Central and Eastern Europe and the Baltic States in the twentieth century. Copenhagen, Denmark, Forlaget Vartov, 209 p.

10. Lundgaard E. (1991) The Folk high school, 1970-1990: Development and conditions. Copenhagen, Denmark: Association of Folk High Schools in Denmark, 91 p.

11. Rordam T. (1980) The Danish folk high schools. Copenhagen, Denmark, Det Danske Selskab, 197 p.

12. Borish S. M. (1991) The land of the living: the Danish folk high schools and Denmark’s non-violent path to modernization. Nevada City, Calif. USA, Blue Dolphin, 516 p.

13. Mortensen E. (1977) Schools for life: the Grundtvigian folk schools in America. Nevada, Junction City, USA, Danish-American Heritage Society, 143 p.

14. Davis D. C. L. (1971) Model for a humanistic education: the Danish folk high school. Columbus, Ohio, USA, Merrill, 132 p.

15. Dixon C. W. (1965) Society, Schools and Progress in Scandinavia. Oxford, New York, USA, Pergamon Press, 193 p.

16. Westergaard H.L. (1922) Economic Development in Denmark before and during the World War. Oxford, England, Clarendon Press, 106 p.

17. Gedelund L.N. (1907) History of Denmark: with 84 figures and 2 maps. Preface and translation from Danish by N. Pratasov-Bakhmetev. St. Petersburg. Moscow. Published by the M.O. Wolf company, 271 p.

18. Gulyga A.V. (1975) Herder. Moscow, Mysl', 181 p.

19. Herder I.G. (2013) Ideas for the Philosophy of Human History. 2nd ed., corrected. M.-St. Petersburg, Center for Humanitarian Initiatives. 760 p.

20. Herder I.G. (1959) Selected Works. Compiled by V.M. Zhmurinsky. M.-L. State Publishing House of Fiction, 392 p.

21. Fichte I.G. (2009) Speeches to the German Nation. Translated by Ivanenko A.A. A Word about the Existing. St. Petersburg: Nauka, 350 p.

22. Maslova V.A. (2007) Homo lingualis in Culture. Monograph. M., Gnosis, 318 p.

23. Davies N. (1931) Education for Life. A Danish Pioneer. London, UK, Williams & Norgate Limited, 207 p.

24. Isaev M.A. (2002) Fundamentals of Constitutional Law of Denmark. MGIMO (U) Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia. M. — Ant., 844 p.

25. Bjerg J. (1994) Christen Mikkelsen Kold. Prospects, Vol. 24, pp. 21–35.

26. Lövgren J. (2023) The Nordic Folk High School Teacher: Identity, Work and Education. Zurich: LIT Verlag, 316 p.

27. Bhattacharaya A. (2010) Education for the People. Concepts of Grundtvig, Tagore, Gandhi and Freire. Rotterdam, NL, Sense Publishers, 32 p.

28. Grundtvig N. F. S. (2011) The school for life. N. F. S. Grundtvig on education for the people. Edited by C. Warren and U. Jonas. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press, 440 p.

29. W. von. Humboldt (1984) Selected Works on Linguistics. Translated by G.V. Ramishvili. M.; Progress, 400 p.

30. Babaeva L. (2013) Adult Personal Development in Latvian Folk High Schools: An Observational Analysis. Practice and Theory in Systems of Education, Volume 8, No. 3, pp. 239–247.

31. Kostikov S.V. (2024) Inclusive Aspect in the Work of Swedish Folk Schools for Youth. Scientific Opinion, No. 5, pp. 95–101.

32. Borovikova Ya.V. and Komarovskaya E.P. (2024) The Experience of Scandinavian Countries in Developing National Systems of Continuous Professional Education. Professional Education in Russia and Abroad, No. 5, pp. 5–10. URL: https://prof-obr42.ru/Archives/2(54)2024.pdf

About this article

Authors: Kostikov S.V., Martishina N.V.

Year: 2025

doi: 10.25198/1814-6457-248-12

Editor-in-chief

Sergey Aleksandrovich
MIROSHNIKOV

© Электронное периодическое издание: ВЕСТНИК ОГУ on-line (VESTNIK OSU on-line), ISSN on-line 1814-6465
Зарегистрировано в Федеральной службе по надзору в сфере связи, информационных технологий и массовых коммуникаций
Свидетельство о регистрации СМИ: Эл № ФС77-37678 от 29 сентября 2009 г.
Учредитель: Оренбургский государственный университет (ОГУ)
Главный редактор: С.А. Мирошников
Адрес редакции: 460018, г. Оренбург, проспект Победы, д. 13, к. 2335
Тел./факс: (3532)37-27-78 E-mail: vestnik@mail.osu.ru