Grundtvig

This thesis presents a study of learning processes in Norwegian folk high schools. The folk high schools play a decisive role in Nordic educational system as alternative pedagogical institutions. The Danish roots of the schools can be traced to the theologian N.F.S. Grundtvig and his ideals of a learning that develops not just the mind but the whole student. Based on an empirical study of two Norwegian folk high schools, this thesis asks what learning processes take place in these schools. From an initially wide research question, the study narrows its focus to two related concepts linked to the history and identity of the Norwegian folk high schools. The sub-questions of the study ask how values and religion can be seen as a part of the learning processes of the schools.
The theoretical framework of the study connects to sociocultural theory, with a special focus on the critique and development of Etienne Wenger’s theories of social learning. The theoretical construct defines values and religion from their use in practice. The dialogical or monological discourses of values and religion described by the students in the empirical material become central in the analysis of the study.
The empirical study was carried out as a qualitative study influenced by ethnographic field studies. The period of active fieldwork lasted from August, 2014 to May, 2015. The empirical material includes a) document studies with a focus on documents exhibiting the basic values of the two schools, b) observations characterized by progressive focusing, c) interviews both with mixed groups of students through the school year and final interviews with prefects, and d) the writing of reflective texts by students at the end of the year. Three sub-studies (presented in three articles) each refer to one or two of these parts of the empirical study. After the initial document study, the empirical fieldwork sought to map the experience of students in the two schools. The empirical material was designed to provide a picture of students' experience of the folk high schools and, through this, of the meaning negotiated by students at the two schools.
The findings of the study show how a student’s former identifications become secondary in the processes of identification and dis-identification with the practices of the schools. The schools are found to represent a boundary-oriented pedagogy characterized by a shared negotiation of meaning. These characteristics created an openness for students to follow an outward as well as an inward learning trajectory in reference to the values of the schools. The discernible identities of the school’s staff in areas of values and religion and dialogical discourses in the school community were found to constitute central parts in the learning processes. These findings describe the distinctive learning community that the folk high schools represent, as conceptualized in the title of the thesis: The reflective community.

Highlander Folk School in east Tennessee is one of the best-known folk schools in the United States. Highlander bears Danish philosopher NFS Grundtvig’s influence in name and in political, educational aspirations, connecting individual with community through group singing. Grundtvig’s influence on the early history of Highlander is best traced through folk singer and activist Zilphia Horton’s folk approach to workers’ education. As Highlander’s cultural director from 1935-1956, she introduced group singing on picket lines and in workshops to cultivate solidarity through song. Described as the “singing heart of Highlander,” Zilphia believed that a shared vision was essential to group singing. This is a chapter in the first Brazilian book project about Grundtvig.

This short essay published in Huffington Post in 2016 directly grows from my own experiences in the citizenship schools of the civil rights movement as a young field staffer for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, headed by Martin Luther King. My subsequent research has helped me to understand that the citizenship schools grew directly from the thousands of "Rosenwald" schools and libraries, created by Black communities during the time of Jim Crow. They were centers of  empowerment and leadership development in communities, standing as beacons of hope against the savagely repressive culture of white supremacy. They also embodied the best of the American democratic tradition and faith, resting on civic agency, the self-organizing public work of people in a huge variety of settings which so amazed the French observer Alexis de Tocqueville and animated the great democratic movements of our history which challenged the exclusions of "We the People" embodied in our nation's founding.

This spirit and its tradition of civic agency, self-organizing citizen work, is reemerging. Here is the link to a working paper, "Return of the Citizen," which describes examples https://www.academia.edu/117584060/Return_of_the_citizen_April

Fokus för detta kapitel är de rörelser individer gör över nationsgränser i studiesyfte. Ambitionen är att kartlägga vilka geografiska mönster som präglar deltagandet i folkhögskolornas resandekurser. Dessa mönster jämförs med den studentmobilitet som sker inom ramen för den högre utbildningen.

Medan en begränsad skara europeiska och engelskspråkiga länder visar sig ha dominera studentmobiliteten, är folkhögskoleresornas destinationer mer utspridda över jordens yta. Utgångspunkten för kapitlets avslutande del är att det i anknytning till "det internationella" finns olika symboliska värden att åberopa och tillerkännas. Utbildningsarrangemangen analyseras avslutningsvis med hjälp av begreppet kosmopolitiskt kapital.

Stories of gods, heroes and monsters permeated discourses of national
selfhood in the nineteenth century. During this tumultuous time, Europe’s
modern nations arose from the misty waters of long-forgotten national pasts – or so was the perception at the time. Each embedded in their particular national and political contexts, towering cultural figures – N.F.S. Grundtvig, Jacob Grimm, Jonás Halgrímsson, William Morris, Adam Oehlenschläger and many more – were catalysts for the formation of national discourses of belonging, built upon the mythological story-worlds of Europe’s non-classical vernacular pasts.
This interdisciplinary book offers new perspectives on the uses of pre-Christian mythologies in the formation of national communities in nineteenth-century Northern and Western Europe. Through theoretical articles and case studies, it puts forth new understandings of how cultural thinkers across Europe utilized pre-Christian mythologies as symbolic resources in the forging of national communities. Perceptions of national identity were thus shaped, many of which are still at play today.

Celem tej pracy jest rekonstrukcja światopoglądu Mikołaja Grundtviga na podstawie jego przetłumaczonych na język polski tekstów. W szczególności odkrycie jak skonstruowana była myśl Grundtviga, skoro udało się szkołom całkowicie ją przekroczyć. Inaczej mówiąc, czy były w promowanej przez Grundtviga wizji edukacji takie elementy, które: a) zachęcały naśladowców do przekroczenia jego myśli oraz b) powodowały, że nawiązywanie do niego współcześnie byłoby wstydliwe dla nauczycieli? Problem ten nie jest tylko akademicki, lecz jest także przedmiotem debaty w Danii. Uniwersytety ludowe pełnią tam obecnie nowe, nieprzewidziane przez pierwszych założycieli funkcje tj. integracja migrantów, edukacja osób starszych, międzynarodowi uczestnicy, transnarodowe kursy oraz pomoc rozwojowa i współpraca z krajami Południa, co rodzi pytanie czy w jakimkolwiek stopniu dziedzictwo Grundtviga może być pomocne w ich realizacji.

The once vibrant tradition of Scandinavian Creation Theology is not dead. After only a winter of dormancy, it is today enjoying a new Spring, principally in the work of Copenhagen's Niels Henrik Gregersen. In this article, we critically compare the work of one classical representative of the Scandinavian Creation tradition, Regin Prenter, with Gregersen's 21st century renaissance. What is new with Gregersen is the incorporation of natural science into theological method. Systematically, we will argue that, on the one hand, Regin Prenter got it right: creation and redemption belong together. On the other hand, Prenter’s method was visually impaired; he looked at God's creation with only one eye, the eye of faith. If he would have opened his other eye to look at creation as a scientist sees it, his doctrine of creation would have been broader, deeper, and more textured. This is what two-eyed Gregersen does when he incorporates into his theological vision the scientific idea of autopoiesis--that is, nature's own creative advance.

In recent decades, a growing number of theologians have discussed the challenges and opportunities facing the Christian church as Western societies have become increasingly pluralistic. In a number of articles and books, various issues relating to this situation have been discussed. In continuation of this conversation, the article demonstrates that a tradition for a strong emphasis on the universality of theological ethics has existed in the Danish theological tradition, which is exemplified by reference to Martin Luther, Nikolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig and Knud Ejler Løgstrup. Then, the article presents some empirical and theological arguments for the necessity of a stronger articulation of the particularity of theological ethics. Finally, the article shows how a theological position which expresses the particularity of theological ethics, while at the same time maintaining its universal basis, can contribute with some instructive and constructive perspectives on theological ethical reflections in a pluralistic society.

Taking the recent UN Report about extreme poverty in the UK as a point of departure, this article analyses and assesses William Cavanaugh’s political ecclesiology. Drawing on the interpretation of Martin Luther’s concept of creation in Scandinavian Creation Theology, I argue that creation destabilises the distinction Cavanaugh draws between what he considers to be church and what he considers not to be church. I account for creation as a web of vulnerability in which all creatures are vulnerable to both creature and creator. In contrast to Cavanaugh’s strong and stable church, I advocate for what I call “coalitional church”: a church that can enter into coalitions with Christians and non-Christians in order to call for conditions under which vulnerable life is liveable. The public and political task of churches is not necessarily to fight the state, but to hold the state accountable to its citizens, whether they are Christian or non-Christian.

The paper examines the problem of how religions can provide a source of identity in modern societies. It falls into two parts: after an introduction setting out the problem, a first part charts three paradigmatic responses from the 19th century to the rise of religious pluralism and the separation of church and state. In a second part, I argue that - whatever the political desirabilities - Christian theology guards against the exclusion of the other which evidently is a major aspect of social identity formation.

Hvilke spørsmål kan vi stille til koronasituasjonen - i lys av Grundtvigs skoletanker? Kommer verden til å bli et bedre sted nå? Kommer vi til å få renere luft og hav, vil vi bli gode mot menneskenes jord og ta vare på skjønnheten og varmen, som om vi bar et barn varsomt på armen (fritt etter Nordahl Grieg)?

The ideas of N. F. S. Grundtvig (1783 - 1872) are still actually modern and needed, as they mirror the main values of Scandinavian culture and societies. The key words are still freedom, spirit and individual responsibility for the common good.

N.F.S. Grundtvig (1783-1872) produced a major body of work in the fields of education, history, literature, politics, and theology.  He also was a priest, poet, hymn-writer, and translator.  In particular, however, it is his educational writings that over the years have attracted international attention - from the USA in the west to Japan in the east.  In recognition of his influence, the European Union called its adult education project, begun in 2010, "the Grundtvig programme." 
   
The School for Life is the first English-language authoritative collection of Grundtvig's writings on education.  In addition to 16 Grundtvigian texts, the book includes two original essays as introductory and concluding chapters.  The closing chapter, authored by Dr. Clay Warren, Chauncey M. Depew Professor of Communication at The George Washington University, discusses the international reception of Grundtvig's ideas with special emphasis on adult education in the USA.  It ends by noting that English language readers now have a book through which directly to enjoy and to profit from the remarkable intelligence and communication vitality of N.F.S. Grundtvig and his idea that learning should suit its students rather than the other way around.

En grundtvigiansk og goetheanistisk folkehøyskole? Helt siden den første folkehøyskolen ble startet i Norge, har det funnets en forbindelse til det (senere) antroposofiske miljøet. Derfor er det kanskje heller ikke så merkelig at idéen om å starte en folkehøyskole inspirert av Goethe har dukket opp med jevne mellomrom, nå senest for bare et par år siden. Og denne gangen vil det kanskje bli virkelighet-for anledningen til at den ikke har blitt av tidligere er nok den at man ikke har tatt nok hensyn til Grundtvig. Og uten ham så blir det jo ingen folkehøyskole! Når det gjelder Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), så levde og virket han under den tyske romantiske idealismen. Goethe var, liksom Grundtvig, en nyskapende kritiker og outsider i sin egen tid. Og selv om de begge hadde stor innflytelse når de levde, så har ettertiden – kanskje uten så altfor stor fremgang –behandlet dem begge nokså stemoderlig på mange måter. At Grundtvig blant annet var folkehøyskolens opphavsmann, er i seg selv nok til at han ikke kan gå i glemmeboken. Den er i dag mer utbredt enn noen gang tidligere idet hele 10 prosent av norske 19-åringer velger å tilbringe et år på folkehøyskole. Og Goethe, han bidro jo blant annet med inspirasjon til antroposofien, da Rudolf Steiner som ung student fikk i oppdrag å bearbeide og renskrive Goethes naturvitenskapelige verker. Det var en hel del av dem, så Steiner brukte bortimot 15 år på jobben, i tillegg til at han senere i livet videreførte Goethes idéer og gjorde dem kjent på verdensbasis gjennom mange virksomhetsfelt, for eksempel jordbruk, medisin og undervisning. De lot seg altså ikke gå i glemmeboken disse to gigantene, og hva mer kan de ha til felles? Jo, at de setter mennesket i sentrum, inn i en sammenheng som er langt større enn individet selv. Vi lever i en mildt sagt foranderlig tid, hvor utfordringene er komplekse og sammenhengene ofte vanskelige å forstå. Man kan si at de siste hundre årene har vaert preget av maskinell utvikling og spesialisering i langt større grad enn det humanistiske og det allmenndannende. Så har vi også endt opp med et samfunnsideal bygd på penger, og den makten de gir. Den globale markedsøkonomien liksom svever over det hele, idet den kun forholder seg til fiktive verdier i form av forventninger, og ikke lenger til faste verdier som gull eller produksjon. Dette skaper uforutsigbarhet og utrygghet for menneskene. En måte å møte denne utfordringen på, er gjennom utdannelse og bevisstgjøring av de egne forutsetningene. Å satse på den egne kraften, individuelt og sammen med andre. Grundtvig skjønte dette for mer enn 150 år siden, og hans ideer om utvikling for den enkelte og for samfunnet er fremdeles høyaktuelle. Er det så disse gamle idéene som gjør at folkehøyskolene fortsatt er aktuelle? Eller hva er det som gjør at-nesten uansett hvem man konfronterer av tidligere elever eller

The Danish composer Niels W. Gade (1817–1890) did not write much about his thoughts on sacred music. His compositions, however, seem to reflect his sense of theological topics and his engagement in the activities of the congregation. The article argues that Gade regarded the music of the church as a means creating a sonic atmosphere that listeners could associate with the words of the gospel.