Historically and culturally the efterskole is related to the Danish free school movement, and the efterskole is often regarded as a junior form of the Danish Folkehøjskole (Folk High School).
The important role of the Danish Folkehøjskole in the development of democracy and the transformation of Danish society in the 19th century (co-operative movements, changes in political, educational, religious, and judicial systems) is well documented. And the Folkehøjskoles, of which the first was founded at Rødding 1844, are recognised as Denmark's most original contribution to international education.
N.F.S. Grundtvig (1783-1872) - bard, poet, educational thinker, politician and clergyman - was the founder and visionary genius of the Folkehøjskole movement, but it was most notably Kristen Kold (1816-1870) who transformed Grundtvig's visionary ideas into educational practice.
While Grundtvig intended the Folkehøjskoles to be for adults, Kold wanted to reach the young people when they entered puberty. Thus Kold's first school, founded at Ryslinge in 1851, was for young farmhands, and this school is recognised as the first efterskole.
For Grundtvig, schools were to provide enlightenment for life rather than formal or vocational training. Therefore, they should be free from any kind of examinations. The teaching style was based on "free, open poetic-historical talks", without fixed syllabi, but with emphasis on human enlightenment. The learning environment would make a strong cultural impact, by means of "the living word", creating in young people a receptive attitude, and bringing the students into a concrete relationship with the practical aspects of life.
The initial target group (in the agricultural society of that time) was the young rural population. At the efterskole or at the Folkehøjskole these young people were encouraged to supplement their basic elementary school education (7 years) with free studies, thereby creating a counterculture whose members would be in a position to exercise the instruments of democracy which were introduced with the first free Constitution in 1849. In other words: the idea was to develop the peasantry from a group of subjects to a group of participating citizens.
A famous anecdote concerns how Kold met a young farmhand out in the fields and tried to persuade him to come to his efterskole. When asked what good that would do a future farmer, Kold asked him if he had a pocket watch. Yes, he had. "That watch," said Kold, "can go for a time, and then it has to be wound up again, but at my school you will be wound up so that you will never stop!"
For at more detailed description, please see the flyer "The Free Danish School Tradition" (pdf)
The educational ideas of Grundtvig
"People learn by talking with each other". Watch the 10 minutes discussion of the educational ideas of N.F.S. Grundtvig with Clay Warren, a professor of communication at George Washington University and author of The School for Life: N.F.S. Grundtvig on the Education for the People.
Important dates in the history of efterskoler
- 1851 the first efterskole founded at Ryslinge, Fyn (Funen).
- 1874 several efterskoles founded along the Danish-German border facilitating schooling for Danish students from German occupied land. Efterskoles become boarding schools, so that students need not cross the border.
- 1879 Galtrup Efterskole established. This school is today the oldest existing efterskole.
- 1930 the first act concerning efterskoles passed in the Danish Parliament. Major changes in this legislation in 1942, 1954, 1967, 1970, 1992, 1994, 1996, and 2000.
- 1960-67 problems recruiting students in the efterskole lead to debate on whether to change the efterskole from being like a Folkehøjskole for the young (non formal education), to moving towards the Folkeskole (municipal school) with fixed curriculum and exams.
- 1967 the efterskole is permitted to prepare students to pass some of the public final examinations. From this point the efterskole ceases to be closely linked to the Folkehøjskole tradition – at least in the aspect of nonformal education. On the other hand, the efterskole still offers the special educational environment linked to residential education, which is also an important aspect of the Folkehøjskole tradition and, in its educational practice, it has definitely not left the path of ‘enlightenment for life’. One could claim that from this point the efterskole tries to balance between different educational ideas and requirements.
- 1975 the efterskole is permitted to offer all the same final examinations as the Folkeskole.
- 1975-00 each year several new efterskoles are founded and the total student body doubles, as does the number of schools in this period.
- 1994 municipal grants are made compulsory, which improves and equalises the economical conditions for students (and their parents) – independent of their local council. In the following years the result is evident: a broader section of the population can now afford to choose the efterskole – and so they do. The 1994 act also transfers significantly more assessments, decisions, and responsibility from central level (Ministry of Education) to the local school board. Essential topics like the educational plan and the approval of a new headmaster lie from this point entirely in the hands of the school board.
- 1996 the Danish Parliament in a significant law reform tightens up and emphasises the conditions for receiving state funding: an efterskole must (prove itself to) be free and independent. Under no circumstances may the school from a legal point of view have strong organisational and financial links to – or be dependent on – other schools or movements. The decisions, activities, arrangements and investments may only take place for the benefit of the individual school and the students attending it. Each efterskole must be truly free and independent, and "master in its own house". This puts even more responsibility on the school board. As a consequence of the 1996 law reform, the schools originating in the extensive, controversial and internationally wellknown Tvind School Cooperation lost their state approval and their state funding.
- The latest efterskole act introduces a new rule that each efterskole must define and describe its own (and specific) basic values. A critical self-evaluation must be made at the end of each school year.