Askov Efterskole - Højskole

On Friday, I went on a trip with the Erasmus students. They went to an Efterskole and a Højskole in Askov. One hour drive from Haderslev.
These are typical Danish schools.
Youngsters can go to an Efterskole after the 8th grade. Then they can stay there for 1 year and complete their 9th grade in the Efterskole.
The Efterskole where I've been to in Askov was founded in 2001. In total, there are 280 Efterskole in Denmark.
I don't have so much information about the Efterskole but you can compare it with a continuation/boarding school.
Here you can see a youtubefilm about the Efterskole and it explains almost everything:

The Højskole is also something typical Danish. You can go there before you go to college or university. You can stay as long as you want and the people who are there, are there because they really want to. A little bit of history: In the 18th Century, Europe changed and the idea of "freedom" entered people's minds.
Grundtvig ( a vicar) travelled a lot around the world and had strong thoughts. During his first speech he 'attacked' everyone who was in control. He said that everyone was wrong.
The thought of democracy was quite strong at that time. But to have a democracy, you need to have citizens, individual persons. People who have their own rights and can make their own decisions.
Grundtvig said therefore : If you want a democracy with citizens, we have to educate everyone. So not only the top needs to learn how to read and write, but everyone !
Grundtvig is actually the founder of the Højskole. If you translate this, it is Free School.
You learn what you want to learn in a Højskole. There are no exams and you choose how you want to learn something yourself.
You can study journalism, art, film, ...
The people in the Højskole care about the whole person and are actually preparing for further education.
They see the Højskole as a society on his own and therefore everyone who is attending a Højskole has to participate in the society. You can't just stay in bed if you want to. Pupils also pay to be here. This is different than other education in Denmark because education is free here.  All the teaching is based on how people see the world, so it might be different for some teachers. The school in Askov is open for 34 weeks and teachers are here 24/7. You can also follow classes during the summer holidays even with your family.
A day in a Højskole: 8h00 breakfast
8h45 morning singing

9h15 first classes/study time
12h30 lunch
14h00 classes/study
18h15 dinner
19h30 study until they go to bed

To finish off, I want to give you a quote which symbolizes exactly where the Højskole stands for:

You don't become something here, but maybe you can become someone.

View

Art class



Work/relax room

   

Glasswork




Map of the Efterskole + Højskole