LIBERAL EDUCATION

Liberal Education and the History of Egå Ungdoms-Højskole

A young person needs solid ground under his or her feet to meet the challenges in an ever changing and globalized society. The Danish Folk High Schools – a non-formal boarding school – are all about building character by philosophical enlightenment, bodily exercise, and practical labour and thus to provide that ground (known as “Bildung” and “Paidaia” in the German and Greek traditions).

The tradition of the Folk High Schools reaches back to the 1830s. Back then, it was times of turmoil in Europe. Inspired by the French Revolution (1789), the populations of the continent sought freedom through constitutional democracy. But, being largely illiterate peasants they were in need of education to take part in a democratic rule and thus to become citizens.

Inspired, mainly by the pastor N.F.S. Grundtvig's thoughts on the matter, the first Folk High School were founded in the village of Rødding in 1844. Since then, the Folk High Schools has flourished and played a large role in the education of Danish Citizens and of the building of the Nation of Denmark.

EGÅ UNGDOMS-HØJSKOLE

Egå Ungdoms-Højskole (Egaa Youth Folk High School) is situated in the small picturesque village of Gl. Egå (Old Egaa) in the outskirts of the coastal City of Aarhus, the second largest city in Denmark, which holds some of the country’s finest museums and cultural life and from the school we have a view over the bay of Aarhus to the landscapes of Mols Bjerge and Trehøje enlisted as Unesco world heritage.

In Egå, things began in 1921 when a group of locals bought a farm to establish a school for the county’s adolescents and young farm labourers. Society was changing rapidly back then and the farm labourers needed knowledge of what was the impact and perspective of those changes and what it meant for them on the personal level – maybe they also needed a break from the tough farm life to expand their personal horizon.

The school in Egå was an immediate success and was soon expanded to host 70 students. Much has happened since then. The original buildings now only hosts one class room, the administration offices, three staff apartments, and the old kitchen and dining hall in the basement now provide the space for our pottery and leather workshop – as well as a room for our students to set up role-plays like Dungeons & Dragons.

FACILITIES AND COURSES

The above mentioned workshops are for our student’s leisure time. In general our facilities and courses are telling much about our aspirations and intentions for our students. So, here’s a little information about that.

We provide a rather long range of subjects from; music, choir, theatre, over design, visual arts, film classes, photo, sustainability, yoga, ball games and fitness (indoor as well as outdoors), to e-sports, psychology, philosophy, and politics. Our weekly time table is set up in such a way that our students get acquainted with all the different subjects one way or the other during a stay at our school. All courses are set up to facilitate the personal development of the student as he or she, in collaboration with the course mates, pursue knowledge of the subject at hand and develop or train the skills required to solve the specific tasks. And it is possible for those who want it to pursue their projects from classes in their leisure time at the school – or they may hang out with each other, play games, do sports, watch movies, take a nap or do (almost) whatever they fancy.

We now host 90 students from all corners of Denmark and from 10 to 16 different nations from all continents. Our students live together on campus in six groups of 12 and one hall consisting of 18 students. We share our meals together and assemble twice a day to exchange general information and sing together. A few staffers also reside at the schools premises and our students become acquainted with their families during their stay.

We strive to create a homely atmosphere in the school. It is essential for everyone to hold a sense of belonging as well as an awareness that we “do school” together and that all of us have an equal share in doing so; that everyone feel a responsibility toward themselves, each other and our small community. This also means that our students have weekly chores in the kitchen and they tidy up and clean the houses where they live and help with keeping up the common school premises.

OUR ASPIRATIONS

All in all, we have, at Egå Ungdoms-Højskole, created an environment for young people to flourish. An environment where their personality, skills, knowledge and thinking can evolve. A place where young people can experiment with their own skills and engage with other adolescents from different social backgrounds and from all around the world, and a school where young people learn to take responsibility and to participate in an equal and democratic community.

Kind regards

The staff at Egå Ungdoms-Højskole