Danish Folk High Schools: How Taking Gap Years Has Become the New Norm

After living abroad in Copenhagen for the past few months, I’ve discovered that my path to college is very foreign to the Danes. I went to a public high school in New York City, began looking at colleges in my junior year of school, and got into the University in the February of my senior year. No part of me ever considered taking a gap year; I had looked through WesMaps and planned my courses even before I put down my deposit for enrollment. 

In Denmark, this mindset is very much not the case. In fact, students may graduate from high school and not go to university for years after their graduation. While I first thought that this may have to do with financial limitations or finding work without a college degree, I learned that students typically take those years off to attend folk high schools (folkehøjskole, in Danish). 

Folk high schools are a form of education in Denmark invented in 1844 by Nikolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig, a Danish philosopher, educator, theologian, and politician. Through his upbringing and travels, he formulated the ideas that became the basis of these folk high schools. His idea of “folkelighed” (popular enlightenment) encouraged educating people across all social classes, ultimately becoming the foundation of Denmark’s progressive and accessible education system. 

Professor Ditte Marie Egebjerg-Rantzau of DIS Study Abroad further commented on the youth’s choice to enroll in a folk high school: “These years, there is a tendency that youth primarily attend the FHS because of the community-building aspects, as well as prioritizing a break from the pressure of society to perform and strive towards a future career.”

Thus, not only is it becoming more normalized in Danish culture to take a break, but many students are using that time to further develop their democratic abilities and connect more with their communities.

Grundtvig believed that an educated nation would be a more democratic one and, as a result, a more cohesive nation that would know how to stand up for its rights. This was especially meaningful during his time, as Denmark had just gone to war against parts of Germany and Prussia in 1864, and national conservatism was strong in Danish politics. His idea for folk high schools was a stance against these ideas, making literacy and education for all a priority for the whole nation. 

Grundtvig argued that the democracy and, therefore, the freedom of the Danish people couldn’t be safe unless the people knew how to fight for it. Moreover, he believed that knowledge was equivalent to one’s freedom and thus that the folk high schools were the best way for the Danish population to become educated. 

While Denmark has been a wholly democratic society for a while now, folk high schools still remain relevant, as they provide a space for students to delve more deeply into their interests without worrying about grades or receiving any type of credit. They can enroll in these schools for a government-subsidized price and spend their time discovering themselves and learning through conversation before deciding what to study in university. 

More importantly, students can engage in learning for the love of learning, a concept not so prevalent in U.S. educational systems, where students are often forced to focus more on their grades than learning the material and are thus not truly engaging in their education. 

Egebjerg-Rantzau further elaborated on the core values of folk high schools.

“Some folk high schools are more Grundtvigian than others, so not all FHS would emphasize conversation equally. However, the community-building aspect is essential in the FHS tradition, and grades are not part of the system, so learning for the sake of learning is at the heart of the tradition.”

These values stay at the heart of modern folk high schools, while the presence of Grundtvig’s theories of learning through conversation may vary from school to school. Nonetheless, he believed that through conversation, people will learn that their opinion matters and that they have the ability to communicate with their communities and country. 

Instead of traditional lectures, learning through conversation is deeply ingrained in Denmark’s education system, even outside of the curriculum of folk high schools. Danish students today benefit from a more Socratic form of education, allowing them to remain engaged in their studies and discover their true interests before enrolling in university. 

While Wesleyan specifically adopts an open curriculum and mostly discussion-based classes to foster engagement and allow students to explore different interests, Danish students still benefit from the freedom of no grades tied to their learning. I believe if more students chose to take a gap year or if the U.S. started implementing folk high schools into the education system that students would not only know themselves better, but that they would be much more confident and engaged when attending university. 

Though I can’t say that I regret my college career or its timeline, I would have definitely enjoyed a gap year if it had been a more advertised option. I believe that many students would have taken that opportunity and not had to struggle with the pressure to go to university.

Lara Anlar is a member of the class of 2028 and can be reached at lanlar@wesleyan.edu.