What did Grundtvig think about education?

Grundtvig’s thoughts on schools and teaching profoundly altered the Danish school system. Grundtvig is considered the father of the Danish Folk High School-movement, and wanted to educate the Danish youth on culture and society. To Grundtvig, it was important to educate young people on national culture and history as well as to teach people to take active part in society.

Grundtvig formulated his thoughts on folk high schools through the 1830’s and 1840’s and believed that the state should establish a high school. The state never founded a high school, but the first folk high school was built in Rødding in 1844 by a private group.

The school in Rødding was only the first of many folk high schools to be built in Denmark and today there are about 80 high schools. It was important to Grundtvig that learning is motivated by curiosity and the desire to learn rather than exams or tests, and that is still the ideal for the Danish folk high schools today.

However, not just the high school, but the whole of the Danish school system has been influenced by Grundtvig’s thoughts on learning for life, not for exams.

Grundtvig's thoughts

What did Grundtvig think about politics and democracy?
What did Grundtvig think about the church?

Work

Wrote about 1500 hymns
Pastor at Vartov Church for 33 years
Bibliography of 1471 titles
Censored for life in 1826
Censorship was lifted 1837

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